Over a hundred Realtor leaders from across Iowa met June 8-10 at Honey Creek Resort by Lake Rathbun for IAR’s Summer Meetings. IAR’s committees hosted meetings to discuss important industry issues that impact homeownership.
Rally Ride
The 2022 Rally Ride served as an unofficial kickoff to the summer meetings for over 45 members that invested in RPAC and enjoyed a tour of restaurants and bars in south central Iowa. Over $22,000 of RPAC investments were collected for this fun event! Check out the short teaser video here.
Highlights from the Board of Directors Meeting
| Erik Melloy, a broker/owner from Coralville, was voted to be the next member of IAR’s leadership team. Melloy will serve as IAR’s 2nd Vice President in 2023. |
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IAR’s Board of Directors voted to create a new Regional MLS tentatively titled NoCoast MLS with IAR CEO Gavin Blair serving as its CEO and to hire a Director and staff as appropriate. The goal for this new MLS is to get all Iowa and other Realtors in our region on one MLS System to best serve our clients and Realtor members.
The make-up of the Board of Directors for NoCoast MLS
-IAR CEO: ex-officio
-IAR Immediate Past-President: Chair
-IAR President: Vice Chair
-IAR President-Elect
-One representative from each local board/association that has joined
-One representative from each local board/association that has submitted a letter of intent with commitment date (formal board action)
Other Actions by the Board of Directors
The Board of Directors voted to approve a Communications audit for $60,000 to help IAR hone its communication strategy by hiring the services of August Partners.
The board approved the recommendation from the RPAC Trustees to include President’s Circle investments toward IAR’s RPAC Hall of Fame.
Highlights from IAR Committees
Communications Committee
IAR Staff unveiled a fresh look at the News Page at iowarealtors.com. The new design will act as a hub for all types of news showcasing the events, articles, and videos all in one place. Categories were added and revised to allow visitors to filter to view specific topics that interest them.
In partnership with the Diversity Committee, IAR has added a new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion section to the website. Information including DEI current projects, resources on fair housing, education courses on DEI topics, interpretation resources and upcoming community events. All IAR committee members and local leaders have been challenged to complete Implicit Bias training, the Fairhaven simulation, and the At Home With Diversity Course. You can view this new information and these resources at iowarealtors.com/dei
The Diversity Committee is asking everyone that speaks a second language to complete this quick survey and let us know what languages you speak. This info will be shared with your local board/association so it can be added to your member record with the National Association of REALTORS. IAR plans to incorporate languages into future member profiles and a resources page for bilingual agents.
Legislative Committee
The committee and staff provided a recap of the successful legislative session that recently wrapped up. They discussed some legislation that they were able to help get passed as well as some bills that we were able to stop. Watch this great recap video or read this post about our legislative successes in 2022.
Risk Management Committee
The committee members saw a sneak peak of some new web pages that include more detail and clarification on how Ethics complaints are submitted and the overall process. This improvement should help Realtors and members of the public better understand what is involved and what to expect when an ethics complaint is submitted and processed.
The committee bid a fond farewell to IAR Legal Counsel, Gabe Walsh, as he moves on to become the CEO for the Lake Superior Area REALTORS® in Duluth.
Realtor Party Committee
The committee reported on RPAC investments received so far in 2022. IAR is off to a strong start in the first half of the year, nearly 50% to our goal already. We have already met our President’s Circle goal 4x over, and have reached 50% of our Major investor goal. In addition, the RPAC raffle at Summer Meetings collected an additional $4,000 in investments. Upcoming events include the RPAC Road Tour, August 16th-18th and the BACK THE PAC Auction, August 15th-19th.
REALTOR® Foundation of Iowa
As presented by the Communications committee,Project Jack produced over 150 pay-it-forward projects that benefited communities and individuals throughout Iowa via the 4th and 5th grade classes that participated.
RFI raised over $3,000 at the event with a game of chance, an auction of a firepit with a s’mores package, sales of snacks and the Summer Meetings t-shirts. Thanks to all that donated to the REALTOR® Foundation of Iowa.