HOMESTEAD HAPPENINGS

Marketing Team 4/1/21 Marketing Team 4/1/21

Notable Anniversaries- April

Eric Kinney, University Village, 15 years

Robert Goddard, University Village, 7 years

Brandon Bradley, Bentley, 7 Years

Laura Formica, Home Office, 6 years

Dustin Holskey, Home Office, 5 years

Samantha Burkholder, University Village, 5 years

Theo Carter, Pavilion, 4 years

Andrea Welsh, University Village, 3 years

Mikayla Lewis, The Valley, 3 years

Erica Fivecoait, River Park, 2 years

Victor Huerta, College Station, 2 years

Monte Patton, Georgetown, 2 years

Tammy Reed, Home Office, 2 years

Evan Mulcahy, Home Office, 1 year

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

IN THE NEWS: Top 10 Student Housing Management Companies

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Building trust and reputation with every step we take! We're honored to be recognized among the Top 10 Student Housing Management Companies by ORA for 2020.

Our mission has always been to go above and beyond to provide the best resident life experience possible. We owe this one to all our Homestead U properties that have helped separate us from the rest. We are so excited to make this list, but we're not done yet! 😉🎉

Check out our feature in Multifamily Executive below!

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

HOMESTEAD GROWTH STORIES: With Michelle Bukey

2010 I was laid off from a freight forwarding company and started waiting tables at a pizza shop 3 nights a week. At the time, my friend was the Community Manager at Orchard Grove and was getting the property prepared for the Ben Franklin Event. Her maintenance person had been in an auto accident and couldn’t work. So, she asked me if I would be willing to help her, as a contract laborer. I remember her telling me it would be a lot of outside work, painting, pulling weeds, cleaning up the grounds etc. I was just happy to have the extra income and was willing to do whatever she needed. That was the start of my Groundskeeper career. I then started helping her in the office, and filled in for her when she went on vacation. Then I would be asked to fill in when other Community Managers scheduled time off. This started my career as a Floating Leasing Consultant. Then my BIG break came in June of 2011 when an Assistant Manager position opened up at Shaker Square Apartments. I would be hired on as a full-time employee of Homestead America. I was happy to take the position and finally have full time benefits! I was able to end my part time job at the pizza shop and focus all my attention on my new career!

In May of 2012 Homestead had just started branching off into student housing. With Homestead America growing, an accounts payable position at the Home Office was created. When I saw the job announcement, I thought to myself - wow that is something I would love to do. I called our regional manager, Cheryl, and talked to her about the opportunity. She was very surprised, to say the lease, that I would even be interested in a payables position. She was very supportive and told me to submit my resume and see what happens. I had an interview the following week with the accounting team, Marcia and Amy. I was promoted to Accounts Payable Clerk June of 2012. I learned a lot and was very happy in this new payables position.

One afternoon Laura F. and Marcia (my supervisor) came into my office and wanted to talk to me. I thought uh oh what did I do, am I in trouble!?! I was very nervous, only to find out that Laura was requesting that I change positions and join her in creating an Operations team. August of 2013, I became the Operations Administrator. As much as I loved working in Payables this was a great change for me. The experiences I had working onsite with all of our teams; leasing, maintenance, and vendors, helped me in this operations role.

Throughout the next 4 years I maintained the operations position for both multi-family and student housing. We experienced so much growth that it was vital we split the operations role for the different departments. In 2017 we focused my role strictly as Operations Administrator for the multi-family side of the business.

2019 the HR & Payroll Administrator position became available. After much thought and consideration, I requested that I be a candidate for the role. June of 2019, I took on the role of HR & Payroll Administrator. Here we are February of 2021 with a promotion to Payroll & HRIS Manager. I love working in the Payroll and HR department and still being connected to our onsite teams.

I am very grateful for all of the opportunities that Homestead Companies has presented me. I am thankful for the leaders who have listened to me and my needs and have helped paved the way for my growing career. I am grateful for the experiences working at the site level. I feel that has given me an understanding and compassion for our onsite teams.

I have done every job to the best of my abilities. I take pride and ownership of everything that I do, from picking up trash and painting at a property to employee relations and running payroll at the Home Office

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

APARTMENTS ON THE GO PODCAST: Featuring Laura

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In case you missed it, Laura spent some time chatting with Apartments on the Go about Identifying and Developing a Culture Strategy.

“I don’t think culture is a ‘one and done.’ I think any organization change is a constant, especially after the year we’ve been through. We’re continually evolving and continuing to grow. Leadership is transitioning and changing, so I think it’s important to continually assess where you are and where your culture is, and take the pulse of that and recalibrate as you go forward.”

Listen to the episode here:

Listen

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

Employee Spotlight: Maggie Purdy

Job Title: Lease Up Specialist

Property: Homestead Village (Grove City and Beavercreek); Harlow On Main and Bentley when needed.

1.) How long have you been with Homestead? 4 months

2.) What were you doing before Homestead? New Homes Sales for EPCON and Leasing Specialist before that at Kaufman Development.

3.) Where are you originally from? Born and raised in Columbus, OH!

4.) What are your favorite hobbies? Watching movies (preferably comedies), working out, and taking my dog, Lola Bean, for a walk.

5.) What would you most like to tell your 13 year old self? Just be happy with who you are and stop worrying so much about what others think.

6.) If you could have coffee with three people, dead or alive, who would it be? Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Corcoran, and my dad (he passed two years ago).

7.) Who is the most famous person you have ever met? Mario Andretti

8.) What is your dream vacation? I would love to visit Paris one day.

9.) What is the one THING, you can’t live without? My dog, Lola Bean. She isn't exactly a "thing", but there's no way I could live without her now!

10.) What is your proudest moment at Homestead? My proudest moment is right now!

11.) What is on your retirement bucket list? Traveling A LOT, owning a boat, and starting a pet rescue.

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

Champ Chain Winner: Russell Bell

Congratulations to the February Champ Chain Winner, the team member who went above and beyond to deliver on our mission statement of providing the best resident life experience possible: Russell Bell, our awesome Maintenance Tech at River Park in Athens Ohio!

River Gate, our sister property, experienced a massive power surge that destroyed all 3 main breakers in the building. It occurred on one of the coldest weekends of the year. Russell was instrumental in taking care of our residents; he rounded up extension cords and gave to residents to run to their apartments, he went through and knocked on doors throughout the weekend, including evenings, providing residents updates and fielding calls from the answering service. He also worked with the electricians providing them entry as soon as they arrived with parts to ensure repairs could be made as quickly as possible. I'm not sure he slept that weekend! I am very proud to have Russell on our team, he is the epitome of what we should expect from our maintenance team members! " - Donna Stage, Community Manager

Thank you, Russell, for being a shining example of our mission to provide the best resident life experience possible! Your commitment to taking care of our residents and providing them much-needed comfort and reassurance during a stressful time is so appreciated and deserving of this recognition!

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

CAPTAIN JOHN’S HEALTH TIP: Sleep Better at Night

Sleep is an essential pillar of our overall well-being. When you’re not getting at least 7 to 9 hours every night, you’re unlikely to function as well as you should with adequate rest.

And with world sleep day coming up on March 17th we wanted to give you a head start with 5 quick tips for getting a better night's sleep!

Avoid drinking caffeine within six hours of bedtime.
Create a pre-bedtime routine like breath work or journaling (and stick to it).
Try a sleep supporting supplement like magnesium.
Turn your thermostat down to 65 degrees aka the gold-standard sleep temperature.
Skip putting a glass of water by your bed to prevent interrupting your sleep to get up and go to the bathroom.

Happy dreaming, Homesteaders! 😴

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21

IN THE NEWS: Homestead Construction

Homestead Construction is proud to be part of the development of North Fourth Street! It's going to be great for the Italian Village area. We can't wait to break ground for The Lusso! Read our feature article on Columbus Underground below.

We're proud to be part of the development of North Fourth Street and excited to break ground for the Lusso! Read our feature article on Columbus Underground below.

Read article

Marketing Team 3/5/21 Marketing Team 3/5/21