Bender Members Take on the SIOR Georgia Chapter
A few weeks ago, Rob Kurtenbach, Alex Soundy, Bobbie Tibbetts, and Isaac Jorgensen attended the SIOR (Society of Industrial & Office Realtors) conference in Atlanta, Georgia. They spent four days expanding their knowledge in the commercial real estate industry.
Rob Kurtenbach valued the course in what he learned, but he also enjoyed the connections with instructors, other brokers, and local industry professionals. “One of the highlights was the connection with a local broker from Atlanta who invited our team to his office to share their real estate model and to do a deeper dive on the R+CRE market in the Atlanta area. We got to compare our local Sioux Falls market and appreciate more what makes Sioux Falls unique.”
Alex Soundy expressed how great the education was. “It’s always good meeting other brokers from all over the country and hearing about what’s going on in other markets. It was priceless getting to watch their reactions when I would tell them that Sioux Falls has nearly $500,000,000 of mixed-use downtown developments with nearly 350,000 square feet of Class A office space, most of which is completely spoken for. There’s no place in the country like Sioux Falls. Additionally, having colleagues that you enjoy being with in a work setting and out of work setting is really rare. When we weren’t in class it was like being on a trip with friends.”
“I really enjoyed the content of the course. Being new to the industry, I questioned going into the conference if the content would be too complex or in-depth from where I was in the onboarding process. That was definitely not the case; my understanding of the industry was on par and allowed for engaged discussion yet new learnings. Additionally, the networking opportunities with other professionals, including my own Bender colleagues, were fantastic,” said Bobbie Tibbetts.
Isaac Jorgensen appreciated that the information presented were things he could put into practice right away in the real world. “My favorite part of the trip was getting to know my other three colleagues on another level beyond work,” said Jorgensen.
Overall, it was a great conference. Kurtenbach, Soundy, Tibbetts, and Jorgensen are eager to apply what they have learned.
