FROM THE PRESIDENT
SCOTT KIRKWOOD | GRIFFIS BLESSING
As Denver Transitions to "Safer at Home", Our Industry
Continues to Provide Essential Services
T
he Coronavirus and subsequent events have
challenged us in ways we never dreamed,
both personally and professionally. It’s
given us new terms and phrases, like: “flatten the
curve” and “social distancing” and more relative to
our industry: “shelter in place” which has put the
housing industry right in middle of this pandemic.
And for the past few months the apartment business
has played an incredibly important and essential
role as housing and job providers.
We all have temporarily traded our conference
rooms for Zoom meetings, and onsite teams have
exchanged face-to-face leasing tours for virtual
tours. Most of our families are home all the time,
kids are learning online, and going out to eat means
the drive thru pick up.
Education, information, meetings, legislative
protection, and the sense of belonging… have all
continued to be a part of what AAMD delivers!
In the past several weeks, the association
has provided us with valuable resources and
communication on how to maneuver through these
unique circumstances:
• Formed the COVID-19 Task Force in early
March when the pandemic first became a
reality
• Continue to host a myriad of Zoom
conferences, helping shape best business
practices
• Providing timely alerts to members explaining
all the local and state orders and restrictions
Our residents, and in turn our businesses, have
been affected. Residents spend more time in their
apartments either working from home or because
of job loss. We have had to close our fitness centers
and common areas to slow the spread of this virus,
and our service and leasing teams have had to
change the way they maintain and conduct business
at their communities. • Launched a COVID-19 Resource Center on
the AAMD website
While AAMD has postponed all of our major
revenue producing events and put some things
on pause, we have also pivoted quickly with the
utilization of webinars and other online tools. • Prepared and distributed press releases,
articles and editorials helping media share the
realities
• Developed new forms, documents and more to
assist with the new business environment
• Collecting & distributing valuable data and
numbers, for example April rent collection
estimates
Gov. Polis Provides an Update on Response
to COVID-19 and the Safer-at-Home Phase
• Launched a COVID-19 Support Marketplace
featuring AAMD Supplier Partners who
are offering services directly related to the
pandemic (such as disinfecting and cleaning
services).
• Worked with our PR team to address the
pandemic with the media as it relates to rental
housing.
We want to thank our Members who have
renewed their membership by paying their dues
as quickly as possible during this time. AAMD
absolutely relies on membership dues to continue
operations. Without your dues investment we
cannot continue to provide the backbone of
informational and legislative services to our
members. We know everyone is struggling and we
share your pain. We’re extremely hopeful we can
continue to put on all of our revenue producing
activities soon, but in the short term we will
continue to be as creative and solution driven as
possible.
At this critical juncture in our history, we
want to all strongly encourage to renew your
commitment to AAMD and CAA. Please renew
your dues as soon as your company is financially
able. Thank you for all you do for our association,
our industry and our great State of Colorado!
In mid-April, Governor Jared
Polis provided an update on
how the state is responding to
COVID-19 and provided further
clarification on what the Safer-at-Home phase
of the pandemic will look like for Coloradans.
“I want to reiterate, the Safer-at-Home phase is
not going back to life as normal. It’s not a major
adjustment from where we have been,” said Governor
Jared Polis. “Safer-at-Home means most Coloradans
should continue to limit social interactions to the
greatest extent possible to just individuals in your
household and wear facial masks when you are out.
I’m proud of how Colorado has come together during
this difficult period to stay home as much as possible,
protecting ourselves and our neighbors. But we still
have work to do - we are not through the woods yet.”
FULL ARTICLE ON PAGE 26
6 | TRENDS MAY 2020
www.aamdhq.org