
Ken Sundberg – ‘Enriches Realtors’
The organization representing the state’s women Realtors is hoping to boost membership and expand its reach by creating three new chapters.
“We’re on a building mission right now,” said Caroline Bianchi, current president of the Massachusetts Women’s Council of Realtors.
Bianchi, who will be replaced next year by Ken Sundberg – the first male president in the history of the state WCR – said one of group’s primary goals in upcoming years is to attract new members.
About six years ago, WCR’s membership peaked at some 600 members. Today, the group consists of about 395 men and women ranging in ages from 30 to 70.
To bring membership numbers back up to about 500 to 600, Bianchi said the group will embark on plans to launch chapters in Foxboro, Springfield and possibly in Danvers.
During visits and meetings with local chapter officers, Bianchi said she talked with Realtors from those areas who expressed interest in having chapters closer to their homes.
The Massachusetts WCR currently has chapters in the Cape Cod, Greater Worcester, Eastern Middlesex, Central Middlesex and Greater Boston areas. Currently, members who live and work in the Springfield area – or in North Adams, for example – would have to drive more than two hours to attend a meeting of the Greater Worcester chapter.
New chapters would encourage greater participation and make it “geographically easier” for Realtors to attend meetings, said Bianchi.
Bianchi, a sales agent for Re/Max Acclaim in Auburn, said as a state governor next year she will also promote the benefits of being a WCR member.
She wants Realtors to know that membership doesn’t have to involve a big time commitment.
A $95 annual membership fee automatically makes Realtors members of a local chapter and the state and national chapters.
Members belonging to WCR enter a nationwide network of male and female Realtors and learn about ways to increase business, and enhance their communication and professional skills.
Pilot Program
The WCR chapters also promote continual education, offering Realtors national organization courses they can take to earn the prized LTG – or leadership training graduate – designation.
Sundberg, who is the broker-owner of Realty Executives of Eastern Massachusetts in Acton, sees other benefits to being a WCR member.
Sundberg said WCR members are trusted and well-respected by their peers for their professionalism and ethics.
When Realtors find out that he is a WCR member, “they know they can work with me,” said Sundberg, who served as president of the Central Middlesex WCR chapter in 1997 and 1998.
Sundberg became active with WCR about 10 years ago after a group of Realtors asked him to join. In 1997, he served as president of the Central Middlesex chapter. The current presidents of the Greater Boston and Eastern Middlesex chapters are also men.
“I find the organization enriches Realtors,” said Sundberg.
In addition to starting chapters in the Western and Southern parts of the state, Sundberg said the group also wants to improve its current Web site, www.mawcr.org.
Sundberg said Bianchi was responsible for initiating the Web site about a year ago, and now he would like to add more information and links to it.
Last week, chapter officers from all of the New England states attended a seminar and orientation in Massachusetts that was part of a pilot program initiated by the national organization.
Massachusetts was one of the states chosen for the pilot program that will run in five of the country’s regions.
Bianchi said each state usually has its own orientation, offering guidance to local chapter officers on their responsibilities and giving them ideas on how to run their groups. This year, however, the national council is testing its own orientation program throughout the country.