Coldwell Banker

Facility management group elects Koffel's Gayle James Gayle James, business and marketing manager of Koffel Associates Inc., has been elected to serve as the vice president of the program committee for the Chesapeake chapter of the International Facility Management Association. Facility management is the coordination of a physical workplace with the work of the organization and its staff. The association's program committees develop monthly educational events that include networking. Meeting topics include disaster recovery, lean manufacturing, urban redevelopment and adaptive reuse, and mold and microbiological hazards.

Business group to offer workshops starting Tuesday The Women's Business Institute of Taneytown is offering a series of two-hour workshops for small-business owners or anyone thinking about starting a small business. The workshops will be held at Carroll Community College, 1601 Washington Road, and cost $15 each. Workshops are: Assertiveness Training, Tuesday: Learn how to deal with negative feelings, present ideas without hesitation, express your opinions, and display confidence and a positive image.

Homebuyer workshop is free Thursday at Apostolic Bible The Garwyn Oaks Housing Resource Center will hold a free homebuying workshop this week to discuss items such as pre-qualifying for a loan, hiring a real estate agent and financing the purchase. The event is scheduled at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Apostolic Bible Church, 2508 Garrison Blvd. For more information and pre-registration, call 410-542- 9050. Homebuilding index dips but solid year is expected The National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index was down two points to a 62 reading this month.

Jan Hayden, sales associate and assistant manager with the Ellicott City/Enchanted Forest office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, has been installed as the 2003 president of the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors. Hayden, a 23-year real estate veteran, was the 2002 GBBR president-elect. The Catonsville resident has been honored in the past as the Distinguished Sales Associate by both the Maryland Association of Realtors and the GBBR. She is a life member and past president of the Real Estate Million Dollar Association.

The Relocation Division of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage won three awards at this year's Cendant Mobility Broker Network's fall forum. More than 600 representatives participated in the recent three-day symposium in Chicago. Coldwell Banker received the Cendant Mobility Broker Network Best Incoming Referral Department award for service in handling broker-to-broker referrals. The company also received the Cendant Mobility Brokers Sales Lead award, which is presented to the network broker that submits the most qualified sales leads for potential new corporate signings.

A new brokerage firm will open next week under one of the most prominent names in Baltimore area real estate. Sean O'Conor, whose father was a cofounder of O'Conor, Piper & Flynn, will open the firm Sunday using the family name. O'Conor & Associates Realtors will offer full brokerage commercial and residential real estate services from a 4,500- square-foot office on West Joppa Road in Lutherville. O'Conor and Kathie Connelly expect to start with about a dozen agents the first month and hope to double that in October.

NRT, Long & Foster among largest U.S. real estate brokers Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's parent company NRT Inc., and Long & Foster Real Estate Inc. are among the country's largest real estate brokers, according to the 2002 Real Trends 500 report. NRT, based in Parsippany, N.J., ranked first, with 397,049 transaction sides and 759 offices nationally. Long & Foster, based in Fairfax, Va., was No. 4 with 83,747 sides and 165 offices. A company gets one transaction side for being the listing or selling broker.