By Suzanne De Lucia CBI
Fellow Of The IBBA
CABI Past President
Part 1 . . . . Part 2 . . . . Part 3 . . . . Part 4
CABI – Past Present & Future
Part 3 – The Affiliate Poster Child
Disclaimer: This is the third in a series of short essays intended to educate current CABI members about the association’s history and lay the groundwork for the Annual meeting discussions to take place on January 20, 2016. As technology has changed dramatically and the CABI leadership has changed since the early days, much is being written from memory. Please forgive any slight inaccuracies or omission of names, as it is not intentional.
In writing CABI’s history, I’ve spent a lot of time reminiscing with some of our older and grayer (graying) members. The recurring theme is that CABI’s growth and success exceeded their expectations. Early Board members thought we would be doing well to sign up 30 to 40 members. In 2007, CABI’s total membership, brokers and associates combined, peaked at 145 people!
There was more to it than cheap dues and happy hours that contributed to these numbers. Through the years, your CABI Board volunteers have put in countless hours and have worked very hard to provide interesting and affordable opportunities for networking, education, and conferences.
The IBBA (International Business Broker’s Association) has played a big part in CABI’s history. The two organizations have long enjoyed a synergistic and mutually-beneficial relationship. In the early 2000’s, the IBBA was in growth mode. That organization found a sweet spot and was busy developing an entire compliment of courses which touched on every part of the business brokerage process and skill set required for success.
At that time, CABI membership was hungry for the knowledge. The benefit of an exciting schedule of courses, which allowed CABI members to double dip credit-wise by providing both real estate continuing education and CBI credits (Certified Business Intermediary – a professional credential offered by IBBA) at good prices was the key.
In the early 2000’s, local non-profit organizations such as CABI were formally integrated into the IBBA as Affiliate Members, giving them privileges, discounts and greater access to IBBA courses at the local level.
I found an email from 2005 in which a record 74 CABI members belonged to the IBBA! Impressively, over 50 of them were CBIs. During my stint on the IBBA Board from 2005 until 2008, we were considered the poster child affiliate. People marveled at both the quality and competence of the Colorado brokerage community. I was proud to be a part of it.
We were inspired by some of the IBBA’s most successful members, who just happened to live in our great state, including Darrell Fouts, Ron Chernak, and John Zayac. We also have a great group of supporting associate members who are specialists in our industry in the legal, accounting and financing arenas and make us look good. Many associates, especially our sustaining sponsors Julian Izbiky, Wells Fargo, Key Bank, and Nationwide Valuations, have provided important financial support, which has allowed us to enjoy upscale facilities and delicious food at our events.
One CABI milestone of particular note is the annual CABI Conference, first offered in 2006 under the direction of organization event-planning guru Charlie Spickert. This day-long program came to incorporate our required annual real estate course and is attended by about 80% of our membership each year. Our CRE continuing education instructor, Oliver Frascona was a particular draw. His ability to make a totally non-relevant course both relevant, interesting, and most of all humorous, and all without any audio visual, was amazing. We miss him as well as other departed CABI members, especially Darrell Fouts, Past President Gary Williams and too many others.
