BRE Properties Named MatchBridge Employer of the Month

Strong support for programs like RE4TA is why BRE Properties was recently named Spirit of the Bay award winners

For the last three years, MatchBridge has teamed up with the real estate industry to offer the youth they serve an leg up in finding positions within the industry. The program is called Real Estate 4 Tomorrow’s Adults (RE4TA) and is a partnership between MatchBridge, United Way of the Bay Area, and the San Francisco Real Estate sector.

While RE4TA has created many outstanding partnerships for MatchBridge, one company has stood out in its dedication to the community and youth employment. Year after year, BRE Properties has gone above and beyond for the RE4TA initiative. This is why they are MatchBridge’s employer of the month!

In its first year, Connie Moore, BRE Properties’ CEO, stepped up to head the Founders’ Circle, comprised of many prestigious firms including: AMB Property Corp., BRE Properties, Cushman & Wakefield, Sares Regis Group, Sunset Development, TMG Partners, Webcor Builders and UDR Inc. Since then, Connie has provided steady leadership, spoken on behalf of the program on numerous occasions, and has gone above and beyond behind-the-scenes to support the MatchBridge program at every opportunity.

Throughout the years, BRE Properties has broken the record for creating the most placements for young jobseekers interested in the industry. BRE’s aggressive approach to creating opportunities for young jobseekers truly exemplifies the concept of building up the workforce of tomorrow.

In the past, Connie Moore has even personally come in with a team of managers to lead RE4TA seminars to help guide and instruct the interns as they start their careers.

This summer, 36 internships were provided by MatchBridge’s RE4TA program, five of them with BRE Properties. During their term, interns have the opportunity to look further into real-estate specific roles like property management and residential sales or they can choose to sign onto more general departments like marketing, office management, and outside sales.

RE4TA, and the experiences of its participants, would not be possible without the continuing dedication and support of companies like BRE Properties. MatchBridge thanks all of the volunteers, companies, and interns for taking part in this year’s program and investing in tomorrow’s workforce.

Making An Impact On The Next Generation

Together with MatchBridge, we hosted Dress For Success with the help of United Way Ambassador Nnamdi Asomugha. Already we’ve learned that some of the young people at the event have been hired.

Learn more about MatchBridge, or Emerging Leaders.

Disaster Preparation is Serious Business

40- 60% of small business never reopen their doors following a disaster

By now most large and mid-size companies have plans in place for disasters of all kinds. However, many small business do not so in the event of a natural disaster like an earthquake or flood they may not be able to recover.  According to the US Small Business Administration, 40 to 60% of small businesses never reopen their doors after a disaster.

According to this article which summaries the 2009 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Survey from Charlotte, N.C.-based Agility:

• Ninety percent of smaller companies (less than 100 employees) surveyed spend less than one day per month preparing and maintaining their continuity plans.

• One in five (22 percent) spend no time maintaining their plans.

• Comparatively, 20 percent of larger companies (more than 100 employees) spend over 10 days per month on their continuity plans.

At United Way, we are constantly urging our staff, partners, and the community at large to be prepared to survive the first 72 hours after an emergency.  For both businesses and individuals there are many free sites where you can get enough information to make a plan. Both www.ready.gov, and do1thing offer easy to use, intuitive planning tools that could mean the difference in determining how quickly you can recover, reopen your doors, and get back to doing what you love.

(photo via flickr user TommyIronic, used via creative commons)