Jodi Pulice of JRT Realty Group, Inc. Addresses Supplier Diversity Trends at Global Diversity Summit in Commercial Real Estate
Second Annual Conference Attracts More Than 600 Industry Professionals and Students
NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 2, 2007 - Jodi Pulice, founder and president of JRT Realty Group, Inc., the nation's largest woman-owned commercial real estate services firm, recently served as a panelist guest speaker at the 2007 Global Diversity Summit in Commercial Real Estate held at the Georgia World Congress in Atlanta, Ga. Pulice, who established JRT Realty 11 years ago to address industry-wide corporate supplier diversity initiatives, discussed supplier diversity trends, the value of strategic alliances and opportunities for women and minorities in today's commercial real estate industry.
"The Second Annual Global Diversity Summit in Commercial Real Estate brought together more than 600 professionals, including architects, investors, development and construction firms, commercial real estate brokers and students, who are deeply committed to advancing diversity by cultivating opportunities that involve women and minorities," said Pulice. "From corporate real estate divisions at Fortune 100 companies to government agencies and institutional entities, supplier diversity initiatives are strengthening and gaining tremendous momentum."
Established in 1996, JRT Realty is fully certified as a Minority- and Woman-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), Women Presidents' Educational Organization (WPEO), National Minority Business Council (NMBC), New York City Department of Small Business, New York State and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Together with its alliance partner, Cushman & Wakefield, the firm has exclusive contracts to manage and lease more than 150 buildings, exceeding 13 million square feet of office and industrial assignments nationwide.
"At JRT, we have a unique first-of-its-kind strategic alliance with Cushman & Wakefield that enables me to retain complete autonomy as a woman-owned business while providing unrivaled expertise in fulfilling the Tier-1 and Tier-2 M/WBE requirements of America's leading corporations," added Pulice. This collaborative partnership accounted for more than 140 deals, exceeding 2.2 million square feet in the past year.
The three-day Global Diversity Summit, which featured Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin as the keynote speaker, was co-sponsored by leading corporations and commercial real estate companies, including Cushman & Wakefield, Wachovia and Prudential Financial, Inc.
