Commercial Investment Real Estate November/December 2017 | Page 22

CCIM
EDUCATION
Smoother Transition
CCIM Institute is helping vets find successful second careers.
very day, about 550 U.S. military vets return to civilian
life. As the U.S. draws down from more than decade of
remote warfare, the armed forces are expected to shed
nearly 250,000 soldiers annually from 2014 to 2019,
according to The Economist. Most confront the challenge of find-
ing a new job and learning new skills.
“In my area alone, we have about 10,000 people getting out
of the military every year,” Jeff Guild says. “Some percentage of
them will be interested in commercial real estate, and CCIM
isn’t just an accreditation, it’s an education. It can be a good fit
for certain veterans getting out.”
It’s proven to be ideal for Guild and three other veterans who
recently took the CI 102 class in Chicago through the CCIM
Veterans in Real Estate Program. The program, which CCIM
Institute offers in partnership with the U.S. Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, gives vets the chance to fund their CCIM course-
work through the GI Bill.
Guild, vice president of debt and structured finance at CBRE
Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Va., was a Navy SEAL for 20 years.
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When he retired, Guild attended the Acton School of Business,
where he developed an interest in real estate.
After Guild started at CBRE, he learned about the CCIM
designation from a colleague, found out about the veterans’ pro-
gram, and started his coursework. “It’s perfect for me,” Guild
says. “On the capital market side where I work, specifically in
debt and structured finance, the financial analysis that we learn in
CCIM coursework directly correlates with what I do at CBRE.”
Steven Rosa-Pagan, on the other hand, had started his career
in residential real estate in Puerto Rico before joining the U.S.
Army in 2006. He served with a combat unit in Iraq from 2008
to 2009. When Rosa-Pagan returned, he stayed in the U.S. Army
reserves and resumed his real estate career.
When he left the service in 2014, “I wanted to do something
more challenging,” Rosa-Pagan says. He joined RE/MAX
Commercial Associates in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the firm’s
president, JM Padron, CCIM, introduced him to the CCIM
program, encouraging him to pursue the designation and point-
ing him toward the veterans’ program.
COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE
by Sarah Hoban