07/24/2013
Cleveland, Akron Realtor boards approve merger, will unify in October
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Two local real estate boards, representing 4,500 Northeast Ohio professionals, will merge Oct. 1 after winning approval from their members.
The Cleveland Area Board of Realtors and Akron Area Board of Realtors announced Wednesday that members voted this week to OK the merger. The combined organization will be called the Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors.
"There's more power in numbers," said Tony DeLuke, president of the Akron board. "We're really into lobbying and protecting homeowners' rights, and you have a bigger voice when you have a bigger board."
A small share -- roughly 13 percent -- of the Akron board's members showed up Wednesday morning to vote at a special meeting. Of those voting, nearly 70 percent favored the merger. Under the board's bylaws, that was more than enough support for the deal.
CABOR Chairwoman Joanne Zettl could not be reached for comment Wednesday. With 3,000-plus members, the Cleveland board is more than twice the size of its Akron counterpart. Real estate agents, brokers and other members in the Cleveland area voted online over two weeks.
"Our members will now be served by a much larger, stronger and more influential organization," Zettl and DeLuke wrote in an email to members after the votes were tallied.
Faced with changing technology and falling membership, the boards -- both nonprofit organizations -- spent nearly two years considering a merger. Later this month, the groups will establish a shared board of directors to file paperwork, implement new policies and search for a chief executive officer.
DeLuke said the combined board will maintain both offices, in Akron and Independence, because of existing leases that stretch out several years.
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The Cleveland Area Board of Realtors and Akron Area Board of Realtors announced Wednesday that members OK'd the merger this week.
