FRED Newsletter - May 2022 - Volume 4, Issue 5

Volume 4 Issue 5

May 2022

LETTER FROM 2022 FRED SUMMIT

Trekking Through Another Virtual Event The second week in April, FRED held its 2nd virtual SUMMIT. There were fun daily activities including an acrostic exercise, setting goals for the year, and solving The Great SUMMIT Mystery. We also had exciting giveaways for showing your FRED and Brewer spirit! Those who earned their FRED Red’s or hit a milestone anniversary were acknowledged and celebrated in a video that you can check out by following the QR code below.

Educational opportunities through SUMMIT included FRED U with Kristin, Eric, and Erin, and J Turner Research shared why resident satisfaction is so imperative to success. To bring some smiles and laughter, we brought in comedian and America’s Got Talent finalist, Adam Grabowski.

To bring the week to a great close, we did what FRED does best by giving back to the community through a property competition. Teams were challenged with decorating a key to show “The Key to Living the Difference”. Winning teams, voted on by our speakers and Brett, were given a list of charities to choose from. Creekwood Apartments took 2nd place, with $2,000 donated to House of Hope in their community's name! The 1st place team, Barrington Place, selected Wisconsin Veterans Network to receive their $3,000 donation. Both winning photos, plus additional event photos, are on the cover of this issue.

All extra resources provided and videos of the week of fun and teambuilding are showcased on the FRED SUMMIT website.

Check it out!

Heidi Kivi Heidi Kivi Director of Property Management Operations

FRED OUT OF OFFICE Freddy Fresh

"Five Minutes of Fame"

By Freddy Almonte, Low Voltage Technician

One of the things people may not know about me is that, back in the 80s, I used to be a Break Dancer. I started break dancing around age 11 after watching a guy doing crazy dance moves at a party. Right then and there, I knew I had to learn how to do that. I went out and got my cardboard and the rest is history.

The neat thing about break dancing is learning a variety of other dance styles, like Lindy Hop, Jazz, Salsa, Merengue, Waltz, and more. I did some shows with dance companies such as Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Rock Steady Crew, Magnificent Force, Bronx Style Crew, and Black Dance America. My favorite was working with Mikhail Baryshnikov. I was always in awe of his amazing ballet moves.

I would travel all over the U.S. with these groups. I loved performing on stage, sometimes for five to ten thousand people. I still get invited to judge some dance contests in the U.S., including one this year in NYC. I also had the opportunity to work with some great artists on stage, like RUN DMC, Ice-T, Soul Sonic Force, Eurythmics, and Nucleus. I would travel all over the U.S., Europe, and South America with these artists. It was a great experience. I guess that was my 5 minutes of fame. Maybe one day I will bust a move at one of our FRED get-togethers! Check me out here!

DEPARTMENT UPDATE PM Accounting

Accounting & Operations Working Hand-in-Hand

By Andy McDonald, Director of Accounting

When you hear buzzwords like journal entries, bank reconciliations, general ledger detail, gross potential rent reconciliations, lease audits, deposit accountings, actual to budget variances, financial statements, and many more exciting words and phrases, the Accounting Department probably comes to mind. Yes, the accountants are deeply involved in every one of these tasks and depend on operations for all the information that is processed, analyzed, and reviewed.

The work accounting does goes hand in hand with the work of operations. Every operational decision made generates data for the accountants to look at. It’s the way a new resident move-in, move-out, renewal, or transfer is handled. It’s the decision whether to handle a situation inhouse or to contract out and where to purchase services or merchandise. These decisions make their way into the general ledger through resident ledgers, expense reports, invoices, and payroll. From these daily activities, a financial statement is created.

One of the end goals of the accountants is to produce accurate, timely financial statements, which are reviewed in monthly meetings. These meetings give a snapshot on each property’s performance and drives how to proceed moving forward.

MEET the TEAM Andy McDonald | Director of Accounting Zang Thao | PM Accounting Manager Iven Weimer | Staff Accountant Matt Pastorek | Staff Accountant Choua Thao | Staff Accountant Trisha Dunton | Receptionist

The operational decisions made every day and the analysis done by the accountants lead to assessments made by the FRED Executives that continue the success of each property and FRED. It’s a great collaboration!

PROPERTY SPOTLIGHT

What Makes Them Shine

Drexel Ridge really has an amazing team and the core are two stellar longterm employees. Allison Kiddell, Property Manager, has been with Drexel Ridge since the start of construction back in 2017. Allison has worked her way up from a Leasing Professional to taking over as Property Manager in 2020. She will reach her five year mark this July! Charles Eggert, Maintenance Supervisor, just hit his 10 year anniversary with FRED this spring. We are so fortunate to have both of them! The Drexel Ridge teams follows the lead of these two and not only goes out of their way for their residents but also their community. This year alone, they have embraced local charities and started donation collection events for Second Hand Purs and JRs Pups and Stuff, collecting over 100 items in a single month!

The entire staff has also dedicated their personal time on the weekends to volunteer with Bobs Under The Bridge.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT

JOHN CALDERONE IT Help Desk Corporate In June of 2019, I was welcomed into the Madison branch of the FRED family. It is a privilege to support our corporate and property management teams. I have visited 21 properties, including The Bevy, which was a construction trailer, mud, and holes in the ground on my first day. There is a sense of pride, ownership, and personal responsibility when on site seeing our construction, maintenance, and leasing staff working with current and future residents. The highlight of my FRED journey was working at Liberty Square one summer afternoon when an elderly resident came to the office to ask a leasing professional to help her put on her sweater. My FRED family develops, builds, and manages world-class properties and we build human relationships. We help people put on their sweaters.

SPOTLIGHT! March Winner

TONY PETTKE

Maintenance Supervisor | State Street Station

Welcome to the Team March 16 - April 15, 2022

TAYLOR DEVINE

STACY ZHANAY

ERIN CUEVAS

NATHAN PLAUTZ

JORGE ROMERO

SEAN MONROE

CODY PHILIPPI

ELIJAH CAMPBELL

JOSE GUZMAN

SCOTT HARFORD

Leasing Professional Seasons at River View Leasing Professional Seasons at Mount Pleasant

Tony has been such a light since he joined the team at State Street Station. He is a team player, always has a positive attitude, and is always making sure everyone is doing ok and truly cares for his team. He helps out at Stone Point if they ever need help and will now be helping train Luke at Arrabelle. We are so thankful to have Tony on the team! He is making State Street Station run smoothly without any other tech/groundskeeping help and I would love to show our appreciation through the spotlight.

Maintenance Tech II Seasons at Randall Road

Nominated By: Madelyn Jaeger

LUCAS MANDELLA

Maintenance Supervisor The 85 Groundskeeper/Housekeeping The 85

Leasing Professional Seasons at Romeoville Leasing Professional Seasons at Orchard Hills Assistant Superintendent Corporate Leasing Professional Synergy Leasing Professional Drexel Ridge

JAYLIN WILLIAMS

Groundskeeper Seasons at Romeoville

Promotions

March 16 - April 15, 2022 Maintenance | Arrabelle

MAINTENANCE MANIA Annual Skills-Building Event

After a 2-year cancellation due to COVID-19, Maintenance Mania finally came back! Our FRED Maintenance team members were happy to get competing again. This year, we had even more Management team members come out to support everyone. All together, we had about 60 people signed up for the event and even had custom t-shirts made for everyone to wear.

FRED TEAM ON THE MOVE SEAN MONROE

Assistant Superintendent

Joined the FRED Team

CHRIS COUILLARD

Regional Maintenance Supervisor Joined the FRED Team

COVER PHOTO: 2022 FRED SUMMIT Collage

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