SPRINGFIELD (October 16, 2006) The Capital Area Association of REALTORS® strongly supports a bold new Economic Development Strategy put forth by the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce (GSCC) and the the Economic Development Council Springfield and Sangamon County. Although the Chamber launched its general fundraising campaign on October 12 it was in July that the CAAR Board of Directors approved a motion to participate with a contribution of $125,000 over a five-year period.
You might ask “Aren’t things moving along just fine? Haven’t we just come off a decade of unparalleled growth in the real estate sector? Why is this necessary?” It is clear that unless we take steps to improve our situation our gross metro economy is expected to decline over the next five years. According to the GSCC report, a number of local factors contribute to our vulnerability within the Capital area. These factors include: over-reliance on State government; diminished air access; the proliferation of local government entities and attendant parochialism; deterioration of our urban neighborhoods; and, subtle but persistent racial divisions and bias.
As a result, the GSCC is mounting an unparalleled economic campaign and has marshaled an unprecedented group of Sangamon County area public and private sector leaders to guide this program. The success of this campaign is tied to a series of quantifiable goals, which include:
• Create 4,500 new jobs
• Grow the Gross Metro Economy by $2.6 billion
• Develop 379 new business start-ups
• Generate $96 million in new revenues for local government
• Create a $1 million emerging opportunities fund for economic development
Some of the performance goals for real estate and related industries are substantial and are as follows:
• Add $539 million in new residential real estate investment
• Add $61 million in new residential mortgage interest expense
• Add $47 million in new rental housing
• Add over $59 million in insurance premiums
• Add over $309 million in new commercial and industrial construction
The addition of $539 million in new residential real estate investment would be huge. To put this into perspective this surpasses the amount of closed transactions reported sold via the MIS in 2005 which was approximately $496 million.
CAAR has taken a leadership position in the community by becoming one of the first to support this bold initiative. What exactly does this mean? In dollars and sense this means that CAAR will contribute $25,000 per year over the next five years for a total contribution of $125,000. This is subject annually to the board of director’s approval. Absent a significant decrease in membership it is anticipated that an increase in fees will not be necessary to pay for this initiative. Beyond the dollars and sense what does this mean? Aside from CAAR’s financial commitment a representative of CAAR will also serve on the new Strategic Leadership Council which will guide the activities of this new initiative. This means that CAAR will have a seat at the table and participate in the decisions important to this initiative.
The Capital Area Association of REALTORS® is the Voice for Real Estate in the Capital Area representing more than 800 members involved in all aspects of the real estate industry. The Capital Area's Resource for Real Estate Information can be found at www.SeeHouses.com.
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