Experience and leadership
RAMÓN J (RAY) VENERO, CPM®, SPHR, M.A., MBA,  has been involved in the commercial real estate investment and management business since 1978. He has held leadership positions with national real estate syndicators, regional real estate development and management companies and, for a time, operated his own management and leasing company as part of developer/builder group where he was involved in the acquisition, development, leasing and management of 16 real estate assets for his own account. He has managed varied portfolios of multi-family, commercial, retail, industrial, HOA, and resort properties throughout the eastern United States. His domestic and foreign institutional clients have included J.P. Morgan; CalPERS; PennSERS; Manulife; Crown Life; Nationwide Insurance Co; and, Alex. Brown Kleinwort Benson. His private investor clients have included local business people as well as investors from the GSR.

Education and training practice
Ray earned his BA in Economics and Urban Studies (double major) from Rutgers University. He studied towards an MBA at Fairleigh Dickerson University, also in New Jersey, completing most of his coursework before a job transfer to Washington, DC interrupted his academic career there. At Marymount University, he took an MA in Human Resource Management where he also earned a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Design Systems and was inducted into the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Honor Society. The faculty of the School of Business voted him as the Most Outstanding Graduate Student in 2003. He is currently pursing a Doctorate in Business Administration at NOVA Southeastern University at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entreprenueralship. His research interests include cross-cultural communications (as they relate to the enterprise); leadership; organizational behavior; business continuity and organizational resilience. He is a graduate of the Leadership Development Program of the Center for Creative Leadership and the Disney Institute’s WDW approach to HRM. Ray also attended training at Harvard’s School of Public Health in pandemic planning. 

IREM background
Active with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) since 1982, Ray received his CPM® designation in 1991. He is a member of Northern Virginia Chapter 77 where he has served a number of roles including Chapter President in 2000. With the national organization, he has served as Governing Councilor; a member of the Ethics Committee; a member of the Ethics and Disciple Hearing Board; a member of the Faculty Performance Task Force; the Diversity Forum chair; a member of the Faculty and Grader Management Board (which supervises IREM’s faculty around the world); Chair of the International Committee, and serves currently as Vice-Chair of IREM’s Audit Committee.

General info
Tri-lingual and a detail-directed problem solver with 25 years diverse operating experience in commercial real estate investment and facilities management, and over 11 years experience in association management and continuity of operations, Ray has been a member of the IREM faculty since 1999. Within the industry, he is recognized for directing complex projects from concept to implementation, with P&L responsibility for budgets of up to $200M and staff up to 230 team members. A goal-oriented individual with strong leadership capabilities, he has proven abilities to work collaboratively with staff, owners and stakeholders. Internationally, Ray has traveled twice to Brazil to facilitate IREM courses in Portuguese hosted by SECOVI-SP, the largest real estate trade association in South America, and among the largest in the world. SECOVI-SP is one of IREM’s many partners around the world. He is scheduled to deliver training to IREM Polska (IREM Chapter 108) in November 2009.

Fred W. Prassas, CPM®, is 2005 President-elect of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®). Mr. Prassas is a principal in the PMC Management Group, which specializes in residential property management throughout western Wisconsin and eastern Minnesota. He has been in the real estate business since 1973 and is licensed as a broker in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. He is a faculty member of the Institute, and is experienced in residential property management and consultation.

In addition to volunteer leadership positions with IREM, Mr. Prassas has held similar positions with the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR®). Recently, he was an architect of Realtors Commercial Alliance Advisory Board, which brings together leadership of the 16 largest national commercial real estate firms, NAR leadership and all of its specialty affiliates to formulate national policy of importance to commercial practitioners.

Mr. Prassas is a trustee of the Center for Urban Land Economic Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He was president of the La Crosse Area Realtors Association in 1985, president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association in 1992, and was named REALTOR® of the year by both organizations.

Mr. Prassas earned a bachelor of science degree in Communications at Southern Illinois University and a master of business administration degree at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse.

CIVIC
- University of Wisconsin Graaskamp Center for Urban Land Economics Research,  Board of Trustees, 1992 – present
- Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection, Ad Hoc Committee on Rental Practices, 1998
- Governor Thompson’s task force on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing, 1994
- Governor Thompson’s Conference on Small Business Advisory Committee, 1992
- Wisconsin Real Estate Board task force on Trust Account Rules, 1994
- Corral Committee, (to defend Wisconsin’s rent absconding law), 1992-94
- Wisconsin Realtor® Foundation, board member 1988-94  

Richard Muhlebach has 40 years of experience as an executive with real estate firms that lease, develop, consult and manage commercial and residential properties. Richard is a commercial broker, educator, author and consultant. His company, Richard Muhlebach LLC, is in Woodinville, Washington and provides leasing and consulting services.

During his career, Mr. Muhlebach has been responsible for developing and implementing the marketing, leasing and management plans for mid and high-rise office buildings, medical office buildings, shopping centers, enclosed community and regional malls, industrial properties and apartments. 

He served as the Vice President for three development firms. He founded and served for nineteen years as the President of a commercial brokerage and management company.  After selling the company to a national real estate firm, he served as its Senior Managing Director for nine years.

Mr. Muhlebach has co-authored 18 books on commercial real estate including: Shopping Center Managing and Leasing, The Leasing Process: Landlord and Tenant Perspectives, Business Strategies for Real Estate Management Companies, Managing and Leasing Commercial Properties and Shopping. He authored over 100 articles including articles published in Asia and Europe. 

He is an instructor for the Institute of Real Estate Management, Building Owners and Managers Association, National Association of Realtors, Commercial Brokers Association and the University of Washington. He’s taught seminars and lectured across the United States and in Singapore, China, Taiwan, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Canada. 

He served as the National President of the Institute of Real Estate Management and the President of the Washington State Commercial Association of Realtors. 

Mr. Muhelbach is a Counselor of Real Estate, Certified Property Manager®, Senior Certified Shopping Center Manager, and Real Property Administrator. 

He graduated from San Francisco State University.

Natalie D. Brecher, CPM® CDEI™

Natalie D. Brecher, CPM®, CDEI™ founded Brecher & Associates Incorporated in 1998, a performance improvement consultancy to help organizations improve workplace results. Performance improvement services utilize Human Performance Technology (HPT) analysis and create systems to improve employee productivity and competence to meet business objectives. Other services include training and keynotes; focus group and Think Tank facilitation; underwriting reports; asset management; and property positioning, advertising and marketing programs.

Since 1974, Brecher has worked with investment real estate: development, syndication, acquisition, asset and property management, marketing, and disposition. She has worked with two developers, two syndication firms, and as asset manager for a lending institution. She has been responsible for more than 15,000 apartments and 100,000 sq ft commercial, located nationwide.

Active with the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM), she obtained the Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation in 1980. In 1988, Brecher became a member of IREM's faculty and began serving as a trainer for its new instructors in 2004. In addition to classroom training, her instructional work includes online training and interactive satellite-training, broadcast live to 400+ participants. She has served as chairperson for IREM’s Faculty Education Forum, as a Faculty Director, and is currently a member of the Faculty Grader and Management Board.

Brecher has delivered hundreds of keynote speeches and training sessions for private organizations—instructing thousands of participants throughout the United States, and internationally in Russia, Canada, South Korea, and Japan. She has been a keynote speaker for industry associations such as the National Apartment Association, Building Owners and Managers’ Association International, Pro Estate Russia, International Facility Managers Association, Building Industry Association, and the Association of Professional Consultants.

She is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, where she earned the Los Angeles Member of the Year Award for 2005 and the Silver Microphone Award in 2006. Brecher earned the Certified Distance Education Instructor (CDEi™) designation through the International Distance Education Certification Center (IDECC) in 2011. She served as an instructor for other industry associations including the National Association of Home Builders and the Apartment Association of Los Angeles.

An accomplished author, her book, Success Strategies for Commercial and Multifamily Real Estate Careers, is the authoritative guide to develop and manage your career. Brecher wrote the book, Profit from the Power of Many: How to Use Mastermind Teams to Create Success and produced the audio CD, Business without Biceps: The Untold Truths of Women in Business and How to Make Them Work for You. Her feature articles have been published in the Journal of Property Management, The BOMA Magazine, Multi-Housing News, and Today’s Facility Manager. Her column “Good to Great” has appeared in the Journal of Property Management since 2006. Brecher was inducted into the IREM Academy of Authors in 2007.

She acted as Editorial Consultant for the books: Practical Apartment Management (both the 4th and 5th editions), Contemporary Apartment Marketing and The Resident Retention Revolution, as well as contributed information for Valuing a Property Management Company.

 

Glenn M. Pelot, CPM®, is a Property Manager with Broder & Sachse Real Estate Services, Inc., AMO®, located in Farmington Hills, Michigan, northwest of Detroit. They have 20 years experience  and are specialized in real estate management, development, and construction. Broder & Sachse, was selected as one of the top 25 property management companies in Michigan since 1997. The company currently provide property management and related services to a diverse portfolio of over 70 properties and over 8 million square feet of space, as well  provide SOS! Property Maintenance Services to over 100 locations, nationwide construction management services for local to international companies, as well as acquisition and development services.

A native of Detroit, Mr. Pelot started his real estate career in 1972 in downtown high-rise apartments and for years concentrated on multifamily housing. Since then, his experience has led him to specialize in office building and shopping center management. His portfolio has included high-rise apartments and other multi-family properties, single- family homes, office buildings and shopping centers.

He graduated from Sacred Heart College, and has been an Associate Broker in the State of Michigan since 1978.

Mr. Pelot became a CPM in 1977 and has been involved in his local IREM® chapter since then, serving in various capacities, including president in 1982. He was named their Manager of the Year in 1983. He has served on the national ethics and discipline committee since 1996 and became chairperson of the ethics hearing and discipline board in 2004. 

He began teaching property management courses in 1983 as an instructor for the Detroit College of Business. He first taught the IREM residential management (Successful Site Management) course in 1985. Since that time he has guided over 1,200 students through that program in southeast Michigan alone, and taught various other IREM courses in the United States, including “Ethics for the Real Estate Manager” since its inception. He became a member of the IREM international faculty when he taught  as an international instructor a series of courses in Seoul, South Korea in 2003.

www.brodersachse.com