“because the world is changing
around us; the economic envi-
ronment and outside influences
are changing all the time. As a
result, the needs of our members
are changing. So we have to be
constantly vigilant that we’re
evaluating all of those things and
making sure we’re providing the
best value for our membership
that we can.”
Summing up the goals of the
educational initiative, Walt
Clements, CCIM, the Institute’s
chief executive and EVP, says sim-
ply that the goal is “to teach the
students the language of real
estate,” no matter how those
above-mentioned trends rede-
fine the practice of the craft.
GLOBAL, GRANULAR
At the end of the day, the goal is
to cover the market, essentially to be there—wherever “there”
is—and be ready to answer client questions. “Eighty percent of
our membership is in secondary and tertiary markets,” says
Moreira, “which is really important because today, Wall Street
owns Main Street, USA. We have boots on the ground in Albany,
NY and St. Paul, MN as well as all the primary MSAs.”
It’s no surprise, then, that ongoing member support is also a
critical part of the CCIM platform, reaching well beyond the class-
room and into the field. Given the emphasis on a strong bench
strength in markets of all sizes, that means reliance on other
CCIMs for their expertise and robust local data analysis.
To fill that first need, the Institute offers an online roster of
CCIMs that any member—in fact any owner or user of real
estate—can reach out to in markets across the globe, in cities
of all sizes. “The designation is recognized for what it is,”
Moreira says, “a standard in commercial real estate excellence
with a network of folks who can be depended on for their
expertise in all markets and serve as a full-service resource to
the institutional investor.”
CCIMs filling that advisory role elevates (to invoke that word
again) the industry beyond a simplistic transactional focus. “We
aren’t in the real estate business,” says Clements. “We’re in the
information business. The information just happens to be about
real estate. As service providers, our role is to gather the most
information about any real estate decision and serve it up in a
compelling and understandable format so our clients can digest
it quickly, make a decision and move forward.”
Two vital partnerships have helped CCIM achieve the goal of
collecting and providing rock-solid information. One is with data
provider Xceligent (a Thought Leader for Forum’s online sister
product, GlobeSt.com) and the other is with ESRI, a leading sup-
plier of geographic information system software, web GIS and
geodatabase management applications.
“Through the site, members can share commercial property
information, intelligent maps, photographs and detailed prop-
“We aren’t in the real estate
business. We’re in the
information business.”
WALT CLEMENTS, CCIM CEO and EVP
COUNTER CURRENTS
Clearly, and for myriad reasons, this is no longer
your Old Man’s real estate business. But
nowhere, not in banking or the capital markets
or the mega-mergers that sweep the headlines
almost daily, are the changes more stark than in
retail, where brick-and-mortar brands are
scrambling to redefine the customer experience, even as those customers surf virtual
shelves at home in their jammies.
And nowhere is that fight being fought more
creatively than at Walmart, with its 11,000
global stores that serve 200 million customers a
week. The retailer is redefining its traditional
M.O. with a variety of new formats, giving “cus-
tomers more choices to shop with us,” says J.P.
Suarez, senior vice president of real estate and
process improvement for Walmart US. These
choices include full-service stores to small for-
mat shops and a Site-to-Store program, “which
gives customers a free shipping option by hav-
ing the product delivered to their local store.”
In the midst of these radical changes, CCIM
education proves valuable to the company’s real
estate pros. “It provides a unique opportunity to
accelerate our associates’ development,” he
says. “CCIM education assists in elevating their
understanding of core real estate fundamentals
along with providing an excellent opportunity to
network with professionals in the industry.”
Suarez describes the CCIM designation as
part of a long-term professional development
plan. “Walmart associates who earn the CCIM
designation learn real estate financial fundamentals that assist with the multilayered deci-sion-making processes that are involved in
Walmart’s day-to-day operations,” he says.
“The ability for designees to communicate
clearly and effectively with each other—and
across departmental lines—creates efficiencies
and drives out waste, which supports Walmart’s
mission to save people money.”
