by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
The best way to know what your organization wants or needs is to ask them.
Last year, the Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville surveyed their membership to see what type of programs they would like to see at the meetings.
From that survey, the new president, Denise Henderson, president of ServPro, said she hopes to evolve the Jacksonville chapter of CREW into the premier real estate organization in Jacksonville.
“This year our programs are going to focus on the commercial real estate industry and personal and professional development,” she said.
Henderson hopes to increase the strength of the group through the networking programs and programs that are focused on commercial real estate and personal and professional development.
CREW has a lot of networking programs in place including breakfasts, lunches and evening events.
“We are starting to see the successes and hear some testimonials from those programs that we can use to demonstrate the value of networking within the membership to increase the member to member business that is taking place,” she said.
CREW was started five years ago. Henderson has been a member for four years and has watched the organization grow and become more organized and focused over the years.
“In the beginning, I think they were so focused on attracting new members that a lot of people weren’t sure what the focus of the organization was,” said Henderson. “Now, people are becoming more familiar with what that focus is and what is happening is that we are seeing the membership really represent the various business lines that CREW nationally represents. It’s becoming more in line with the core mission of CREW.”
CREW’s mission is to enhance the success and foster the development of professionals in all disciplines of the commercial real estate industry by providing resources and business opportunities.
CREW wants to have representation of every line of business that is part of a real estate transaction and vendors that support that core transaction or property.
“We are actually in somewhat of a unique position this year,” said Henderson. “This may be the first year we are in this position where the board of CREW has some experience. They’ve been on the board for more than a year. We have some new members, but they are strong so we can use their experience. I’m very excited about that. We are in the position to build some strength with the people that are coming up behind them.”
An event they have planned is their philanthropic event, A Monte Carlo Night, in the spring.
“We’ll have casino vendors, a silent auction and a band,” said Henderson. “It will be an opportunity for the members and their guests to come and find out a little more about us and just have a great night. It’s a bit more upscale than we have done in the past and it will be on a Saturday night.”
Throughout the rest of the year, they will be providing the programs that give the members networking opportunities as well as adding to their knowledge of the commercial real estate trends and activity in Jacksonville.
Preparing to be president of any organization takes time and understanding of what that organization does. The best way to do that is to join or head committees since you learn the inner workings of the organization and get to know other members outside of regularly scheduled meetings.
When Henderson joined CREW she headed the Philanthropic Committee, then she led the Membership Committee. The next year she became a board member and now she is president.
Henderson said she and past president Lori Avampato, of Rolland DelValle and Bradley, got together about once a month and worked closely together as she prepared to take the lead.
She attended several CREW National meetings to also prepare.
“It was a good opportunity to be exposed to CREW National, their mission and initiative which I can now bring those here and incorporate those into the local membership,” she said.
Henderson owns her own company said it has helped her learn to understand the needs of the membership.
“While working with the board, we can focus on the activities that we need to support those needs in order to grow the organization,” she said.
The meetings are usually held at the Omni in downtown Jacksonville but Henderson said that may be changing, though she’s not yet sure of the new location.
Her company, which does disaster restoration, has been open for six years.
“We (ServPro) respond to property damages including fire, water and mold damage,” she said. “We respond in an emergency basis to water, but fire and mold is more of a scheduled response. We respond to these property losses in both commercial and residential structures. We work very closely with the property owners or property managers.”
Henderson’s background is in banking. She had worked for Barnett Bank for 13 years as a senior vice president in technology. When they got bought out by NationsBank and then Bank of America, what used to be the headquarters here no longer existed.
“I was traveling a lot and there was a lot of uncertainty, and my husband had gone through a job change, so we were both looking at options,” she said. “We really didn’t want to move, so we started looking at other business opportunities. We knew some people who had ServPro franchises in other locations. It has a very strong business model and a very strong support system, so here we are.”
The company services Jacksonville South, the Westside and greater Clay County.