http://legacy.touro.edu/media/pr/releases/PR-City_Connection.asp
Press Release
Touro College
Graduate School of Business
Contact:
Barbara Franklin
Director of Communications
212-463-0400 ext. 5530
barbara.franklin@touro.edu
For Immediate Release
TOURO COLLEGE’S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ACADEMY FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION JOIN FORCES WITH CITY CONNECTIONS REALTY, INC. IN UNIQUE ENDEAVOR
New York, N.Y. February 18, 2010 - Touro College’s Graduate School of Business and the Academy for Continuing Education have joined forces with one of New York City’s top real estate firms in a unique endeavor aimed at professional development.
The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Michael Williams, dean of Touro College’s Graduate School of Business, and Esther Muller, co-founder of the Academy for Continuing Education, and program director of Residential Real Estate Entrepreneurship at Touro College’s Graduate School of Business. The goal of the Academy for Continuing Education is to improve the productivity and professionalism in the real estate community through quality courses and excellent instructors.
As of January 21, 2009, 26 real estate agents at City Connections Realty, Inc. (CCR), a top residential sales, rental, and commercial real estate firm marking 20 years in the business, have enrolled in Touro’s Residential Real Estate Entrepreneurship Certificate program. This non-credit course of study is being directed by Ms. Muller who, along with Dean Williams, aims to help raise educational standards in the industry so that the residential real estate profession is better prepared to responsibly advise clients, and looked upon more admirably by consumers and within the profession itself.
“We are delighted to partner with City Connections in helping to create a higher level of distinction for residential real estate agents,” Ms. Muller said. “As the architects of this unique endeavor, our collective goal is to elevate the practice of selling residential real estate from a mere transactional relationship to one where practitioners are true advisors to their clients, providing them with relevant data, sound investment strategy, and valuable industry information.”
She added that City Connections is the ideal choice for such a partnership in that it’s an entrepreneurial and innovative group of tightly-knit professionals highly regarded for their skillful guidance, ethical conduct and professional expertise.
City Connections Realty has been handling property transactions throughout New York City since 1988, according to its founder and CEO David Schlamm, who is helping with tuition costs for his agents. Mr. Schlamm said the need for a program like Touro’s is long overdue.
“You can’t do business the old-fashioned way anymore and expect to survive in this industry,” Schlamm said. “Teaming up with Touro College and the Academy for Continuing Education—both of which recognize and respect the entrepreneurial spirit—is an ideal fit for everyone involved. It’s a way for our agents and brokers to differentiate themselves in a business that continues to grow more challenging and demanding.”
Dean Williams said: “There are huge gaps in the degree of professionalism in the residential real estate industry because there are gaps in the schooling one needs to enter the field. Our goal is to raise the bar as it pertains to educational standards thereby raising the bar within the industry.” He added that he would like to see professionals in the real estate industry on par with other business professionals, such as Certified Public Accountants and attorneys.
The Residential Real Estate Entrepreneurship Certificate of Completion will consist of five courses addressing market topics such as “Technology and Real Estate,” “Advisory-Based Selling,” “Business and Legal Foundations,” “Marketing,” and “Trends and Issues in the 21st Century Global Real Estate Markets.”
Starting as a one-person operation in a Greenwich Village basement-level apartment, Schlamm has since turned City Connections Realty into a full-scale operation with more than 110 brokers on its team. It currently brokers more than 300 exclusive and co-exclusive buildings selling and leasing commercial and residential property. The firm has attracted top brokers in New York by allowing agents to manage their own real estate business without the usual start-up costs.
Further information about the Residential Real Estate Entrepreneurship Certificate is available by calling Esther Muller at 646-391-7406. Further information about City Connections Realty Inc. is available from David Schlamm at 212-994-3206.
Touro College’s Graduate School of Business seeks to educate leaders for the business world through a rigorous curriculum integrating theory and practice with the development of critical thinking skills, teamwork, and business communication.
Touro is a system of Jewish-sponsored non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was established in 1971 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community. Approximately 17,500 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles, are separately accredited institutions governed in common by the same Board of Trustees as Touro College. For further information on Touro College, please go to:http://www.touro.edu/media/ .
City Connections Engages Touro Graduate School of Business
Esther Muller, center, program director of the Certified Real Estate Advisor program at Touro College’s Graduate School of Business, and Dr. Michael Williams, right, dean of the Graduate School of Business, are joining forces with David Schlamm, left, chief executive officer of City Connections Realty, Inc., in a unique endeavor aimed at professional development. Twenty-six real estate agents at City Connections have enrolled in Touro’s Residential Real Estate Entrepreneurship Certificate program, which seeks to help raise educational standards in the industry so that the profession is better prepared to responsibly advise clients and looked upon more admirably by consumers and with the profession itself.
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