The RE/MAX franchise will be celebrating two firsts for the real estate organization in November: The ascension of broker-owner Richard Mendenhall to the presidency of the National Association of Realtors; and the second being the ascension of Brad Hanks to the presidency of the Real Estate Brokerage Mangers Council.

It is the first time RE/MAX franchise members have held either of those posts.

Mendenhall is the broker owner of RE/MAX Boone Realty in Columbia, Mo. Hanks is RE/MAX International's corporate vice president for commercial development, based in Greenwood, Colo.

Franchise founder Dave Liniger told RE/MAX Times that Mendenhall had long been a real estate leader.

"Richard has a long track record of successful leadership," Liniger told the newspaper. "He's very respected in the industry and he's built one of the strongest brokerages in the United States. In many ways his success mirrors that of the (RE/MAX) network. RE/MAX is now the industry leader in designations, productivity, experience, top brokerages and technology. It's fitting that a RE/MAX affiliate lead the NAR in 2001."

For more on Mendenhall and his goals for the NAR, please click on "Agent News" to see a recent interview with Mendenhall by Realty Times editor Blanche Evans.

The other new RE/MAX leader, Hanks, told RE/MAX Times that his election as head of the REBMC shows how far the RE/MAX organization has come.

"In the early years, RE/MAX was considered something of a pariah in the industry," Hanks told the newspaper. "We challenged the NAR Code of Ethics with our determination to allow Broker/Owners to actively recruit competitors' agents. NAR eventually repealed those restrictions.

"When I first began taking classes toward my CRB, none of the instructors or Council leaders were from RE/MAX. Now RE/MAX is the recognized leaders. We lead the industry in experience, designations and productivity. We're now the organization that others strive to be."

Hanks said he has two primary goals for his term of office: Deliver more information via the CRB Web site and to build membership. The organization already has about 7,000 members.

"We need to fulfill the promise we made in an executive committee directive to deliver more to our members through our Web site (http://www.crb.com)," he said. … "We can provide information more efficiently and economically through e-mail and intranet sites."

He also said he hoped to renew interest in membership.

"The Council's classes on marketing are some of the best I've every seen," he said. "Sales associates with a team can especially benefit from education on profitability, legal issues, finance, staffing and taxation."