Real estate brokerage firm Matthews continues to grow rapidly. The firm has hired Ben Snyder as an SVP and senior director of shopping center business, GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively. Matthews has also expanded into the Cleveland, Austin and Atlanta markets with new offices opening this year. The firm has recently focused its expansion goals in the Midwest, and Snyder will focus on that market, where the Cleveland office is scheduled to open in June.

Snyder joins the firm from DDR Corp., where he served as VP of transactions, and has completed more than $2 billion in transactions. “Having been a client of Matthews for several years, I was very familiar with their platform and capabilities,” Snyder tells GlobeSt.com. “I feel confident that Matthews provides me a great opportunity to use my skill set to help grow the business here in the Midwest. By using the relationships I built while at DDR and my knowledge of the Midwest markets, combined with the reputation and platform that Matthews has built, we plan to take the business and ability to service our clients to an even higher level in the Midwest.

While the firm has clearly focused on expansion throughout the US, which has included both recruitment of top talent and expansion to new markets, the firm doesn't have specific growth goals it is looking to hit. Rather, it is focused on organic growth as opportunities arise. “We actually never go into a year with a specific growth goal in mind or benchmark we obligate ourselves to hit.  We take it as it comes,” Kyle Matthews, chairman and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com about the firm's growth strategy. “When talent presents itself, we are going to grow.  And if it doesn't, we are more than fired up about the team we already have in place.  This company is a big family, and like a family we are always excited to add people to it, but we don't want to force it.”

In terms of the geographic markets where the firm is focused, the Midwest and Southern markets are also rapidly growing, and Matthews wants to have a presence in expanding markets. “Given we pride ourselves on rapid growth, it only makes sense to be in markets experiencing a similar rate of growth,” he explains. “As much as we want to be where the excitement is in real estate, we also want to be in markets like Austin & Atlanta where the business scene is vibrant.”

Although the recruiting goals are preplanned, Matthews does have specific criteria for recruiting, just as it does for geographic expansion. “You can train skill sets, you cannot train mindsets. You either want to be great, or you don't,” he says. “We look to identify younger talent who is willing to make the sacrifice to be the absolute best in their field and then empower them.”

In addition to recruiting new talent, the company is also looking to recruit seasoned talent to the firm. “With senior agents, we identify agents who have shown the ability to produce, but may be at a company that is not looking to scale their business, may not have the resources they need to succeed, or stuck on a team of multiple agents with no upward mobility and are looking to make their own mark,” he said. “Either way, our senior agent recruiting is typically done organically with industry professionals who we have relationships with, so we have a degree of confidence they will be a great addition to the family and team culture we have built.”