The Firelands Area was in the spotlight in April, as Governor Kasich held his annual State of the State Address in Sandusky. As part of this event, the many State agencies and Departments had their leadership team hold events in the surrounding communities. Superintendent Anne Pettit visited the area and held a meet and greet at RE Max Quality’s offices. She conducted a question and answered session and talked about the changes to the license law that went into effect April 6^th, 2017. 

In the afternoon I attended the State Directors Summit in Bellevue. State leaders will be discussing how they are working proactively to create a pro-growth business environment and will be taking questions from the audience.

The State Directors in attendance were Director Jackie Williams (Department of Commerce), Director Sarah Morrison (Bureau of Workers' Compensation), Commissioner Joe Testa (Department of Taxation), and Daryl Hennessy (Development Services Agency). Also in attendance was State Representative Bill Reineke.

The meeting was a general overview of the various changes that have been implemented to help make Ohio a business-friendly state. The focus is to reduce costs of doing business in Ohio.

We held our first Brokers meet if 2017 on April 6, 2017, and we had a good attendance. We discussed the changes to the license law and the increase of education required of new agents. We also discussed changes to our scholarship program.

The Legislative Committee held a meeting also on the 6^th, and we had newly elected State Representative Dick Stein as a speaker.

On the 12^th we had the quarterly MLS meeting. We had a presentation from Showing Time. This product works well with our MLS vendor and would allow single sign-on through the MLS. The pricing would be $1.45 per member monthly.

  The first quarter of the year is in the review mirror, and the staff has been busy with many things.

We are putting the finishing touches on the plans for OAR Spring Legislative meetings and dinner. Our annual legislative dinner is scheduled for Tuesday, April 25th at Tony's in Columbus. We are also finalizing our appointment schedule for our Washington, D.C. meetings.

We are also working with the Community Service Committee on the Cinco-de-Mayo event.

 Respectfully submitted,

David W Freitag RCE, CEO

Join us in celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Friday, May 5, 2017, 5:30 PM at the Board Office.  For a $25 donation to the Firelands Association of REALTORS Charitable Foundation, you can enjoy a Mexican themed dinner, a themed drink contest, and a mystery pinata silent auction.

The Firelands Association of REALTORS Charitable Foundation is a charity that benefits the citizens of all five (5) counties of the Firelands Association of REALTORS.  All monies collected during this event will directly support this charity.

Call the Board Office at 419.625.5787 to reserve your seat today!  We look forward to seeing you!