SARASOTA, Florida—(August 16, 2007)—In a move that brings fruition to several months of in-depth organizational planning that further solidifies its leading position in Southwest Florida, Michael Saunders & Company today announced several leadership and divisional changes that will further enhance core services to its 500-plus associates and the public at large.
Ann Stickel has been named to the newly-created position of Vice President of Affiliated Services. Stickel, currently the divisional head of MS&C Mortgage, will move up to oversee the new “Division of Affiliated Services,” which is structured to unify into one operation the related services of MS&C Mortgage, MS&C Title and the company’s Division of Relocation Services.
Stickel has worked in the financial industry for 18 years, been a mortgage broker for 12, and with MS&C Mortgage—an affiliate of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage—for the past 2-1/2 years. Earlier in her career she was with Wachovia Wealth Management before joining Wells Fargo Private Mortgage Banking.
“Throughout her time here, Ann has demonstrated an outstanding ability to accept new challenges, master them quickly and motivate the people around her to do the same,” Michael Saunders said from her corporate headquarters in Sarasota. “I can think of no one more able to integrate the company’s vast array of support services into a single enhanced and far-reaching unit. You couldn’t ask for more effective leadership and I am thrilled to have her successful management style put to greater use in a much expanded role.”
Also moving up to an expanded role in the company, Beth Ann McFadyen has accepted the title and responsibilities of Relocation Director, that division’s highest ranking position. McFadyen steps into her new position after a successful six-year tenure as the unit’s assistant relocation director where she was instrumental in the development of systems, procedures and reporting methods that have consistently earned her department noteworthy acclaim in national and international relocation circles.
“We couldn’t be more fortunate to have someone as well-known and respected throughout the relocation industry and this company as Beth Ann to head up our relocation team,” Saunders said in praising McFadyen. “She has proven herself adept at establishing relationships within the relocation industry and will no doubt do an even more outstanding job now that she has assumed leadership of the division.”
In addition to being a licensed real estate associate, McFadyen is a member of Worldwide ERC® (Employee Relocation Council) and holds the internationally recognized CRP (Certified Relocation Professional) accreditation. She has been actively involved in Leading Real Estate Companies of The World ™, where she holds two designations—World Referral Specialist (WRS) and Relo Certified (RCC)—and has been a featured speaker at its national and region conferences for the past five years.
Saunders also used the occasion to announce the related formation of another new initiative within the company. With the intent to further solidify the company’s commanding market share and strengthen its leadership position within the highest priced strata of her region’s luxury real estate market, Saunders has created a Division of Luxury Marketing to be headed by another seasoned and highly-respected veteran of the company, Ann Runyon.
Runyon has managed the Longboat Key offices of Michael Saunders & Company for over 10 years and is legendary in the business for being steeped in the intricacies of marketing and selling ultra-luxurious properties. Under her steady hands-on guidance, the three Longboat Key offices—which boast more than 65 of the company’s most experienced and top-producing associates—have consistently produced many of the company’s highest benchmark sales of luxury properties.
“Ann brings unrivalled skills, boundless energy and enthusiasm, and an incredible legacy of success to her expanded role in the company,” Saunders said in announcing Runyon’s appointment. “As Executive Director of the new division, she will be charged with consolidating the company’s luxury marketing expertise with its leadership in selling important properties, priced from $2 million and up. She will also use her extensive experience to guide associates and customers toward a deeper appreciation of the company’s extensive luxury marketing resources, its far-reaching worldwide affiliations, proven Web superiority and how each of these assets can be put to full and effective use to promote the company’s luxury listings before qualified buyers, both nationally and internationally.”
Concluding her remarks about the new divisions and promotions, which go into effect immediately, Saunders was customarily upbeat in her assessment of the market and the times ahead for her company. “My long-term confidence in the market is so positive that I want to make the necessary moves right now in order to fortify our position well in advance of a normalized market,” she said. “I am fortunate to have deep reservoirs of talent existing at all levels of the company which enabled me to assemble exactly the team I wanted to drive these exciting new initiatives.”
ABOUT MICHAEL SAUNDERS & COMPANY:
In 2006, Michael Saunders & Company began its fourth decade of service to Southwest Florida. Founded as a single small office in 1976, the company has grown to 18 full-service offices—with more than 500 professionally trained associates and 200 staff members. Powerful world-wide affiliations—including Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio, Christie’s Great Estates and The Board of Regents—extend the company’s message to qualified buyers globally, ensuring the broadest possible exposure for our properties.
Michael Saunders & Company is ranked 75th in unit sales and 81st in volume sales among the top 500 largest real estate brokers in the U.S. and is included among the 35 most influential Realtors in luxury real estate. Each sales associate’s average of $5.99 million in annual sales has propelled the company to 9th in the nation for individual agent productivity.
At Michael Saunders & Company, ours is a company-wide commitment to enrich the lives and culture of the communities we serve. Each year, the company makes significant contributions to more than 75 charitable, educational and cultural institutions throughout the region. These include Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota, Junior Achievement, Child Protection Center, The Dyslexia Foundation, Florida Studio Theater, Mote Marine Laboratory, Westcoast Black Theater Troupe, Manatee County Schools Foundation, Manatee Community College, University of South Florida Foundation, Education Foundation of Sarasota County, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and the Community Foundation of Sarasota.
For more information call 1-888-552 5228 or visit us on the Web at www.MichaelSaunders.com.