View the full list of 2017 Sales Leaders
Browse photos from Sales Leaders Club Reception
On January 25, Dayton REALTORS® announced the recipients of the 2017 Affiliate, Community Service, Rookie, Owner/Manager, and REALTOR® of the Year Awards at the annual Sales Leaders Club Reception held at the Mandalay Banquet Center. They also honored one member with the Distinguished Career Award. Their contributions to the real estate industry, the community, and the REALTOR® organization are greatly appreciated.
Distinguished Career Award – Howard Schumacher, associated with Irongate, Inc., has been a Dayton REALTORS® member for over 40 years, having received a real estate sales license in 1974 and a broker license in 1980. He holds the CRS, CRB, and GRI designation. He started in the real estate business as way to work part time in a “people to people business”. Close involvement with Dayton REALTORS® began in 1994, joining the Public Relations and MLS committees, and since that time Schumacher has joined or chaired over 20 committees. His strong commitment to the association resulted in his election as president of Dayton REALTORS® in 2000.
REALTOR® of the Year – Sharon Geier, associated with Irongate, Inc., has been licensed since 1997, is a graduate of the Dayton REALTORS® Leadership Development Program, and holds the SRES, LTG, and DRA certifications. Geier served on the Board of Directors from 2013 through 2015. She chaired or participated on many board committees including Community Service, Membership Services, Holiday Reception and the Foundation Fund Raiser Task Force. For Ohio REALTORS®, Geier served as a director from 2013 through 2017 and served on their Professional Development, Political Activity & RPAC Fundraising and Legislative committees, and the Legal Government, Legal Issues and Local Government Forums. She is an active member of the Women’s Council of REALTOR&Sreg; and is president of the Terrific Women in Giving branch 6, an auxiliary of Dayton Children’s Hospital. For the National Association of REALTORS®, Geier served on the 2014 and 2015 Member Communications Committee.
Affiliate of the Year – Mike Romano, associated with Caliber Home Loans, has been a member of Dayton REALTORS® since 2002. He served on the Professional Development Education Advisory Group in 2013 and 2014, and has been active on the Rebar Camp Planning Group, Affiliates, and Technology Committees. Additional industry affiliations include membership with the Dayton Mortgage Bankers Association, Home Builders Association of Dayton, and Realtists. Romano was recognized as Mortgage Executive Magazine’s Top 1% in 2016. His community involvement includes mentoring at Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers Big Sisters.
REALTOR® Community Service Award – Jennifer Durbin, associated with Irongate, Inc., received a real estate sales license in 1989 and holds the MRP certification. Her community involvement is focused on animals and people. Serving on the Volunteer Mounted Horse Unit with the Greene County Sheriff’s department, Durbin is trained to aid in search, rescue and recovery operations. It is not uncommon to find her diligently working at parades, DARE camps or training with law enforcement units in US, Canada or abroad. She also visits patients at Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center and makes home visits to the homebound sick and elderly with her dogs Lucky, Miller, and Oliver.
In additional to this award, the community organization of her choice will receive a contribution of $250 from Dayton REALTORS® in her name.
Owner/Manager of the Year – Ralph Mantica, associated with Kinzeler Realty, has been a member of the REALTOR® organization since 1986 and is a graduate of both the Dayton REALTORS® Leadership Development Program and Ohio REALTORS® Leadership Academy. He previously served on the Board of Directors from 2010 through 2016, serving as president of Dayton REALTORS® in 2015. Mantica has chaired or served on many board committees such as Finance, Forms, Government Affairs, Grievance and MLS. For Ohio REALTORS®, he has served as a director since 2007 and participated on the Legal Issues Forum, Policy Activity/RPAC Fundraising, Professional Standards, Finance and MLS Forum. For the National Association of REALTORS®, Mantica was a representative on the 2015 Board of Directors and is a member of their 2018 RPAC Major Investor Council. Locally, he is active with the Boy Scouts of America, St. Albert’s Athletic Association and Alter High School.
Rookie of the Year – Amanda DeLong, associated with Coldwell Banker Heritage, has been licensed since 2016. As a new REALTOR®, DeLong achieved more than $3.5 million in sales between October 2016 and September 2017. She credits her guiding philosophy of “clients come first” as the reason she has achieved such success.
In addition to these awards, the “Top 5 Under 40” Awards were also presented at the reception. The “Top Five Under 40” recognized future leaders of the organization based on community involvement, sales volume, and participation in Dayton REALTORS® activities. The recipients were Dakota Shannon with Keller Williams Advantage Real Estate, Ryan Gillen with Irongate, Inc., Morgan Walz with Coldwell Banker Heritage, Aimee Minda with Keller Williams Advantage Real Estate, and Kunal Patel with Coldwell Banker Heritage.
