Commercial Investment Real Estate September/October 2017 | Page 24

THE FIFTH OF SIX STORIES
ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY
OF CCIM INSTITUTE
Covering More Bases
CCIM Institute branched out to recruit new designees
beyond brokers during the 1980s and 1990s.
by Sara S. Patterson
The
1980s and 1990s were decades
of growth and expansion for CCIM designees and
members. Through the years, this second genera-
tion of CCIM designees has molded the Institute,
but also focused on mentoring the next generations
for leadership positions.
“I have a passion for my pin — giving back but also
for learning,” says Barbara Ann Monahan, CCIM,
who has served on the Board of Directors and many
national committees since 1989. “CCIMs understand
that it is more than a pin and more than a designa-
tion. It’s a people network for building relationships.”
Through these two pivotal decades, CCIM
Institute attracted members such as Byron Smith
Sr., CCIM, who had trained as an attorney and
attended business school in finance; Joseph Fisher,
CCIM, who owned a securities company and began
selling real estate; and Ron Myles, CCIM, who had
been an accountant for Arthur Andersen. Smith,
Fisher, and Myles not only earned their designa-
tions, all three became CCIM instructors. Myles
and Fisher also became presidents of the Institute.
“Bob Ward was my mentor — working with
him deepened my curiosity,” says Fisher, owner and
president of Fisher Investment Real Estate in India-
napolis. “I admired and have tried to emulate his
ability to engage students in the classroom and bring
them along in their knowledge of the curriculum.”
CCIMs were impressive, well-trained, sharp
commercial real estate professionals, with a street-
wise approach, according to Smith. “CCIM train-
ing showed me different ways to look at problems,”
“I didn’t consciously set out to break the glass ceiling. But I never thought
that I couldn’t do it either. I had my boxing gloves on that whole set of meetings
in 1993 when I was a candidate for the first vice president, and I was there with
all my plans spelled out.”
— BK Allen
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September | October 2017
COMMERCIAL INVESTMENT REAL ESTATE