Decade Q&A - Kevin Phelan

Kevin Phelan is president of Colliers Meredith & Grew, Boston What is your most memorable career experience from the past decade (2000-2009)? Career success has been fun and a privilege, but the most memorable experience has been in the ability to work with my partners in creating a very creative gifting program as we celebrated the 125th anniversary of Meredith & Grew. That event was commemorated by giving each employee $1,000 to direct to the charity of their choice. Those of us in more "executive" positions often take for granted the opportunity to donate monies to our various charities, but by giving people the ability to donate a significant amount of money to an organization they feel passionately about, we not only passed on an overwhelmingly appreciated gift of empowerment, but we made nearly 100 local and national organizations the beneficiaries of their kindness. What major event(s) do you predict for the commercial real estate industry this decade (2010-2019)? In 40 years in the business I have seen many ups and downs. On the heels of my recent trip to the MBA CREF Conference in Las Vegas, it was confirmed that the pendulum has only swung so far to credit availability, but change is inevitable. Life has a way of righting itself, thus as we enter this new decade, we will see many new bright stars, new projects, new capital and business return to normalcy.