FROM THE PRESIDENT don werner | metrex property group
Why I chose to go for another round as president of AAMD
T
en years ago, I was president of the Apartment Association of Metro Denver. And now, here I am again. People have asked me why, and I tell them that when I was having drinks with Mark Williams and a few board members a while back, I was asked if I’d go another round. I thought they meant another round of drinks, so of course I said yes. I didn’t realize that they were, in fact, asking if I’d be president again. In the last ten years, the Denver apartment industry has become bigger and better. Thousands of units have been developed since 2003, vacancies are down and rents are up. While the Association is much bigger because of it, the core values of AAMD – legislation, education and networking – are still central to the organization, and the Association has developed some big picture strategies based on each one that I’m excited to expand upon during my presidency. First, because the industry has gotten bigger and our businesses have become healthier, we’ve seen more and more negative legislation try to weaken us. One of my primary goals this year is to further encourage every member of AAMD to step up with their time and energy to help spread the good word, with heir corporate and personal financial contributions. No matter our political affiliations - We must work together to protect this industry because we depend on it for our jobs and businesses. The past ten years have proven successful for AAMD in developing training programs for those who professionally manage our properties. Not only in expanding the office and education center, but also in sending legal handbooks to every apartment owner with more than 25 units, as well as each community with more than 100 units - and offering free legal handbook seminars - a valuable resource that will only help the industry as a whole. This year, I hope to see more AAMD members using these valuable re-sources.
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Finally, with an increased focus on networking, I hope to see AAMD continue to expand their current events like the Trade Show and Maintenance Olympics, and their smaller casual functions and roundtables for members to grow closer together personally and professionally. As many of you know, I’m all about business. A lot of initiatives we started during my presidency in 2003-2004 have expanded and really set up a good future for the organizations and the industry. It is my goal to ensure that all the hard work from our prior volunteers from our committees and councils continue to move forward while bringing new ideas and processes into play. Why I’m back as AAMD President has to do much more with where we are as an industry than those early evening cocktails several years ago. It’s an exciting time to be involved again and I’m happy to use my knowledge and experience as a leader in this Association.
Don Werner
2013-2014 AAMD President
www.aamdhq.org