President’s Message
Hello Fellow CREW-St. Louis Members!
Can this really be my last President’s Message? As I write this, I now realize that time goes swiftly, especially when the days are filled with activity and satisfaction. And our new
weekly email shows that the calendar only holds a few remaining events this year.
I certainly reflect during this season of Thanksgiving. A very sincere Thank You to our Annual and Event Sponsors who continued to support our organization in 2021. Your generosity enables us to carry on our mission to advance, educate and support women to influence the commercial real estate industry. We highly value and appreciate you!
I also must say Thank You to the 2021 Executive Board of Directors and our Advisory Board members who chair all our committees. I can assure you that I have learned so much from each of you and leaned on your support to make this a successful year. We needed more collaboration this year to manage additional hurdles related to the pandemic and you gracefully rose to the challenge. Mission accomplished.
Lastly, I want to say Thank You to all Committee Members who worked with the Committee Chairs. Many hands lighten the workload. Your willingness to get involved allowed us to provide good programming and so many other services to our sponsors and our members.
This shared commitment shined brightly during the last two months when we took advantage of pleasant weather and held many in-person events.
Thanks to Growing Green Inc. for hosting our 1st Sponsor Appreciation event with a Vendor Fair. We networked. We visited Sponsor tables to gain a further understanding of each business.
Later in the month, we headed to Ballpark Village to tour the new Loew’s hotel and the PWC Pennant office building. The outdoor patio area overlooking the ballpark was just the right venue to catch up with CRE professionals and fellow CREW-St. Louis members.
In late September, 25 members flew to Las Vegas to attend the
CREW Network Convention. The Convention’s programming is always insightful and empowering. We heard from great speakers including Linda Alvarado, who runs a successful construction company and made history as the first Latino owner of a Major League Baseball team, the Colorado Rockies. We also heard from Sarah Thomas, the first female NFL referee and official. She worked high school and collegiate games before the NFL hired her in 2015, and, last year, she became the first female to officiate during the Super Bowl.
The convention also made a great announcement: Lynn Goessling, a long-time member and Past President, will serve on the Global Network Board in 2022. Way to go Lynn!
October proved to be super busy with large programs including the SIOR/CREW-St. Louis happy hour. Our October Business Meeting heralded next year’s leaders as we elected the 2022 Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Members also posed for new headshots. We also held a new member orientation and prospective new member happy hour along with an inaugural Young Leader’s event. Our DEI committee arranged for
Janese Murray to engage us in an interactive workshop on unconscious bias.
Last, but not least, October concluded with our
Signature Event at the Palladium. What a perfect night for outdoor networking before a wonderful sit-down dinner! With our chairs adorned with bright red St. Louis CITY SC scarves, our keynote speaker, Carolyn Kindle Betz, CEO of the St. Louis CITY SC, highlighted some of her female leadership team while discussing the development of Downtown West, with a world-class soccer stadium as its centerpiece. I can’t wait to attend a future St. Louis CITY SC game! (And I can’t wait to wear my scarf either!)
The 3rd Annual Trivia night rounded out November as members and guests enjoyed the event while supporting CREW Network Foundation. We will celebrate the year with our annual
Holiday Party on Dec. 14 at Parker’s Table. As the year comes to a close, watch for small first-come, first-served events popping up in the weekly emails
As I write this message, membership now exceeds 265 members, a 10% increase from 2020. This is a true testament to our mission and the value of membership.
The momentum is strong. Stacey Kamps, your 2022 President, is already initiating a new strategic plan to keep CREW-St. Louis meaningful and effective for our members and for the CRE industry.
2021 certainly demonstrated, tested and proved our theme of
Resilience! That resilience is now part of our nature, especially as we continue to wrestle the challenges of the pandemic and the times.
Please review the
CREW-St. Louis website and consider getting involved!
Thank you for entrusting me to lead this great organization and for your commitment to our mission. I hope to connect with you at our December holiday party!
Sincerely,
Nancy A. Petersen
CREW St. Louis 2021 President
SVP – Commercial Real Estate
Enterprise Bank and Trust
npetersen@enterprisebank.com
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it” – William Authur Ward