Business, Construction and Building, Free News Articles

Current Builders Hires Teresa Angenendt as Pre-Construction Manager

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Current Builders, based in Pompano Beach, recently announced the hiring of Teresa Angenendt as Pre-Construction Manager for the general contracting firm. With over 27 years' experience in the commercial architecture and construction industry, Teresa brings a diverse skill set to the firm.

A strong advocate for vocational and on-the-job training, she began her career under the apprenticeship of the legendary George Palermo, ascending from the blueprint runner to Vice President of George Palermo Architects. At Current Builders, she will be the liaison between the design and construction teams, in addition, she will be spearheading the firm's expansion to the west coast of Florida.

With almost three decades in the industry, Teresa, is a true leader," said Michael Taylor, President of Current Builders. "Her career has forged a path for others and is a prime example of the critical importance of on-the-job training. She is one of the most respected professionals in the industry today, and we are honored to have her join our team. During her career, she has excelled in every phase of this industry. With her immense skill set, she is the perfect choice to enhance the communication flow between our divisions and to represent our firm as we explore growth potential throughout the state."

Teresa, who learned the business from the ground up, has demonstrated expertise in all areas of the field including client relations, programming, design, project management and construction management. During her lengthy career, she has designed diverse spaces and managed multiple complex projects from conception through construction administration.

During her tenure with Sauer Incorporated (Federal Division), she was instrumental in refining their Quality Control Program instituting standardized recording processes and management thereof. She also spent time on site as Construction Quality Control Manager on multiple Naval and Air Force projects, earning the government's prestigious Exceptional Evaluation award for Hangar 1552, Naval Station Mayport, Fla.

"I am looking forward to my new role at Current Builders," said Angenendt. "Ensuring a smooth handoff from the design team to the construction team is a critical component. In my role as Pre-Construction Manager, I will be enhancing the synergy between the teams and positioning the firm for growth on the west coast of Florida."

With many South Florida developers expanding their footprint on the west coast, Current Builders is now looking to expand their presence in that region. Angenendt and her husband Chip, who also works for Current Builders, will be heading up a new office in the fall. Having a team onsite, will allow Current Builders to provide services to their trusted developer partners while also creating new relationships.

Current Builders is an award-winning general contractor, established in 1972 with average annual revenues of $150 Million. Current Builders specializes in multi-family residential projects, healthcare facilities, office/warehouse buildings, commercial distribution facilities, parking garages, interior build-outs, interior and exterior renovations, all included as turnkey projects inclusive of the construction of the buildings and related site work.

More information: http://www.currentbuilders.com/

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Awards and Honors, Business, Construction and Building, Free News Articles

CB Structures Ranks in Engineering News-Record for Specialty Contractors

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Current Builders (currentbuilders.com) today announced its CB Structures division has been ranked by Engineering News-Record (ENR) as #7 in the Southeast Region for the Concrete Sector, #19 in Florida for Specialty Contractors and #45 in the Southeast Region for Specialty Contractors for 2018.

Current Builders, based in Pompano Beach, has maintained a self-performing concrete structures division for more than 40 years.

"We are honored to once again be recognized by ENR," said Michael Taylor, President of Current Builders. "Having this division allows us to provide developers with varied options that can allow for both cost and time savings. In addition to our broad tunnel from capabilities, we have also expanded our conventional concrete capabilities.

"With 20 million square feet of structures performed to date, we offer a thorough understanding of the systems aspects that are advantageous to all members of the development team including the owner, architect and/or engineer. CB Structures can design or assist in the design of - the most cost-effective and sustainable structure determined to meet each project's specifications."

CB Structures was launched as an extension of Current Builders, providing services exclusively to the contracting entity. In 2004, the division was expanded and today employs more than 100 full-time team members. CB Structures now maintains its own client base and offers its talent and expertise to the region's development community including Gables Residential, Epoch Properties and Alliance Residential.

The division's areas of service/building systems include: tunnel form, conventional forming systems supported by reinforced masonry, post-tensioned slabs supported by flying forms, tilt-up construction and precast joist assemblies.

About Engineering News-Record:
Engineering News-Record provides the engineering and construction news, analysis, commentary and data that construction industry professionals need to do their jobs more effectively. ENR reports on the top design firms, both architects and engineers, and the top construction companies as well as projects in the United States and around the world

About Current Builders:
Current Builders has been a major player in the multi-family residential market since its inception in 1972 and to date has delivered over 45,000 multi-family units for Class "A" Clients from all facets of the development community. The firm's portfolio also includes 15 million square feet of office/industrial space and 250,000 square feet of retail.

From senior living to student living, village halls and community centers to luxury auto vaults, Current Builders' résumé is comprehensive with 85% of its projects commissioned by existing clients. A proven and highly respected organization, Current Builders is consistently ranked for construction volume in the state of Florida and the Southeast United States.

Learn more at: http://www.currentbuilders.com/.

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Advertising and Marketing, Awards and Honors, Business, Economic Development, Free News Articles

RMA Wins First Place Communication Awards

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA, www.rma.us.com) employees won multiple awards at the recent Florida Festivals and Events Association event, securing two first place prizes in categories related to communications. The economic development firm, based in Pompano Beach, was recognized with top honors for their PR/Media Campaign for the 6th Annual Dania Beach Arts and Seafood Celebration and for their Community Engagement Program for Pompano Beach's Neighborhood Ambassadors.

"We are very proud of all our RMA employees who were recognized for their outstanding achievements this past year," said Sharon McCormick, Director of Business Attraction & Marketing. "We are especially honored that our communication programs were awarded top prizes, as our firm's mission of reinventing cities is only successful if there is community buy-in and support."

In Pompano Beach, RMA's team adapted a program that has been tremendously successful with several of their other city/clients. Neighborhood Ambassadors are liaisons between local businesses, area friends, residents, community programs and events and all things "happening." The Pompano Beach program, named the VIPs, (Volunteers in Pompano), established a social structure where residents and businesses connected monthly and learned about the often undiscovered, soon-to-be "hot spots" in the City.

"We initiated our first Neighborhood Ambassadors program just over 10 years ago in the Northwood Village section of West Palm Beach," continued McCormick. "What began with one liaison, grew into 30 and then 300! Our strategy was to create a social atmosphere to share news, create a spirit of 'being in the know' and establishing connections, so together, we would reposition the community for growth and facilitate innovation."

That highly successful model receives a city-specific twist with each new reinvention project, but the element of fostering community pride, creating understanding and building a future together remain constant to each program.

In Dania Beach, the award-winning communication strategy for the festival included an extensive promotion and advertising campaign launched through broadcast and print media placements, website and social media interaction, outdoor signage, competitions and strategic partnerships with sponsors and the community (including Dania Beach Neighborhood Ambassadors being champions and volunteers for the event).

Thousands attended the festival, introducing new visitors to local merchants and expanding awareness of the growing economic development in the area.

"RMA's communication skill set differentiates us from other economic development firms," stated McCormick. "Cities are made up of citizens and engagement is a crucial part of a thriving economy. At RMA, that precept is fundamental to our core values."

About RMA:

Founded in 2009 by Kim Briesemeister and Chris Brown, Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA) is comprised of a phenomenal team of redevelopment experts passionate about building better communities. RMA is the most experienced full-service economic redevelopment consulting and management firm, headquartered in the state of Florida, specializing in revitalizing core areas and corridors for cities, counties and special districts nationwide. The co-founders are also the authors of one of the definitive books about city redevelopment, "Reinventing Your City: 8 Steps to Turn Your City Around."

Learn more about RMA at: http://www.rma.us.com/.

*Web photo caption: (L-R) Connie Barone, Kathleen Weekes and Sarah Blake. send2press.com/wire/images/18-0910-rma-awards-696x522.jpg

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Free News Articles, Product Launches, Software

ARMCO Launches Fraud Case Manager, an Industry-First Technology

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of technology for loan quality and compliance testing, data validation and analytics, announced the launch of Fraud Case Manager, the industry's first technology for managing and analyzing fraud investigations.

"Fraud cases are full of confidential details and valuable data, and most lenders aren't using this data to their advantage," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "Now lenders can use Fraud Case Manager to protect sensitive information, analyze data for strategies going forward, and increase efficiency and accuracy."

Mortgage lenders, like all financial institutions, are required by law to monitor and report suspicious activities. Most lenders have numerous fraud investigations open at any given time. To manage them, they use spreadsheets or disparate technologies, both of which are prone to security breaches and errors.

Fraud Case Manager(TM) provides lenders with a secure, fully configurable web-based alternative where they can manage all fraud investigations in one central location, and avoid the risks and delays associated with traditional fraud case management methods. For example, users can track any detail of any case in seconds rather than searching through numerous spreadsheets and technologies. They can limit usage to authorized parties rather than using open access documents like spreadsheets. Fraud Case Manager allows users to analyze data and create comprehensive reports that provide valuable insights for strategies going forward, rather than remaining unaware of trends and reacting to repeated issues as they arise.

"Fraud will never be eliminated-lenders' best defense is identifying trends as quickly as possible," said McCall. "Now they can uncover the issues that trigger investigations in moments, whether brought about by staff members, oversights or any other variable. That's the biggest step forward lenders can take in mitigating fraud risk."

About ARMCO:

ARMCO - ACES Risk Management has served the finance industry with risk management software for over 25 years and is the recognized authority on mortgage risk. Today, in addition to an array of loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics, the company also provides the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. ARMCO provides its clients with insights based on decades of risk analysis intel, so they always have the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss, and creating effective risk strategies going forward.

The company's flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), can be used at any point in the mortgage lifecycle, and is so user-definable, its capabilities extend outside of origination and servicing, into a wide range of risk-prone audit-able business operations. For more information, visit http://www.armco.us or call 1-800-858-1598.

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Construction and Building, Education and Schools, Free News Articles

Current Builders Donates $100,000 to University of Florida Endowment to Support Student Scholarships at College of Design, Construction and Planning

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- Chip Reid, CEO of Current Builders (currentbuilders.com) based in Pompano Beach, announced that his construction company has donated $100,000 to the College of Design, Construction and Planning at the University of Florida. This is the general contractor's most significant single contribution, bringing their total donations to the University to $250,000.

This endowment will be used to fund scholarships to deserving and aspiring young construction professionals.

"The firm is proud to have five decades of Gators and 22 University of Florida grads among our ranks," said Reid. "Our continued success as one of Florida's largest and most respected general contractors is thanks in large part to our long-standing relationship with the University of Florida and the stellar caliber of graduates from the UF College of Design Construction and Planning. We are proud to be supporting their program, and we know we will realize the benefit in the form of superior hiring for the foreseeable future."

Current Builders has supported the University of Florida and its mission for decades, so when they heard about the University's latest campaign, "Go Greater," they knew they wanted to offer financial support. Dean Anumba reached out to Reid to share his vision to unify the four schools (Architecture, Construction Management, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture & Planning) and to discuss Current Builder's involvement.

"It meant so much to us that Dean Anumba reached out personally to share his vision to unify the four schools and request our support," continued Reid. "He is doing an excellent job of engaging with the design and construction industry to elevate the University of Florida name and brand. It is an exciting time to be a part of the Gator Nation as Dean Anumba's collaborative spirit is coupled with Dr. Ray Issa's superior leadership as Director of the M.E. Rinker School of Construction Management. We look forward to building upon DCP's past success as together we move forward to this next chapter of the school's legacy."

About Current Builders:

Current Builders has been a major player in the multi-family residential market since its inception in 1972 and to date has delivered over 45,000 multi-family units for Class "A" Clients from all facets of the development community. The firm's portfolio also includes 15 million square feet of office/industrial space and 250,000 square feet of retail.

From senior living to student living, village halls and community centers to luxury auto vaults, Current Builders' résumé is comprehensive with 85 percent of its projects commissioned by existing clients. A proven and highly respected organization, Current Builders is consistently ranked for construction volume in the state of Florida and the Southeast United States.

More information: http://www.currentbuilders.com/.

*Web photo caption: UF Alumni Partners of Current Builders. Send2Press.com/wire/images/18-0829-current-builders-696x522.jpg

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Free News Articles, Reports and Studies

ARMCO Releases Fourth Quarter / Calendar Year 2017 Trends Report

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM) during the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2017 as well as the 2017 calendar year (CY).

The report's noteworthy findings include:
* The Q4 2017 critical defect rate increased slightly, from 1.65% to 1.68%
* The percentage of purchase transactions declined for the second consecutive quarter
* The CY 2017 critical defect rate increased seven percent
* The distribution of critical defects shifted significantly from 2016 to 2017.

"In 2016, the categories containing the majority of critical defects reflected the industry's reaction to TRID, which had been implemented at the end of 2015," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "In 2017, we see a shift away from those categories, toward the types of defects that align with the industry's move to a purchase-driven market."

In 2017, the majority of critical defects centered around issues associated with core underwriting and eligibility issues, which is reflective of the deeper complexity of purchase transactions, as compared to refinances.

The Q4/CY 2017 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company's ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

Each ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report includes easy-to-read charts and graphs, a summary that outlines ARMCO's overall findings, a breakdown of defect rates for each Fannie Mae loan defect category, and a short conclusion. ARMCO issues a one-year analysis for the calendar year with each fourth quarter Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report.

"When you see how much the issues that impact quality can change quarter to quarter and year over year, it becomes apparent why lenders should use the most current data for strategies going forward," said McCall. "ARMCO provides the Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report for free because we want to arm all lenders with as many tools as possible to achieve quality in the most efficient way possible."

To obtain a copy of the report, please visit https://www.armco.us/knowledge/mortgage-qc-industry-report-2017-q4.

About ARMCO:
ARMCO - ACES Risk Management delivers web-based enterprise financial risk management solutions, as well as powerful data and analytics, to the nation's top mortgage lenders, servicers, investors and outsourcing professionals. A trusted partner devoted to client relationships, ARMCO offers best-in-class quality control and compliance software that provides U.S. banks, mortgage companies and service providers the technology and data needed to support loan integrity, meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk and drive positive business decisions.

ARMCO's flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), is available at any point in the mortgage loan lifecycle, to any size lender, and is user-definable. ACES standardizes audit requirements, ties pre-funding reviews to post-closing quality control audits, enables seamless trend analysis, identifies credit, compliance and process deficiencies and helps create manageable action plans.

For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

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Business, Free News Articles

ARMCO Promotes Sharon Reichhardt to Vice President of Client Success

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise transaction and loan risk mitigation software solutions, has announced that former director of client services Sharon Reichhardt has been promoted to vice president of client success.

In this capacity, Ms. Reichhardt will manage ongoing adoption by customers of the full feature-set of the ACES Audit Technology(TM) platform, ARMCO's flagship product. She will oversee ARMCO's professional services division, which focuses on expanding usage and understanding of ARMCO's technology and data products by working closely with clients to configure the ACES platform for maximum efficiency and ROI.

Ms. Reichhardt brings over 25 years of mortgage industry experience to her post. Prior to joining ARMCO, she spent 20 years at EverBank, where she held various management level positions, primarily in quality control. During her tenure at EverBank, Ms. Reichhardt was the primary administrator of the ACES platform across several divisions at the bank.

"As a former client, Sharon knows firsthand the operational challenges that the industry faces and how ACES can be leveraged to save costs, introduce efficiency and transparency and reduce risk to financial institutions," said Avi Naider, ARMCO's chief executive officer. "With her vast experience implementing ACES across multiple divisions at a large bank and across multiple clients as a director at ARMCO, Sharon is the perfect fit for this important position at the company."

"I know firsthand how much time and effort it takes for companies to get the most out of a technology as powerful as ACES," said Reichhardt. "I'm excited to lead the company's customer success initiative and ensure that more and more ARMCO clients have access to experts who truly understand the intricacies of both their business and the technology. Driving efficiency throughout the full loan origination and review cycle - from prefunding, to post funding to post closing and to servicing is what we aim to achieve for all of our clients."

Led by Ms. Reichhardt, the ARMCO professional services team comprises a staff of industry experts with over 100 years of industry experience and an average of over five years of specific experience with ACES. Several team members previously served as administrators of the ACES platform as employees at ARMCO clients.

About ARMCO:

ARMCO - ACES Risk Management delivers web-based enterprise transaction and loan risk mitigation software solutions, as well as powerful data and analytics, to the nation's top mortgage lenders, servicers, investors and outsourcing professionals. A trusted partner devoted to client relationships, ARMCO offers best-in-class quality control and compliance software that provides U.S. banks, mortgage companies and service providers the technology and data needed to support loan integrity, meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk and drive positive business decisions.

ARMCO's flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), is available at any point in the mortgage loan lifecycle, to any size lender, and is user-definable. ACES standardizes audit requirements, ties pre-funding reviews to post-closing quality control audits, enables seamless trend analysis, identifies credit, compliance and process deficiencies and helps create manageable action plans. For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

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Business, Free News Articles

ARMCO Hires Industry Veteran Nick Volpe as Chief Strategy Officer

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, has announced that it has hired Nick Volpe as chief strategy officer.

As chief strategy officer, Volpe is charged with expanding the adoption of ACES Audit Technology(TM) across financial enterprises and shepherding new solutions to market via ARMCO's consultative approach to customer challenges. In addition to the use of ACES as a quality control (QC) technology platform in the pre-funding, post-closing and servicing phases of the mortgage process, ACES can be used in virtually any other business operation that requires internal auditing and monitoring.

"We have numerous clients using ACES in various business operations across their enterprises," said Volpe. "As we move forward, we are taking proactive measures to demonstrate the true potential of this powerful technology. We want the industry to see ACES for its full capacity as an enterprise-wide audit solution, not just as the industry-leading QC software."

Volpe's expertise stems from over 23 years of mortgage operational and QC experience, including executive positions at Interthinx, First American Mortgage Solutions and Clayton Holdings. While at First American, Volpe led the loan review division and functioned as a subject matter expert. He was one of the first employees at Clayton when he joined the company in 2000.

"Nick has an incredible combination of subject matter expertise, ACES knowledge and mortgage operational experience. As someone who made extensive use of ACES in an executive capacity as a customer, Nick understands the value of the platform and the world class client-oriented experience provided by the ARMCO support team," said Avi Naider, ARMCO's chief executive officer. "Understanding our clients and their needs is the basis of our success at ARMCO. We're happy to have Nick's expertise to further elevate the experience and technology we deliver to the marketplace."

About ARMCO:

ARMCO - ACES Risk Management delivers web-based enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, as well as powerful data and analytics, to the nation's top mortgage lenders, servicers, investors and outsourcing professionals. A trusted partner devoted to client relationships, ARMCO offers best-in-class quality control and compliance software that provides U.S. banks, mortgage companies and service providers the technology and data needed to support loan integrity, meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk and drive positive business decisions.

ARMCO's flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), is available at any point in the mortgage loan lifecycle, to any size lender, and is user-definable. ACES standardizes audit requirements, ties pre-funding reviews to post-closing quality control audits, enables seamless trend analysis, identifies credit, compliance and process deficiencies and helps create manageable action plans.

For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

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Free News Articles, Software

ARMCO Enhances Automation and Analysis in ACES Audit Technology

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, has announced several product enhancements that improve the mortgage quality control (QC) process for lenders and servicers using its auditing platform ACES Audit Technology(TM).

The two principal enhancements of this upgrade include identification of exception root causes and expanded auto-response capabilities for ACES. These functions use automation to significantly reduce the number of skilled labor hours it takes to achieve quality goals and identify areas that would benefit from proactive corrective actions.

"Identifying root causes of defects is critical to an effective mortgage QC process because it enables lenders to move from reactive corrections to proactive policy creation," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "By automatically identifying root causes, ACES saves lenders months of reactive risk management, as well as the hours and hours of manual analysis it would normally take to identify the root cause."

ACES' enhanced auto-response capabilities automatically generate answers to questions and scenarios that trigger loan defects. Utilizing the multitude of data points within the ACES platform, ACES automatically conducts field-to-field comparisons of relevant loan data and can perform complex math equations, as is needed in cases involving loan eligibility and regulatory compliance. The ACES technology systematically determines the proper answer to the scenarios in question. This not only saves time, but also increases accuracy and consistency in the loan review process.

Among the numerous additional improvements are expanded ability to change exceptions settings in bulk, automated loan selection for internal audits, and expanded business day calculation features.

"Automation and analytics will play increasingly greater roles in the mortgage QC process, and as with this upgrade, ARMCO will be leading the way in bringing these advances to the mortgage industry," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "Our clients rely on us to assure the highest quality through the greatest process efficiency. Our regular enhancements reinforce our dedication to reducing risk in the mortgage process by leveraging technology."

About ARMCO:

ARMCO - ACES Risk Management delivers web-based enterprise financial risk mitigation software solutions, as well as powerful data and analytics, to the nation's top mortgage lenders, servicers, investors and outsourcing professionals. A trusted partner devoted to client relationships, ARMCO offers best-in-class quality control and compliance software that provides U.S. banks, mortgage companies and service providers the technology and data needed to support loan integrity, meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk and drive positive business decisions.

ARMCO's flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), is available at any point in the mortgage loan lifecycle, to any size lender, and is user-definable. ACES standardizes audit requirements, ties pre-funding reviews to post-closing quality control audits, enables seamless trend analysis, identifies credit, compliance and process deficiencies and helps create manageable action plans.

For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

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Advertising and Marketing, Business, Free News Articles

Florida is an Underserved Craft Brew Market say RMA Economic Development Experts

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. -- After several national media outlets ran headlines questioning the future of the craft brew industry, Farrell Tiller of Redevelopment Management Associates interviewed leading craft brew experts to discuss the industry's growth potential in Florida. Tiller also recently travelled to Nashville for the National Craft Brew Conference to meet with leading breweries.

His research supports RMA's experience that Florida is an underserved market; therefore, cities should utilize the craft brew industry as an economic development strategy to reinvent blighted downtown areas and spur growth in more suburban settings.

"While states that entered the craft brew scene early may be reaching saturation, Florida has tremendous opportunities for growth," said Tiller. "The state is ranked number 42 in breweries per capita, so it is important for local government agencies to pay attention to their local market conditions rather than national trends."

For RMA, this means educating local government officials about the benefits of creating an environment that welcomes this industry as a real catalyst for economic growth. As the state's leading economic development firm, RMA has successfully utilized this strategy. Most recently, the firm guided North Miami Beach in the development of the state's first Brewery District with significant targeted incentives to attract craft breweries. And they are currently exploring the introduction of craft breweries as part of the redevelopment of other city-clients, building on previous work with breweries such as Funky Buddha and 26 Degrees.

To provide RMA's city-clients a more comprehensive understanding of the economic development potential of the craft brew industry, Tiller recently conducted interviews with Bart Watson, Chief Economist at the Craft Brewers Association and beer industry expert Matt Simpson, known as The Beer Sommelier.

"Every market is different, and to get to the highest levels of brewery concentrations that we have in places like Colorado, Vermont or Washington, it takes work and market building," said Watson. "I think the last time I pulled the numbers, we had 46 breweries in Boulder County, and have about 300,000 people, so you can see that once the market building has been done, very dense concentrations of breweries can exist and be successful. I can't imagine there are many markets in Florida that have reached anywhere near that point of per capita brewery levels, so it is important for cities to focus on local and state market characteristics rather than broader national trends."

In many cases, alcoholic beverage establishments have historically been viewed by local governments as nuisances and as a potential cause of problems; thus many municipalities' regulations are prohibitive to the development of a brewery. Tiller addressed this issue with Simpson.

"There are residents and city staff who do not understand breweries," said Simpson. "They think, 'Oh, this is just another bar. We're a suburban community with families. We don't want another nuisance around here.' I think part of it stems from the fact that they are just unfamiliar with the whole thing. To get past the fear, draw them a picture, an accurate visual picture, even with a video, about what some of these brewpubs look like, the people they attract, and how it is going to be good for them because they're going to be bringing money into their community."

RMA's research shows that there are only four breweries west of I-95 in Broward County, an area of 1.5 million people. According to Matt Simpson, there should be five breweries in a city of 90,000 people. However, RMA has noticed the challenge for suburban breweries, especially in South Florida, is that the traditional bedroom communities lack the character and authenticity that breweries look for. However, at the Craft Brew Conference Tiller noticed a shift in that trend.

"Brewers were definitely interested in hearing about expansion possibilities outside urban communities and into communities such as Davie, Sunrise, Lauderhill and North Lauderdale. This is where the true potential lies in Florida," said Tiller. "With our city-clients, we will be working with them to create receptive environments and adjust zoning regulations to attract the industry."

Watson shared with Tiller that Florida's diversity also expands the industry's potential. "I think there's still a lot of room there; particularly in states that are more diverse. There's clearly a huge growth opportunity for breweries to break out of the more typical, white male, fairly wealthy craft demographic," he said.

With added diversity and a push into family suburban market with brewpubs that serve craft food, Tiller sees tremendous potential for craft brew entrepreneurs who create a smart growth strategy.

To learn more about the beer industry as an economic catalyst, visit http://www.rma.us.com/beer/ or contact Farrell Tiller at Farrell@rma.us.com

About RMA:

Founded in 2009 by Kim Briesemeister and Chris Brown, Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA) is comprised of a phenomenal team of redevelopment experts passionate about building better communities. RMA is the most experienced full-service economic redevelopment consulting and management firm in the state of Florida specializing in revitalizing core areas and corridors for cities, counties and special districts nationwide. Learn more at: http://www.rma.us.com/.

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