As the end of 2012 approaches, and my two-year term as president of Greater Hartford BOMA also comes to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my board: Wes Nicoll, who will become the president in 2013, secretary Ron Goodin, who will assume the position of vice president, treasurer Linda Pizzella, Dave Fagone, Russ Stevens, Pam Bayer, Steve Alexandre and Karen Tietjen. Their guidance, knowledge, support and involvement in the Association has been invaluable to me during the past two years. They have helped me lead this energetic, enthusiastic and experienced group of commercial real estate professionals in the Greater Hartford area.
Over the past two years, I have seen the real estate industry struggle to regain its economic footing. Slowly, but surely, we have begun to hire, lease space, see new companies come into the area, and I wish for all my real estate colleagues that this will continue in 2013 and beyond.
2012 programming offered education, networking and fun. We started the year with professor Ed Deak's predictions on the commercial real estate industry. Catherine Smith, commissioner of the Department of Community and Economic Development told us about the state's new initiatives; we learned about dealing with workplace violence; took a tour of the Otis Test Tower; heard about OSHA's new standards and regulations; we heard about ASHRAE's new standards, water issues, and we heard from ASHRAE. For fun, we hosted our second annual Nine/Wine/Dine golf outing in May, and our annual golf outing in July. Both were extremely successful. Our Annual TOBY Awards dinner honored 3 properties and four members. It was a great night of friendship and congratulations. To end the year, we all gathered at the beautiful On20 Restaurant at the Hartford Steam Boiler building. The view, the networking and the great raffle prizes made for a wonderful night. I would like to thank those companies who brought gifts for the raffle: Otis Elevator, State House Square, Tri-State High Rise Services, Suburban, Performance Environmental Services, and Belfor Restoration. And to the many, many attendees who brought a toy for the Marines Toys for Tots Campaign, thank you. The table with the gifts was overloaded. As always, the generosity of the Greater Hartford BOMA members was awesome!
I wish the incoming board my sincerest thanks for taking your time to devote to this outstanding group of commercial real estate professionals. I will remain on the board as the immediate past president, and I welcome any thoughts or suggestions on how we can continue to grow and improve the association.
Happy Holidays and a prosperous and healthy 2013!

JoAnn Church, president of BOMA Greater Hartford, is with Edens & Avant, West Hartford, Conn.