IAMC Member Spotlight: Mike Connors, Senior Vice President, CORT Business Corporation

As an organization, IAMC fosters relationships that turn into both business partnerships and long-term friendships. The path to corporate real estate varies widely, and our members come from a variety of professional and personal backgrounds.

We thank Mike Connors, Senior Vice President, CORT Business Corporation, for sharing his!

1. Tell us a little bit about you:  I am Senior Vice President of CORT Business Corporation, a Berkshire Company based in Chantilly, VA, and I am an officer of the company. I graduated with a marketing degree from Michigan State University. Following graduation I went to Mobil Oil as a marketing representative in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later was salesmen of the year for the Lansing District. Following a promotion, I moved to Detroit and later was promoted and moved to their marketing and refining headquarters in Virginia. We moved to Virginia after the Detroit Tigers won the World Series, and I ran on the field after the game, grabbed some turf, and planted it in my back yard in Virginia later that week!
    
2. Tell us about your path to corporate real estate.  I was promoted to be a real estate representative with Mobil in 1982. Not knowing anything about real estate, I took night courses at my archrival, University of Michigan (wow I was dedicated back then!) to gain understanding of real estate. Was promoted as a real estate analyst in their headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, and then left Mobil to work for CORT as manager of real estate, which at that time was part of Mohasco, a Fortune 500 company that also had Mohawk Carpet and Barcalounger furniture. Mohasco went thru a leverage buyout in 1988 and, as a result of that, CORT was sold off to help with the debt that was acquired. CORT later became a public company, (I got to be on the floor the New York Stock Exchange to ring the bell when we became public) and then was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in January 2000. Later, I became Director of Real Estate, and Vice President of Real Estate as CORT continued to grow thru acquisitions and geographic expansion.
    
3. What is the scope of your responsibilities at your organization?  I am responsible for overseeing the acquisition and disposition of all real estate that CORT leases and owns. In addition to the acquisition process, the department that I oversee also does the design of all CORT facilities, the purchasing of major components used in the facilities, construction management, repairs and renovation of facilities and the purchasing of major services and consumables used across the business. The department is also responsible for all payments with respect to leased and owned facilities and the processing of legal documents as may be required by the respective lease agreements and contracts.
    
4. What is your favorite part of your role, or the industry as a whole?  I love the challenges and new opportunities that I face. Every day is different, and every project has unique challenges that require different perspectives and solutions. I have been able to see a lot of the country and meet and work with terrific people. Working on real estate projects is like a puzzle: you need to work with all the pieces and assemble them in a certain way to end up with a beautiful result.
    
5. What is one skill specific to your job could you share with the rest of the membership? Over the years l have learned that improving your listening skills and organizational skills is very important as it allows you to craft creative solutions to problems that can improve your company’s results tremendously.
    
6. Tell us about a CRE or FM project in which you played a role of which you were particularly proud. Three come to mind. 1) Assembled three pieces of property to build a gas station in a suburb for Mobil Oil in Oakland County. 2)  Did a sale lease back of a former Mary Kay regional office/warehouse in Fountain Valley CA that had a return of investment over 50%. 3) Relocated two headquarter offices with minimal capital outlay due to landlord contributions and negotiated leases with no operating expenses for over 20 years.
    
7. What led you to join IAMC?  IAMC was recommended to me by a service provider.  I enjoy the opportunity to meet peers and other professionals in the industry. IAMC has provided me with exposure to others in my profession that I can learn from thru their sharing of their experiences and expertise, which is invaluable.  The forums that IAMC has are truly first class.  I have learned how to improve my skills as well as build my confidence in how to manage our company’s real estate and the personnel within my department as well as in communicating with others within my company, thru the various sessions I have attended and people I have met.
    
8. Fun Facts:
   1.  My wife and I are finally going to Alaska next year (2022) after our trip in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid.
   2. My first hourly job was working in a supermarket (Kroger) while in high school. My first paycheck after working 20 hours was $0.10 after they deducted union dues. (never liked unions after that!) I also helped to successfully catch two robbers who stole money from the Brinks truck and was later visited at my home by two men in suits who gave me a $100.00 check, which I quickly used to purchase a bicycle.
   3. My superpower (although not all of the time) is to hopefully know when to say a kind word or to be friend to someone in need or who is not having a good day or otherwise try to make someone feel better who may need encouragement.
       

Thank you again to Mike Connors for letting us know more about his path to corporate real estate and IAMC.