PRESIDENT'S VIEW
A New Start in 2021 BY JEFFREY JONES
S
ome time ago, my friend and Past President Gary Large
Every other president before me has faced their share of
said to me, “you’ve done really well in real estate, but
challenges, and this upcoming year will be no different, but
now it’s time for you to give back.”
I promise I will take those challenges on thoughtfully, with the membership in mind, and the leadership team as my
I didn’t know what that meant at the time, and like I’m sure
counsel.
many of you can relate, before I decided to volunteer my time, I had a preconceived idea of what it meant to be a
I think that my leadership team will be fundamentally
part of the Realtor® organization.
important to me this year because, as an independent commercial broker owner, I will need to rely on their
But I took Gary’s advice, I became involved with my
expertise more than ever. As I reside and lead in my
board and, over time, I realized that it was not, like I had
professional niche, they lead in theirs and I take their
assumed, about gaining business, but rather gaining and
wisdom and advice to heart.
maintaining relationships. I promise that, as I have done my whole life, I will continue And when I think about the past year we’ve had, when
find the positive in every situation, and always look toward
everything was stripped away, relationships were all we had
the future without forgetting where we have come from.
to survive on. I thank my wife, Marianne, and my daughters, Kelly and Those relationships were critical in sustaining our
Katherine, for their love and support, my dear friends
individual businesses through an incredibly challenging
in the Realtor® world who have guided me this far, the
market; they were vital in securing our right to continue
past presidents for all their knowledge, my local board—
working when our colleagues from other states were unable
North Central Jersey Association of Realtors®—for the
to; and they were fundamental in keeping us sane as we
opportunities I was afforded, and my past and current
took stock and pivoted, like every other industry.
leadership teams for their friendship and support.
When the world changed overnight, we reacted immediately—and so did our members with huge increases in engagement and responses from all segments of our almost 58,000-strong membership. That engagement will be necessary to help fight some of the steep challenges that will face us in 2021.
6 | NEW JERSEY REALTOR® | January/February 2021
