MEET THE CANDIDATES It is with great pride the Greater Gateway Association of REALTORS presents the 2018-2019 Officer and Board of Directors Candidates for election by you! These members, your peers, have chosen to put forth their professional and personal credentials in an effort to serve the association helping guide the future of the local real estate industry! We appreciate all of our volunteer leadership and members for all they do and strongly encourage you to take part in this important process in deciding the future direction of our association. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts on this or any matter please feel free to contact me or any of the staff at your association office! Thank you! GGAR Staff
President Laurie Moore For Laurie Moore, giving back is what it s all about. Integrating community service with real estate has been a completely gratifying experience for me. I currently am the Vice President for the Greater Gateway Association of Realtors where I stay up-to-date on topics of real estate and fighting for property rights that affect our community and my fellow realtors. I served two years on the GGAR Board of Directors before taking the vice president position. I am also on the Realtor Political Involvement Committee at the state level and on the GGAR Finance Committee. Not only do I donate a portion of my commission from each closing to Children s Miracle Network and the Susan G Komen Foundation, but I also am a Co-chair on the Community Involvement Committee that raises money for local food pantries and a variety of building and home refurbishing programs. I look forward to continuing on this journey for myself and all of the GGAR members Email: lauriemoore@remax.net President-Elect Rick Lauschke Rick Lauschke began working in real estate full time as a Broker for Paul R. Lauschke & Associates, Inc. in Alton. He served on the SIR/MLS board in 2010 and another year as chairman of the board. He most recently was the Chairman of the A/E search committee and currently serves as GGAR Vice President and Chairman of the Finance Committee for GGAR. Outside of real estate, he has served on the Hayner Public Library board as a Trustee for 16 years. He has also been involved with the Wellspring Resources board where he served as Director and Treasurer, as well as having been involved with the Riverbend Growth Association, United Way Campaign and Allocations committees, Riverbend Rotary and the Alton Education Foundation. Rick grew up in the Alton/Godfrey area where he currently resides. Email: rlauschke@lauschkerealestate.com
Vice-President Jeb Blasingame Jeb Blasingame is the managing broker and owner of Star REALTORS in Granite City. Licensed in the states of Illinois and Missouri for the last 15 years, Jeb led the company to new heights in 2015, as Star REALTORS became the #1 team in the St. Louis Metroplex and was ranked as the #31 team nationally in number of homes sold, as reported in Real Trends/The Wall Street Journal. Jeb currently serves as a director on the GGAR Board of Directors. He is an RPAC major investor serves on the Government Affairs/RPAC Committee and also co-chairs the Richard D. Wiegers Golf Outing. He is a 2017 graduate of the GGAR Leadership Academy. Raised in Granite City, Jeb was an All-State soccer goalie on the South High School Warriors state championship team in 1982. He graduated from Western Illinois University with a business management degree after serving as student body vice president and interning with Illinois State Representative Sam Woolf. Jeb is looking forward to the opportunity to continue to serve this association and the surrounding communities. Email: jeb@blasingamegroup.com Vice-President Elaine Rhodes After over 25 years working in the construction field managing jobs and offices I decided it was time to work for myself and began my real estate career. I have been a member of GGAR for over 11 years working for Century 21 in Godfrey, Managing my own company and after a merger am presently Managing the Godfrey office of Coldwell Banker Brown. I serve on multiple committees/working groups with the Illinois Realtors including Professionals Standards since 2014, serve on many of the GGAR committees, RPAC Major Investor, Board of Director in my second term, and support Partners for Pets and 5 A's Humane Society in their efforts to find pets a New Forever Home. I have lived in the River Bend area for over 40 years residing in the Fosterburg area with my husband Jim. In my spare time I enjoy visiting with my two daughters and their families and spoiling my 6 wonderful grandkids. I also enjoy gardening and camping. Email: email: ekrhodes1@att.net
Kris Dempsey Kris Dempsey earned her real estate license in 2004 and currently works with Equity Fifty-Five Realty, LLC full time. As a REALTOR her true passion is found in serving and educating her clients as they navigate the home buying and selling process. Kris served as a Director on the board in 2018 as a one year appointed position, and found that being on the board was mutually gratifying to serve and learn at the same time. She graduated from the Leadership Academy in 2016, and went on to serve as a mentor for that same academy in 2017. Kris has also served on the Awards Banquet committee and the Community Involvement Committee. In addition to her passion for her clients and fellow REALTORS, Kris serves in her own community, through local events, community groups and international missions work overseas as well as stateside. She is a lifelong resident of the area, currently residing in Highland with her husband Bill, daughter Olivia and two grown sons Nathan (wife Emily) and Jon. Kris great ambition is to serve her clients and others well as she continues to grow as a real estate professional. Email: kris@highlandhomefinder.com Kristene Rosser Schmitt Managing Broker/Owner at KRS Realty, LLC GRI, e-pro, CRS, PSA Kristene received her license as a REALTOR in 2001. She became a member of the Greater Gateway Association of Realtors in 2011 serving the St. Louis Metro East Area. After obtaining her license she earned her BS and MSA in Accounting from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. This spring she launched KRS Realty, LLC as the Managing Broker/Owner with a mission of keeping real estate simple. Additionally she attended the 2018 GGAR Leadership Academy while growing her business. Over the last 18 years she has volunteered as a Boy Scout Leader. During that time she has trained numerous Scouts and adults in leadership principles, a passion of hers, that span all reaches of life. Kristene has a 21 year old son, Jacob and 2 dogs, Orion and Ernie. She has lived in the Collinsville area for the last 20 years and looks forward to serving her community as well as the real estate community for years to come. She is running for a seat on the GGAR Board of Directors and would appreciate your vote. Email: kristenerosser@gmail.com
Lavon Singleton Lavon Singleton began selling real estate in 2006. Having earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance from the University of Illinois @ Urbana Champaign and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Lindenwood University @ Saint Charles, Lavon knew that real estate was a passion very early. Lavon has worked for some of the biggest names in the real estate industry: Coldwell Banker Gundaker, Strano & Associates Real Estate, GMAC Real Estate, Real Living Now Real Estate and Star Realtors. Lavon enjoys the residential, commercial, property management side of real estate. In 2017, Lavon started his own company, Singleton Real Estate Solutions LLC, to offer a more personal real estate experience to buyers and sellers. Lavon is currently licensed in both Missouri and Illinois. Lavon has worked in the banking industry for Bank of America and US Bank. Lavon has also worked in the East Saint Louis Community as Director for Community Development and Senior Administrator for the East Saint Louis School District. Lavon has previously served the Bethalto School District as Business Manager and the KIPP Saint Louis Charter Schools as the Director of School Operations. His commitment to education and lifelong learning will soon afford him the degree of Doctor of Education. When asked to share his views on real estate, Lavon says the following Bringing buyers and sellers together in a real estate transaction is something that I take very serious. Every client deserves an agent who pays close attention to details and above all exceeds their expectations. Email: lavon@singletonreal.com Rick Swain It has been my great privilege to serve the public in a retail selling environment for over 30 years prior to this exciting and new adventure of real estate. I have enjoyed helping millions of customers through big box retail establishments from my starting days of stocking candy shelves to being a Vice President of Stores. Whether it was a team of 5 to 135,000 associates; my appreciation for helping, coaching, mentoring, leading and developing others has lead me to this point in my life. I enjoy challenging myself as well as the status quo; finding collaborative solutions; thinking outside of the box and fostering strong relationships with others. My education took me down a path of teaching with a Bachelors in Secondary Education with a major of Mathematics and Science. I began my student teaching in a small town in Indiana but quickly discovered that my wallet did not like teaching near as much as I did, so I discovered a lucrative living in retail. I believe my education and professional experience has allowed me to be confident and courageous in life; with a desire to help others and give back whenever I can. I am blessed to be working at Keller Williams Marquee in Edwardsville, Illinois. I have been in the business for just over a year, but I feel leadership and compassion work in any service environment. I have been with my spouse for over 26 years and we have been blessed with two amazing pups that constitute our little family of 4. We are very involved in community activities as well as being one of the first to volunteer for charitable events or being benefactors to organizations that are important to us such as PAWs and Human Rights Campaign Foundation. I take great pride in my community of neighbors as well as the communities that support diversity and celebrate those that are different than ourselves. Email: rswainj@gmail.com