With the search for a new executive director of its Rental Housing Association and Residential Association of Realtors nearing completion, the Greater Boston Real Estate Board was handed another recruiting challenge as Chief Operating Officer Carolyn Sidor announced last week she was stepping down from her position.
Citing family reasons, Sidor said she will leave GBREB sometime in mid-November to take a position as director of communications and marketing at Insignia/ESG, one of the nation’s larger commercial real estate service providers with offices in Boston.
“It was a very difficult decision,” Sidor said. “I’ve invested 16 years of my life with this organization, and I feel the organization is a part of me. But I’ve come to realize I need to spend more time with my children … and my new position will allow me the flexibility I need to do that.”
Sidor has two sons, ages 10 and 7. “I didn’t want to look back and regret that I didn’t spend more time with them,” she said. “It’s hard to argue with the value of family.”
“It’s not going to be easy to replace her,” said Edwin J. Shanahan, chief executive officer of GBREB. “We’ve been working together since September of 1984. We both started working here on the exact same day.”
Sidor started out at GBREB as the managing director of the Building Owners and Managers Association before being named executive director of the Commercial Leasing and Investment Committee, now known as the Commercial Brokers Association. She was named COO in April of 1999.
Shanahan said a search is under way for a replacement. Depending on who is eventually hired and other restructuring, Shanahan said the title of the position might change.
“It was a pleasure beyond description to work with her,” he said. “We both always knew what the other one was thinking. That kind of relationship takes a lot of time to build.”
Meanwhile, GBREB still has to replace Kathy Boshar, former head of the RAR and RHA, who left the board in June to take a position with The DeWolfe Cos. in a location closer to her family.
“All of the services are still being provided, and we’re still getting the work out,” Shanahan said. “We’ve got a team in place and we’re pretty well-positioned and well-staffed to deliver quality services to our members.”
