Delivered at the IAMC Annual Business Meeting, IAMC Outgoing Chair Colleen Caravati shared a State of the Association Address before passing the gavel to Incoming Chair Jennifer Roth.

How are you getting along with your landlord? How you answer that question will be critical in the weeks and months ahead as the industry puzzles out the impact of COVID-19 on our businesses. 

Arguably, the most visible sign of what President Trump calls this “invisible enemy” of COVID-19 is the rows of empty store shelves. What most consumers can’t see for all the missing bathroom tissue and white bread is the strain those shelves are putting on the supply chain. But corporate real estate managers, IAMC’s membership, see it, and they’re on the front lines of addressing the new--and hopefully temporary--normal. 

Back in 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board promised to “upgrade” (to use its term) lease reporting standards, with the goal to “improve financial reporting about leasing transactions, and in so doing gain greater transparency for investors and other stakeholders.” IAMC members report that the upgrades did the trick, and transparency to investors has improved.