JMC 2022 Holiday Manager's Meeting

 Thank you for participating in the last trivia question! The question asked, "What did President Coolidge famously receive as a Thanksgiving gift?" The answer is a racoon! Vinnie Joyce of Nitta Yuma, Mississippi sent a live racoon to President Coolidge at the White House in November of 1926 to be served for Thanksgiving dinner. However, President Coolidge granted it a pardon and adopted the racoon as a presidential pet! President Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge named her Rebecca.

JMC brought the year to a close with the annual Holiday Manager's Meeting held at Granite Links. The meeting included Portfolio Directors, Regional Mangers, Property Managers, Assistant Property Managers, members of the departments in the corporate office, and the Executive Leadership Team. The day celebrated all our company has accomplished this year and what we are looking forward to in 2023.

The morning kicked off with a presentation on inclusive leadership from Christie Lindor of Tessi Consulting. Christie has been working with JMC on our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy. This was a very informative presentation with discussion among our managers for how to become more inclusive leaders. Three of our JMC employees were chosen for a panel discussion with Christie. Jeanmarie O'Brien, Jazmin Colon, and Brian Gallagher gave advice to fellow managers about the strategies they use to be inclusive leaders for their teams. The JMC DEI Committee also distributed the entire company with a giftbox as a thank you for supporting their efforts this year.

The majority of the afternoon consisted of updates from each department in the corporate office. Development summarized projects in motion including Union 346, Chelsea Innes, Lunenburg Central, and Central Gateway in Leicester. Future projects in the pipeline were also discussed. The Compliance department went over best practices on Section 8 vouchers and reasonable accommodations. The Director of Maintenance Operations discussed the importance of vendor relations and goals for 2023. 

Peter Mahoney, Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions 

JMC invited the 2022 Maintenance Mania Top Gun squad to the meeting to recognize their efforts in the competition this year. The whole company was blown away not only by the number of participants, but also the number of victories by the JMC crew! Gary Saltmarsh introduced each member of the team to the room, followed by a round of applause. They all joined us for lunch and each received a JMC swag bag! We cannot wait to see everyone compete again next year.

Alex "Aviator" Herrera Competitor from Lynnfield Commons 

There was a record-breaking number of Meet the Mission awards in 2023. Nancy Gaudet and Cynthia Buckley were proud to recognize 11 of these winners at the meeting. Congratulations, managers! 

Cynthia Buckley with Meet the Mission Winners: Lily Martinez, Jim Krotz, Jazmin Colon, Fern Mullen, Stephanie Peeler, Teresa Barcelos, Aidan Callahan, Megan McDonald, Amanda Murray, and Gail Murray

Human Resources discussed the many accomplishments it has made as a new department to JMC. We look forward to all this department has in store for the new year. Accounting discussed the focus to promote more open communication with the properties via a new Sharepoint site for easy access to accounting forms. The IT department had a busy year with thousands of tickets completed and the organization of many existing systems at the properties.  

Keli Trejo, Chief People & Culture Officer

The Marketing department made the final remarks with what the team accomplished in 2022 and what it strives for in 2023. The meeting concluded with the results for a month-long contest for the properties, better known as the JMC Smackdown! The goals of this competition were to wrestle vacancy by reaching 95% occupancy or better by November 30th and to improve collections from September to November. The Smackdown bonus would go to the property that reduced delinquency by the greatest percentage. 

A very special guest came to the meeting to give the JMC Smackdown belt to the winning property! The Hulk (Saltmarsh) Hogan awarded the title Smackdown belt to Westcott Terrace! Congratulations to the entire Westcott Terrace team!

Diane St. Jean, Property Manager of Westcott Terrace, Receiving the JMC Smackdown Title Belt

The fun did not stop with the conclusion of the meeting! All managers received a JMC branded gift of their choice and got to enjoy a cocktail hour to close out the day. However, there was one more surprise in store. 12 of our managers got together to sing "The 12 Days of Christmas" in JMC fashion with lyrics written by Nancy Gaudet and Cynthia Buckley. 

The Holiday meeting was a fabulous way to end the year and to bring on the energy to accomplish all of our goals set for 2023! 

TRIVIA: What are the four main food groups for elves, according to Buddy in the movie Elf?

JMC is Leasing Up!

 Thank you for participating in the last trivia question! The question asked, "What makes a fighter pilot an ace?" A fighter pilot is credited as an ace when he/she has shot down five or more enemy aircrafts during aerial combat. 

John M. Corcoran & Co has had a busy fall season as the company is in the midst of leasing up three brand-new properties spread throughout different areas of Massachusetts!

JMC is finishing up the development of Union 346 in the heart of Union Square in Somerville, MA. This community consists of 94 studio and one bedroom apartment homes all managed by JMC. Union 346 will feature an outdoor rooftop with city views, a fitness center, a resident lounge, bike storage, and a pet washing station. This community is great for commuters going into the city as the Green Line extension is less than a mile away from Union 346. 

Development Progress at Union 346.

Rendering of Studio Apartment at Union 346

JMC has also taken on management for the second phase of Redbrook Apartments in Plymouth, MA. This phase will consist of 104 additional apartment homes. New amenities include a dog park, a pickle ball court, and an outdoor grilling and gathering area in addition to all the other wonderful amenities that the Redbrook community offers. 

Phase II of Redbrook Apartments

Phase II of Redbrook Apartments

JMC is managing the lease up of another property called The Curtis located in Bellingham, MA. The Curtis has 250 apartments spread across five buildings with beautiful greenery and pathways in between. The community offers one, two, and three bedroom apartments. Amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center, swimming pool, outdoor patios with firepits and grilling areas, a dog park, and more. The nearby Forge Park commuter rail station provides easy access to Boston and Providence. 

Rendering of The Curtis

Model Apartment at The Curtis

TRIVIA: Thanksgiving is just around the corner! What did President Calvin Coolidge famously receive as a Thanksgiving gift?

JMC Maintenance Brought the Need for Speed!

Thank you for participating in the last trivia question! The question asked, "Which city in the United States is the largest producer of pumpkins? The answer is Morton, Illinois! Morton is known as the Pumpkin Capital of the World because it produces 85% of the world's canned pumpkin in the Nestles/Libby's Plant. 

JMC Maintenance Brought the Need for Speed!

2022 marked the return of Maintenance Mania! This event is a national program for maintenance technicians to compete against each other in several skill-based challenges. The program is presented by the National Apartment Association and sponsored by HD Supply. The event was topped off with a self-designed race car contest followed by a reception and an award ceremony. JMC & Co had 11 competitors and several staff members came to spectate and cheer on our JMC team. JMC felt the "need for speed" coming into this heated competition which brought us to our Top Gun inspired theme this year! All employees wore JMC Top Gun shirts and aviator sunglasses and all competitors rocked their own set of customized dog tags to prepare for the "Danger Zone".

Same Perez, Jorge Leon, Alex Herrera, Carlos Toribio

Our maintenance technicians were put to the test with seven different challenges to complete against the clock for the fastest time. The challenges included: the AO Smith Water Heater Installation, Pfister Topfit Faucet Installation, Figidaire Icemaker Installation, Halstead Click-Lock Plank Installation, Kidde Fire & Carbon Monoxide Safety Installation, Kwiset Ket Control Deadbolt Test, and the Home Depot Pro Xtra Car Race Competition. 

 

Carlos Toribio, Carlton Oaks

Mike Martinez, Adams Village

Carlos Toribio (Carlton Oaks) and Sam Perez (Pelham Apartments)

Jorge Leon, Pelham Apartments

Alex Herrera, Lynnfield Commons

Sam Perez, Pelham Apartments

Sam Perez and Jorge Leon, Pelham Apartments

Several of our JMC maintenance technicians were victorious and placed in almost every category! Jorge Leon placed first for the Faucet Installation and Anthony Newman won first place for the Click-Lock Plank Installation. Alex Herrera won second place in the Icemaker Installation and third place for both the Click-Lock Installation and Faucet Installation. Carlos Toribio took third place for the Water Heater Installation. However, the winning did not stop there.

Anthony Newman, Kimball Court

Jorge Leon, Pelham Apartments

Sam Perez, Pelham Apartments

Sam Perez won first place for the Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Safety Installation, second for Faucet Installation, placed second overall for the entire competition, AND was the overall winning team member for the JMC team! 

Spectators Cheering on Sam Perez

JMC & Co was also awarded for having the best team spirit with pompoms, noise clappers, fatheads and the loudest voices in the room! 

Maintenance Mania Team

Congratulations to all of our wonderful maintenance technicians who were able to prove how skilled they are even under the pressure of the clock! Thank you to all of the spectators who came out to support the crew.  

Maintenance Mania Team and Spectators

TRIVIA: What makes a fighter pilot an ace?

Innes Redevelopment Breaks Ground in Chelsea, MA

Thank you for your participation in the last trivia question! The question asked, "Which actress from Hocus Pocus had an ancestor who was arrested for witchcraft in Salem?" The answer is Sarah Jessica Parker! She is the 10th great granddaughter of Esther Elwell who was an accused witch during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

Innes Redevelopment Breaks Ground in Chelsea, MA

October 18th marked the day of the Innes Redevelopment groundbreaking in Chelsea, MA. All of the partners in the project and several elected officials came together to commemorate this momentous occasion on site. This project has been in the works for six years and everyone was elated to celebrate the next phase of this redevelopment. 

Master of Ceremonies 

Rendering of Innes Redevelopment

The afternoon kicked off with a master of ceremonies led by Jay Ash, President and CEO of Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. He was joined by several other partners and elected officials:

Tom Ambrosino, City Manager of the City of Chelsea

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

Al Ewing, Executive Director of Chelsea Housing Authority

Mike Kennealy, Secretary for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Joseph Corcoran, President of of Joseph J. Corcoran Company

Peter Mahoney, Executive Vice President of John M. Corcoran & Company

Melissa Booth, President of the Innes Resident Association

All of the speakers conveyed a similar message with two important points. First, the unanimous hope that Innes will act as a catalyst for future redevelopment projects throughout the City of Chelsea. Second, the importance of the existing Innes residents. All of the residents who lived in Innes will receive the opportunity to return to live at the community upon completion to prevent displacement. 

Official Groundbreaking of Innes Apartments

Joseph J. Corcoran Company created the Innes Resident Association to work with existing residents every step of the way to best serve them in their new community. Melissa Booth was a resident of Innes for several years and she has played an integral role in giving the residents a voice throughout this process so they will have a place that they can be proud to call home when they return to their new and improved community.     

Melissa Booth, President of the Innes Resident Association

The Development team here at John M. Corcoran & Company is excited to take on this project in this joint venture with JJC and Marcus Partners. We cannot wait to fulfill the needs of the existing residents in addition to bringing on even more new residents as the property will consist of 330 brand-new apartments with luxurious amenities.   

Site Plan Rendering

TRIVIA: Which city in the United States is the largest producer of pumpkins?

JMC Meets Energy Awareness Month

 Thank you for participating in the last trivia question! The question asked, "How many classic ice cream flavors does Kimball Farm have starting with the letter "C"? The answer is 16!

JMC Meets Energy Awareness Month

October kicks off Energy Awareness month! Here's the scoop from Jonathan Owens, the JMC Energy Efficiency Manager, on the company's most recent energy efficiency efforts. From solar power to EV charging stations, to water use monitoring, JMC constantly aims to reduce our energy expenditure and use across the portfolio.

JMC is currently working with consultants to launch solar projects across several different properties including Pelham Apartments, Academy Apartments, Brockton Commons, Village Green, and The Commons at Drum Hill. These solar projects will consist of applying Photovoltaic Solar Panels on the roofs where space is available. Why go solar? PV Solar is a renewable energy source. The energy made will not only reduce common area energy costs, but also reduce the cost of the system itself. A single 300-Watt solar panel offsets a carbon emission's equivalent exceeding that of ten mature trees! According to Jonathan Owens, our PV Solar project ambitions will result in carbon emission reductions equivalent to the work of thousands of trees. 

JMC continues to expand our electric vehicle charging station network. The funding allocated for incentives exceeded capacity in 2021 which put many of these charging station projects on hold for stakeholders across Massachusetts. However, JMC expects to hear of new incentives soon which will result in more charging stations in the near future. A new charging station has recently been implemented at the corporate office, check it out!

Jonathan Owens, Energy Efficiency Manager, in front of EV charging station in Braintree

We are also working with two different vendors to provide real time water use monitoring at our communities. Faxon Commons has a real time water meter installed in each of its buildings. The maintenance staff will be alerted in the event of a major water leak or even a smaller leak that can only be detected by a flow over time analysis. 

Faxon Commons

JMC is aggressively seeking emerging technologies and thinking outside of the box for ways to further reduce our carbon emissions across the portfolio. One option we are looking into is the possibility of obtaining energy from wastewater, a technology that is being utilized with success in Germany. 

Wastewater treatment process to obtain energy

Jonathan Owens stated that, "We have refreshed our commitment to benchmark energy and water use at all properties. By the end of this year, our goal is to make current all collected energy and water use data, so that we may evaluate these performance metrics for every property in our portfolio." JMC is constantly looking at various technologies and strategies to reduce cost and to improve our footprint on the environment. 

TRIVIA: Spooky season is upon us! Which actress from Hocus Pocus had an ancestor who was arrested for witchcraft in Salem?

The Corcoran Clash at Kimball!

Thank you for participating in the last trivia question. The question asked, "... how long was the longest match on record in the history of the U.S. [Tennis] Championships? Bonus points if you can name both competitors! Hint: The match was in 1992." The match was between Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg and it was 5 hours and 26 minutes long! Stefan Edberg of Sweden ultimately came out victorious. 

The Corcoran Clash at Kimball!

John M. Corcoran & Company enjoyed the annual company wide outing this week at Kimball Farm in Westford, MA and we had about 250 employees attend this year! The day began with a round of golf and this friendly competition quickly turned into a fierce battle for the win after the round ended in a tie. Each team played an extra hole for the tie breaker and Kevin Regan (Quincy Commons), Brendan Flynn (Leasing Floater), and Tom Shephard (Millside at Heritage Park) came out on top!

Brendan Flynn, Tom Shepard, and Kevin Regan

Although our employees love the traditional activities that Kimball Farms offers, JMC wanted to bring something new to the outing this year. The Corcoran Connections Committee launched the JMC Ninja Warrior Challenge! The committee put together a three-part team challenge across a series of inflatable obstacle courses to reflect American Ninja Warrior, the famous sports entertainment reality TV show. Several teams of JMC colleagues competed in this relay-style challenge to see who could get the fastest time. Team Captain Jim Krotz (Compliance Department) along with his team of Andrew Standley (Leasing Floater), Gianna Rodriguez (Pelham Learning Center), Angela Hahn (Mass Mills), and Grace Corcoran (Marketing Department) beat the buzzer with the fastest time to become the first ever JMC Ninja Warrior Champions!

Angel Figueroa, Pelham Apartments

Dan Breda, Faxon Commons

Chris Baio, Skyline Commons and Don Polsi, The Commons at Drum Hill

Jim Krotz, Compliance Department and Gianna Rodriguez, Pelham Learning Center

Angela Hahn, Mass Mills, Beating the Buzzer for the Win!

JMC Ninja Warrior Champions

Special shoutout to the biggest JMC Ninja Warrior Challenge fan! Erin (Weymouth Commons) and Brian Gallagher's (Portfolio Director) son loved the ninja swag!

JMC staff got to enjoy lunch and refreshments while listening to "A Fascinating Rhythm" by Cornell Coley. The Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee brought Cornell to the outing for an interactive Afro-Latin, solo performance featuring drums, folkloric instruments, dance and songs. Cornell taught our employees about the origins of his instruments that create the music of various cultures around the world. JMC employees joined in with Cornell to learn how to play the drums while hearing about the rich cultural history behind them.

Erica Ryan (MetroMark), Jazmin Colon (Compliance Department), and Lydia Diaz (McNamara House) with Performer Cornell Coley

Erica Ryan (MetroMark) and Jeanmarie O'Brien (Director of Affordable Housing) with Cornell Coley

Everyone got to indulge in Kimball Farm's famous ice cream in the afternoon while watching the Longest Drive competition. Chris Baio of Skyline Commons was the winner for the men and Michelle Russo, Controller of the Accounting Department, was the winner for the women. The skilled arcade goers participated in the Skee Ball competition for the best score. Lauren McDonald (Ashland Woods) and Erik Wester (Ashland Woods) tied for first place and Fern Mullen (Compliance Department) came in at third place. 

Driving Range at Kimball Farm

Erik Wester and Lauren McDonald of Ashland Woods, Winners of Skee Ball

Jim Krotz, Compliance Department and Sebastian Quevedo, Marketing Department on the Zipline

The outing winded down with Service Awards for JMC employees who received awards for 5 years all the way up to 35 years of service at the company. We were happy to reveal the new look of our service awards to reflect the change in our logo! 

5 Years of Service

10 Years of Service

15 Years of Service

Deborah Hedrix, McNamara House, 30 Years of Service

The day concluded with raffle drawings for amazing prizes, competition awards, and a cocktail reception to bring the 2022 outing to a close. Thank you to the staff of Kimball Farm for having us and an even bigger thank you to all of our JMC staff! Everyone who works at JMC is so passionate about what they do and we all look forward to celebrating our employees at this daylong event every year. Shoutout to the JMC Outing Committee for putting this day together for our employees, the day wouldn't have been so successful without you. We can't wait to see what 2023 has in store! 

Darion Cooper, Union & West, behind Raffle Table

Ganak Davis, Redbrook Apartments

Taylor Achille, The Ledges

Joseph Avenell, Stevens Corner and Dan Breda, Faxon Commons

Nhi Nguyen, Quincy Commons

Jesse Morrel, The Sto

Jessalyn Dutra, Pelham Learning Center

Rosa Garcia, West Broadway Homes

TRIVIA: How many classic ice cream flavors does Kimball Farm have starting with the letter "C"?