Fairway Management Employees Plant Seeds for Success

Each year, over 300 employees from Fairway Management, a JES Holdings company, meet in Columbia, Missouri for an annual training and teambuilding meeting called Fairway Management Days. The two-day conference serves to enhance the skills of everyone from site managers to maintenance technicians. Hosted at Peachtree banquet and catering center, Fairway Management Days kicked off on April 12, 2016 with a welcome speech from President Jeffrey E. Smith, followed by a variety of speaker presentations covering topics such as risk management, recruitment and even proper body language.

As part of the annual meeting, attendees volunteer with a local service project, emphasizing the company’s commitment to serving the local community. This year the Fairway Management team spent the afternoon of April 12th cleaning and beautifying four Columbia City Parks.  At Cosmo Park, one team spread mulch around playgrounds and trees. Two other groups helped clean up Flat Branch and Worley Street Parks for the spring season. At Kiwanis Park, the Fairway Management team cleared brush, spread gravel and painted picnic tables.

The City of Columbia helped coordinate the event and was thankful for the assistance in preparing the parks for the spring crowds. Gabe Huffington, the Park Services Manager expressed gratitude to all of the Fairway Management Days attendees. “On behalf of the Parks and Recreation Department, I just wanted to say thank you to each of you and all of the staff that volunteered with us yesterday.  It is always great to have volunteers make an impact on our City and Parks and Recreation Department.  Many of them will not realize the amount of work that was completed for us and your efforts allow us to spend more time on other projects in the park system.  Our staff is grateful for the help and had many positive things to say about the effort of the volunteers.  I hope everyone had a great experience and enjoyed their trip to Columbia.”

After team-building, the Fairway Management employees gathered at Peachtree for a mixer where they were joined by the JES Holdings home office staff. Everyone enjoyed live music throughout the night and were even surprised with a short awards ceremony, rewarding various property staff for their hard work over the course of the past year.

The second day of the conference consisted of more property management presentations, including breakout sessions where the employees were split into two training groups: management and maintenance. The managers received training in areas such as compliance, applicant screening and accounting procedures while the maintenance technicians focused on upkeep and repair of water heaters, electrical systems and concrete.

Fairway Management Days is essential for keeping employees both well-trained and excited about their involvement in the housing industry. The conference helps employees build strong relationships within the company, as well as thanking and rewarding them for all of their hard work out in the field. It serves to guide them when developing long-term relationships with residents, and underscores the importance of becoming involved and invested in their local communities. Fairway Management, Inc. (FWM) provides management and compliance services for a portfolio of 160 properties with approximately 7,500 units including Section 42, Section 8, Section 236, rural development and market rate communities. In 2015, the company was named Management Company of the Year by the St. Louis Apartment Association.