In this issue
March 2016 Newsletter 
Calendar of Events
- March 10, 2016: Sustainable Business Expo, WNY Sustainable Business Roundtable
- March 16, 2016: Monthly Member Meeting @ Templeton Landing. Topic: ECIDA Zero-net Energy Building
- March 17-24, 2016: BOMA Office Closed
- March 30, 2016: Board of Directors Meeting @ Lafayette Court Building
- April 6, 2016: Breakfast Seminar: Chudy Paper - Cost Savings Programs (save the date)
- April 13-15, 2016: BOMA Middle Atlantic Region Conference, Philadelphia, PA
- April 22, 2016: UNYTS Bucket Bash (more information to come at unyts.org)
- May 3-5, 2016: BOMA International Medical Office Buildings & Healthcare Real Estate Conference, Orlando, FL
- June 26 - 28, 2016: BOMA International Conference & Expo, Washington, D.C.
Message from the President - John Greene
This year has been off to a great start! We kicked off January with an interesting development discussion and tour of the Market Arcade building by Nick Sinatra of Sinatra and Company, followed by an overview of the Gates Circle Project by Chris Campos, president of TM Montante Development at February's meeting. And there is more to come! Our Program Committee has been working diligently to offer timely events and keep you informed about all of the real estate developments and positive changes taking place in our region. I hope you can join us on March 16 at Templeton Landing to learn about the ECIDA's proposed zero-net energy facility. If this project comes to fruition, it will be one of the first in the country!
I would like to thank you for your continued membership in BOMA Buffalo. I look forward to seeing you at the monthly meetings & activities. If I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to reach out to me.
Message from the Executive Director - Jennifer Aiple
As your executive director, one of my goals is to ensure BOMA members are getting the full value of their membership. BOMA membership is more than networking, learning, and having a great time at our monthly meetings. There are many resources that come with your membership and two of the most important are the membership directories and knowing how to connect with other members.
As a BOMA member you have access to two on-line member directories, BOMA Buffalo and BOMA International. The “Buffalo” directory includes a profile of each member and allows you to add a photo and a short bio about yourself and/or your company. Start by setting up your member login and password at www.bomabuffalo.com. This will give you quick and easy access to our membership roster, registration for meetings, order history, and setup your BOMA profile. Instructions can be found in the GET CONNECTED section of this newsletter. Don't wait another day; update your BOMA profile today!
Welcome New Members
We are pleased to welcome our new members!
- Kevin Coughlin, Flexlume Signs, Inc.
- Marty Houck, Property Manager, McGuire Development Company
- Tim H. Hutton, Grassroots Contract Interiors LLC
- Joann Losi, Administrative Services Manager, Excellus Health Plan
- Deborah Kowalski, Senior Account Executive, Georgia-Pacific LLC
BOMA MEMBERSHIP
Our BOMA membership is growing and we continue to become stronger by association. If you know someone that would benefit from our organization, please direct them to our Membership Page.
BOMA BUFFALO SPONSOR PROGRAM
BOMA Buffalo would like to thank our Annual Sponsors who supported us in 2015. You have seen their logos in our meeting invitations, newsletter, website, presentations, golf outing, etc. We are grateful for the generosity of our members and the added support that we receive. The Sponsorship Program provides BOMA members with a variety of opportunities to enhance your company profile among peers, while at the same time support the many programs and initiatives of our association. We believe there is something for everyone. We hope you will consider becoming a 2016 BOMA Buffalo Annual Sponsor!
THANK YOU 2015 ANNUAL SPONSORS
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsor
Website Sponsor
Member Highlights
Congratulations to Michele Messina!
Michele has joined TM Montante as the Director of Property Management.
Advocacy
On February 3, 2016 BOMA Buffalo Directors, Andrea Harvey, Parkland Professional Park, and Don Erb, University at Buffalo, met with elected officials on Capitol Hill. During the course of the day they visited the offices of both New York's US Senators as well as the offices of Representatives Higgins and Collins. Along with hundreds of other BOMA Members from across the United States, Andrea and Don represented BOMA Buffalo to bring three issues to our delegation, namely:
1) Needed legislation to curtail frivolous lawsuits currently enabled under the ADA by adding a citation response period of 60 days for property owners, followed by a 120 day cure period prior to a lawsuit being allowed to go forward to satisfy a cited violation.
2) Improving the tax depreciation of sprinkler systems for existing buildings. Currently these systems are depreciated over 39 years making the retrofitting of such systems in existing buildings financially infeasible, particularly in markets where the cost of retrofit approaches annual rent revenue. Improving the depreciation period to 15 years can make some sprinkler retrofit projects financially feasible even in tight rental markets.
3) Improve the deductibility of energy efficiency projects in existing buildings. Currently the benchmark for performance improvement is a baseline building spelled out in ASHRAE 90.1. Instead, BOMA advised that a more logical baseline would be an existing building's pre retrofit performance metrics. In addition, current law for this deduction is being sunset every one to two years and we conveyed our opinion that it is logical to make the deductibility permanent at $3.00/sf for whole building measures and $1.00/sf for any single system upgrade.
Legislative and Regulatory advocacy successes through BOMA and its partners is a tremendous value to our members and it alone pays for your membership in BOMA. We hope you will share this information with your leadership and owners and remind them how important is has been and will continue to be that we communicate with our elected officials about the unintended consequences of onerous laws and regulations to the Buffalo commercial real estate market and across the USA. We also hope you will consider participating on Greater Buffalo BOMA's Advocacy Committee. If you are interested, please email Don Erb, BOMA Fellow, RPA, FMA, BOMA Buffalo Advocacy Committee Chairperson at [email protected].
ENGAGE PLATFORM
This year, BOMA International Advocacy Staff are helping BOMA local associations and their members keep in touch by e-mail with their state legislators on state issues and legislation that are important to commercial real estate. They are doing this by using an online advocacy platform called ENGAGE to better help BOMA members communicate with their state senators and representatives on a local association’s priority issues.
So, every so often during the next five or so months of the New York State Legislative Session, you may be getting an electronic communication asking you to send an already written e-mail to Buffalo area state legislators asking for their support of a bill that helps commercial real estate or their opposition to a bill that hurts CRE. For assistance and information on how to access the ENGAGE platform, please contact BOMA International’s Director of State and Local Affairs Scott Morris at [email protected].
Get to Know A BOMA Buffalo Member!
Sue Ellen Elvers, Owner/President
Ingersoll Painting & Construction Inc.
What is your favorite thing about Buffalo? The amazing architecture in our homes and buildings.
What is your favorite form of exercise? Walking - preferably on the waterfront
Where is your favorite place to vacation? Maui, Hawaii
What is your favorite time of the year? Summer
What's the hardest thing you've ever done? Survive cancer (chemotherapy and radiation treatments)
What was the last movie, TV show, or book that made you laugh? I laugh every day. I believe laughter is the key to good health.
BOMA International News
Update to BOMA Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP®) Released
BOMA International announces the release of the BOMA Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP®) Version 2.0. The six-course curriculum, designed to help property professionals reduce energy in their building, is an update to the groundbreaking original BEEP series, reflecting the latest industry trends, new technologies and best practices to improve the energy performance of real estate assets.
Visit www.boma.org/BEEP for more information.
Member Discount Programs
Lenovo
BOMA members are eligible to receive discounts of up to 20 percent off the everyday public web price on a wide range of Lenovo products, including all laptops, tablets, desktops, all-in-ones, workstations, servers and accessories. This includes savings on a variety of top products, including the award winning ThinkPad notebooks. BOMA members also receive free ground shipping on all web orders and monthly eCoupons offering special limited-time savings.
Personnel Survey and Research Group
Current economic conditions and increasing competition make selecting and retaining highly effective management, sales and other key personnel more important than ever. To help BOMA members avoid the high cost of hiring and promoting the wrong people, BOMA has partnered with Personnel Survey and Research Group (PSR) to offer a 20 percent discount on their employee testing service. Established in 1965, PSR has tested more than 300,000 applicants and employees for a full range of jobs and companies and has assisted companies in selecting and evaluating managers and personnel.
Get Connected
How to Login to your BOMA Buffalo Member Account
The Greater Buffalo BOMA website gives members access to member-only information:
- Member Directory
- Order Manager (register for meetings and track your payment records)
- Add a Job Posting
You have the ability to enhance your member/company profile that can be viewed by BOMA colleagues. Add a photo, company logo, personal or company profile and website address. Please take a minute to setup your password!
- Go to http://bomabuffalo.com/
- Click on Member Login (in the lower left corner of screen)
- Username: your email
- Password: reset your password by clicking on the "forgot my password" link
How to login to the BOMA International Website
- You will need your BOMA International ID. Email [email protected] to request it.
- Go to the BOMA International website: www.boma.org
- Click on Sign In located in the upper right corner, Scroll down to Create Profile
BOMA Buffalo Apparel Store is Now Open!
BOMA Buffalo is pleased to welcome you to the BOMA BUFFALO Online Store
All BOMA members and friends are free to purchase logo merchandise and apparel for use. We hope you find the products worthwhile and let us know if you have any feedback.
Vist http://bomabuffalo.qbstores.com to start shopping today!
