Looking Back …

After our first full year of partnering with Markens as our new management company, we have initiated so many new best practices. We focused on investing in our volunteers to make sure they have the tools and resources to continually impact the success of the organization. Our committees came together and set up a solid year of important events and initiatives, which brought many new firsts since the pandemic.

Since the kickoff of the fiscal year in July, the association has rolled out Annual Sponsorships for Business Partners, hosted Happy Hours and Government Relations Breakfasts, held the Annual Tradeshow and Education Conference, provided Fair Housing Training, and so much more!

I wanted to take a moment to thank our valued Business Partners. Ten of over 65 of our long-term partners are supporting us with the CTAA Annual Sponsorship package. This commitment to our success and viability in multi-family housing is critical. We are aware that without the dedication of these businesses, we wouldn’t be able to deliver on our mission: To actively lead the apartment industry in providing quality housing by educating, advocating, and connecting property owners, managers, and business partners.

A big thanks to BluSky, Landlord Law Firm, Apartments.com, BELFOR, T.F. Andrews, ProKlean, GoNetSpeed, Engrain, Surface Experts, and Frontier for their yearly support. There are many other Business Members that contribute to sponsoring and supporting events throughout the year as well that we don’t want to overlook. From food and beverage sponsors to events, photo booth, DJs, and all the other details in between. Thank you!

This year, Steve Weir entered as the committee chair position for Government Relations. Steve’s passion for our industry and desire for a voice at the table drove this committee to new heights. Hosting their second annual legislative breakfast in October and adding decision-makers to the committee are just some of his accomplishments. Steve has partnered with NAA, successfully started grassroots efforts, enabled training and mentorship from the national committee, and much more.

Andrew Harrison pulled off another wildly successful Annual Education and Tradeshow conference at Foxwoods. Attendance was up, and the feedback from our Business Members was amazing. The event kicked off at High Rollers with a pre-show party and wrapped up with a little fun with a hypnotist. In between, attendees enjoyed networking, education, and fun.

The Education and Events Committee partnered into one in the new fiscal year. Adam Schweickert and Cindy Harrison came together as leaders. They not only supported Steve and Andrew in their event needs, but also hosted a few Happy Hours, a Fair Housing Training, and the Holiday Party and Nutmeg Awards. The October Happy Hour had a charitable giving component, stuffing 200 bags for the American Red Cross. The Fair Housing Training was the first CTAA in-person training outside of the Tradeshow Education since the pandemic.

Thank you to the Landlord Law Firm for being the educators, and thank you to all who attended. The Holiday Party and Nutmeg Awards was held at the Omni in New Haven, a new location for CTAA, and was beautifully fantastic. Award nominations were plentiful, and participation numbers were over 300, rounding out a successful year with so many of our valued members.

Looking Forward …

There is so much happening in 2023!

Continue to watch our website: January 17 is our Winter Happy Hour, CAMT is being hosted by CTAA in Connecticut the week of January 23; February should bring legislatures together again at an informal breakfast to discuss how things are going in this long session year. Not to mention the Annual Meeting in March with a special Government Relations Guest and, of course, Maintenance Mania in April to be hosted again as a stand-alone event to focus on our maintenance teams.

These upcoming 2023 CTAA events will be supported by our new association Executive Director Jessica Doll. Jessica Doll joined CTAA in this new leadership role in January 2022 and has hit the ground running. Her years of service in property management and volunteer time with CTAA have set her up for much success.

I look forward to seeing you soon! Join me in welcoming Jessica and thanking all our volunteers.