16B — June 14 - 27, 2013 — New Jersey — Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
Morristown, NJ — Hard work, taking advantage of opportunities, astute decision-making, working to overcome setbacks, networking and becoming involved in industry and philanthropic organizations—those are the ingredients for success for women in business, according to Gretchen CREWNewJerseyApril Monthly Meeting: Achieving Results
2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Wilcox . The program at CREWNJ’s April luncheon meeting at the Hyatt Morristown was “Achieving Success,” and the focus was on the president, CEO and founder of G.S. Wilcox & Co. of Morristown. When the company was founded in 1994, it was the first woman-owned mortgage banking firm in the country—and still is the only one of its kind. It was also the first mortgage banking firm founded in New Jersey in more than 25 years. “Existing clients in the industry were thrilled to have another player,” Wilcox told attendees. “Within a short period of time, we closed a $25 million deal on a major shopping center,” and the rest is history.
President & CREW Delegate Patricia Riedel, CBRE, Inc. patricia.riedel@cbre.com
President-Elect & CREW Delegate Monica Ceres, Giordano Halleran & Ciesla mceres@ghclaw.com Immediate Past-President & Advisor Cheryl Hardt, CBRE, Inc. cheryl.hardt@cbre.com Treasurer Rebecca Machinga, WithumSmith+Brown, PC rmachinga@withum.com Recording Secretary Stacey Weinberg, Federal Business Centers sweinberg@federalbusinesscenters.net Director, Membership Mary Lynn Kearns, Dancker, Sellew & Douglas mkearns@dancker.com
Gretchen Wilcox
HowWilcox got to that point is an object lesson for women in all phases of commercial real estate—and business in general. She grew up in Hampden, Mass., where lesson number one was, “I was raised as a ‘person,’ not a ‘girl.’ Guys were my best friends, and that was a good experience for entering the workforce.” Lesson number two: “Be entrepreneurial,” Wilcox urged, recalling that she created small companies along her journey. Lesson number three: Rise to the challenge. Without the experience to do so, Wilcox was hired over her head in her first job, but put in the hours to learn. At the age of 24, Wilcox went on to work for Merrill Lynch on Wall Street and eventually became executive vice president of a mortgage banking firm in New Jersey. Lesson number four: “Become involved in industry and philanthropy,” Wilcox told attendees. Indeed, her involvement with industry associates and charity work has helped advance her career Along the way, she got married and had two children. Lesson number five: Find ways to over- come adversity. The illness and untimely passing of her husband provided Gretchen Wilcox with her greatest challenge of all. From that adversity, her entrepreneurialism emerged once again with the decision to start her own mortgage banking firm. It is a firm that has established a stellar track record over nearly two decades, currently servicing more than $1.1 billion of commercial real estate mortgage loans, and one that recently became a Woman Certified Owned Business. In CREW NJ business, Patricia Riedel of CBRE, chapter president and CREW Network delegate, thanked members for supporting April’s philanthropy, donating books to NJ BookLadies for distribution to young people. Riedel also announced that the next event will be the golf outing, slated for May 8 at Fiddlers Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, NJ, with proceeds supporting Ocean’s Harbor House, a youth and family crisis agency serving the Jersey Shore. And CREW NJ member Dawn Johnson of SimplexGrinnell announced that she will spearhead UCREW’s university outreach effort in the development of mentoring programs at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, NJ and Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ. CREW NJ is the New Jersey Chapter of CREW Network (Commercial Real Estate Network), which is dedicated to the advancement of women in commercial real estate. Membership organizations are comprised of over 8,000 members representing every discipline within the industry and are located in 74 chapters across North America. CREW Network seeks to influence the success of the commercial real estate industry by focusing on fulfilling four key initiatives: business development, leadership development, industry research and career outreach. Members represent fields as diversified as accountants, architects, appraisers, asset/property managers, attorneys, consultants, developers, lenders, leasing and sales brokers, mortgage bankers/brokers, marketing specialists, market and investment analysts, corporate real estate representatives and title/escrow officers. For more information on programming, sponsorship or membership, please contact CREW NJ at (609) 585-6871, via email crewnj@crewnetwork.org or visit the website at www.crewnj.org. “The bottom line is, work hard, follow your dreams, set your sights clearly on success, and you will be successful,” said Wilcox.
Director, Programming Marta Villa, CBRE, Inc. marta.villa@cbre.com Director, Philanthropy Rachel Brindisi rmbrindisi@gmail.com
Co-Director, Sponsorship Diane Menard, Prestige Title Agency, Inc. diane.menard@prestigetitle.net
Co-Director, Sponsorship Patricia Faulkner, NAI Global pfaulkner@naiglobal.com
Director, Special Projects-Golf Robin Grossman, Zycus rgros30687@aol.com
Director, Special Projects - Website/PR Susan Karp, Cole, Schotz, Meisel,
Forman & Leonard, P.A. skarp@coleschotz.com
Advisor Silvana Finizio, Carousel Industries of North America sfinizio@carouselindustries.com
Advisor & By-Laws Sheila Nall, KSS Architects snall@kssarchitects.com www.crewnj.org
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