19.10.2021, 16:32
RE:Visionary Awards 2021
MRI Software has announced the recipients of its third annual RE:Visionary Awards at the MRI Ascend 2021 North American users conference in Cleveland, Ohio.
The RE:Visionary Awards, which were formerly known as the “MRI Innovation Awards”, honor MRI clients and partners who have leveraged the company’s open and connected software and extensive partner network to elevate their business and gain a competitive advantage in four categories; namely, Lifetime Achievement, Innovation, Ambassador of the Year and Partner of the Year.
This year’s award recipients were announced as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary:
Lifetime Achievement: Goldberg
Goldberg Companies and its affiliates (collectively known as GCI) is a national developer, general contractor and property manager of residential and commercial real estate. GCI, founded in 1952 and headquartered in Cleveland, was MRI’s first client when it launched in 1971 and remains actively involved with the company. As a pioneer in the industry, GCI has continued to evolve and innovate throughout the decades, constantly looking for new and better ways to create thriving communities. GCI relies on MRI Residential and Commercial Management and Accounting solutions to support their daily operations. Fueled by its desire to be on the cutting-edge, GCI Residential has embraced advanced AI technologies, including CheckpointID, MRI’s fraud and identity verification product, and MRI Resident Screening to further their risk management initiatives across their nationwide portfolio of more than 9,000 units.
Innovation: IRGRA
IRG Realty Advisors (IRGRA) has been an MRI client for almost 20 years and is currently one of the largest real estate services companies headquartered in Ohio with a portfolio of nearly 100 million square feet of assets in 30 states. IRGRA uses MRI Commercial Management, Residential Management, Fixed Assets, Analytix and Financials in MRI’s cloud platform. Currently, it leverages the flexibility of MRI’s open ecosystem by integrating with other software packages, automating manual tasks, adding custom tables, screens and reports, which all support the ever-changing business needs and the strategic goals of IRGRA. The company uses the self-service capabilities of Analytix to configure dashboards and reports that provide actionable insights to help make profitable, data-driven decisions for customers, investors, and owners.
Ambassador of the Year: Robb Napolitano, The Brooksville Company
Robb Napolitano is CIO of The Brooksville Company, a vertically integrated real estate investment and management firm that deals in large, complex multifamily properties throughout the New York Metropolitan area. MRI recognized Napolitano as its Ambassador of the Year because he was instrumental in driving technology transformation for affordable housing (AH). Under Napolitano’s leadership, Brooksville collaborated with MRI on a large-scale property management system migration for Spring Creek Towers, a 5,881-unit complex in Brooklyn New York and the largest HUD-financed development in the country. The partnership between MRI and Brooksville enabled the site to execute this transition 100% remotely due to COVID which has never been done before. The partnership provided MRI an opportunity to apply enhancements from Spring Creek that will help other affordable housing providers automate property management activities, operate with greater transparency, improve efficiency and manage government compliance. Napolitano’s work is driving strategic initiatives that will bring long-term improvements for affordable housing portfolios nationwide.
Partner of the Year: RealFoundations
RealFoundations, a professional services firm focused on the real estate industry, was selected as an outstanding member of MRI’s Partner Connect program. A strategically influential partner, RealFoundations continues to pioneer revolutionary practices that help real estate organizations achieve business goals through technology, process improvement and systems planning and integration. The firm proactively identified opportunities to collaborate with the MRI team on projects covering system migrations, data conversions and implementations to drive success for clients, including an extensive project with a large, complex retail business. The partnership exemplifies how a shared commitment to providing flexibility and choice through an open approach to software benefits MRI partners and clients, while influencing future product development at MRI. The mutually beneficial partnership is strengthened by the close collaboration between staff at both companies and the strategic expertise and knowledge of the RealFoundations team.
The ceremony in the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland brought together MRI staff and users – with more than 60 partners were represented – for four days of keynotes, presentations, networking events, seminars, workshops and exhibits on MRI and its real estate ecosystem.
Commenting, Patrick Ghilani, MRI Software Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am thrilled to honor our community of clients and partners for their incredible work and dedication to transforming the way communities live, work and play, particularly during the challenges of the past year.
“These awards exemplify how collaboration and open software can exponentially drive innovation, not just for our mutual clients, but for the industry as a whole.”
