Chairman’s Message

Dear NAIOP-AZ Members:
It is with great pride that I serve as the 2013 NAIOP-AZ Chairman.  In December, we had a luncheon with sixteen of our Past Chairmen in attendance; it was great to hear stories of how the golf tournament got started, Night at the Fights became a reality and learn about the growth of our chapter as a whole.  I am honored to follow in the footsteps of all of the Past Chairmen that have made our association what it is today.

In 2012, under esteemed Chairman John DiVall's leadership, our chapter accomplished many things.  I would like to thank John and point out some of the highlights:

• We created a partnership with ASU's MRED program and had fifteen students intern with NAIOP firms in the fall and will be continuing this program moving forward.
  
  
• We continued our philanthropic efforts by hosting the "Original Crawfish Boil" contributing
  over $14,000 to Ryan House and fed the homeless three times in 2012 through efforts by
  the board of Directors and our Developing Leaders.
  
  
• We successfully helped pass Prop 117 on the November ballot that caps valuation increases for property taxes to no more than 5% per year.  We also successfully helped defeat Prop 204 which would have permanently raised the state sales tax at a time businesses could ill afford.
  
  
• Our Developing Leaders ("DL's") are the fastest growing chapter in the country and have won   numerous national awards.
  
  As far as my goals for this year are concerned, here are some of our top priorities for 2013:
• Create an association wide community service initiative.  We recently created the "Dream Teams" with the goal of feeding over 10,000 homeless people in 2013; a goal we can all be proud of as an association as a whole - get involved!
  
  
• I am trying to reach out to as many of our members as possible. I want to know what we are doing right, where we can improve and better connect with our membership.  If you haven't heard from me yet, you will soon.  My phone and email are always open to you.
  
  

Lastly, I would like you to embrace "Back in Black" this year.  We, as an industry, are very resilient.  We have tremendous highs and low lows but we always bounce back with huge resolve.  We have been through some tough years but we are through the worst of it.  So, come to our events, listen to some rock n' roll, network and let's toast our recent successes and those to come.

In closing, I want to thank the Board of Directors for having faith in me.  Along with you, our tremendous committee heads, and outstanding membership - great things lie ahead in 2013 and beyond.  Back in Black - "It's Good to be Back".

Sincerely,
Keaton Merrell
2013 NAIOP-AZ Chairman