BRIAN KAVOOGIAN
‘Strong representation’

The Greater Boston Real Estate Board, one of the state’s most influential organizations representing all facets of the real estate industry, is poised to undergo significant changes in its top leadership.

The board hired a local executive search firm in September to launch a national search for a new chief executive officer after the current CEO, Edwin Shanahan, who has worked at GBREB for nearly two decades, announced in late June that he was leaving to start his own lobbying business.

About three months later, by mere coincidence, Joy Conway, the board’s senior vice president for government and industry affairs, announced she was leaving GBREB by the end of October to become the director of policy and public affairs of a national group called Living Cities: The National Community Development Initiative.

Shanahan’s and Conway’s departure leave big shoes to fill, acknowledge several industry leaders. The changes are likely to affect the strategies of the board and its dealings and relationships with other industry and non-industry groups. But the change in top leadership is likely to have a minimal impact on the day-to-day operations of the five divisions that are part of GBREB – the Greater Boston Association of Realtors, the Rental Housing Association, the Building Owners and Managers Association, the Commercial Brokers Association and the Real Estate Finance Association, according to some sources.

“With any change in leadership, it’s a tough process to find people with the experience and vision to lead that organization and to take advantage of all its resources,” said James M. Wetzel, a former GBREB executive who is currently executive vice president of the Worcester Regional Association of Realtors. However, since the board’s divisions operate so independently of each other and have their own staff, said Wetzel, the leadership transition is not likely to be felt by members.

“It’s going to have no impact on the membership,” said Wetzel. “[GBREB is] a well-run operation … It’s really a great setup, and I think they’ll do fine.”

“Fortunately, at GBREB, there remains a very strong team of top professionals,” said Wetzel, referring to current leaders like GBAR Executive Director Bett McCarthy and RHA Executive Director John Lafferty.

“Together with [Chief Financial Officer] Jeff Lapointe … and a top-shelf core staff responsible for membership administration and marketing, GBREB is well-equipped to provide continuity during the search for the new top management team,” he said.

About two months ago, GBREB hired Isaacson, Miller, a Boston-based firm that has recruited leaders for trade associations and groups like the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Boston Foundation, to search for Shanahan’s replacement.

Brian Kavoogian, president-elect of GBREB and principal of The Davis Cos., said about a dozen candidates have emerged so far for the CEO position. Some candidates are from the Greater Boston area but some are as far away as the Midwest, he said.

Kavoogian doesn’t see too much of a problem with hiring a CEO who is not local and may be unfamiliar with the political landscape in the Bay State because under the leadership of both Shanahan and Conway, he said, the board has established strong relationships with lawmakers.

“We could deal quite effectively with a candidate that wasn’t steeped in Boston and Massachusetts politics,” said Kavoogian, who also noted that Shanahan will continue to provide guidance to the board through his new lobbying practice.

“We will be [Shanahan’s] first client,” said Kavoogian.

Kavoogian said the board hired a professional search firm because GBREB leaders thought they could never reach as many candidates on their own. “We felt it was really important to find the best candidates available,” he said.

For Conway’s position, which is primarily focused on state and local regulatory and governmental affairs, “it will be very helpful for someone to be familiar with the local landscape,” said Kavoogian.

‘A Remarkable Run’

A GBREB committee will be searching for Conway’s replacement, Kavoogian said, because the board cannot afford the expense and fees associated with hiring firms to do two searches at the same time. No current staff members have expressed interest in either position, according to Kavoogian.

GBREB is searching for a new CEO who can manage a staff of 26 people and “continue to give us very strong representation” in government affairs, explained Kavoogian. But GBREB also wants to find an executive who has experience managing a large association and who recognizes the “diverse needs” of the board’s members.

The majority of GBREB’s roughly 7,000 members – 4,700 – are Realtors working in residential real estate, but Kavoogian pointed out that the five GBREB divisions often have very different needs.

“The residential side of the business faces a different set of issues than the commercial people face,” he said. “They face a business that has had a remarkable run in the last few years. On the other hand … I think that everyone recognizes that the residential real estate industry is changing.”

Kavoogian views this as an opportunity to search for a new CEO who can address the needs of Realtors during a time when the residential real estate industry is confronted with continued consolidation and emerging technology issues.

The five-page job description provided by Isaacson, Miller notes that the new CEO will report to the board of directors and has “supervisory responsibility” over the executive directors of the five divisions, the public affairs director and the staff, and an operating budget of $5 million.

The description points out that the specific challenges facing the incoming CEO include “refining the organizational structure as necessary to support the growth and development of the board’s programs.” Another challenge for the CEO, according to the job description, is developing a “vision for the organization that integrates new revenue opportunities for the board that will improve the organization’s capacity to respond to increasing demand for services from commercial and residential property professionals in a changing economy.”

Kavoogian acknowledged that searching for replacements for both Shanahan and Conway at the same will be tough. He was quick to emphasize, however, that the situation can be viewed as “a remarkable opportunity” to “reshape” and “modernize” the board.

Dale Roberts, a director of GBAR, is confident that the search for a new CEO led by Kavoogian and the division presidents, along with the assistance of Isaacson, Miller, will yield the highest-caliber candidates.

“They will take their time to find the very best candidate,” said Roberts.

Like Wetzel, Roberts believes that the divisions’ strong leadership – including the leadership of Jean Cleary, executive director of BOMA and CBA – will keep the board stable throughout the transition period.

“I think where GBREB is a members-based board and organization, things for the board itself will not change,” Roberts said. “We’ll have a changing of the guard but the base should remain just as focused and as strong as ever.”