The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors said Christopher Raad of Harvey Z. Raad Realtors is its new president.
Raad was set to be the past president of the Hanover Township, Northampton County-based organization but resumed the presidency following the death of president Jim Zurn this month.
“Jim and I got to be pretty good friends since we had the merger with Carbon County,” Raad said.
The Lehigh Valley and Carbon County Associations of Realtors merged in 2014 and took effect in 2015.
“He was really excited to be president this year,” Raad, an agent with Harvey Z. Raad Realtors in Allentown, said about Zurn. “Our goal is to keep up his passion and keep his spirits up for the things he really cared about.”
Raad said he plans to follow through on issues that Zurn wanted to take on, including protecting private property rights and addressing tax reform.
“He was very concerned about trying to implement some type of tax reform,” said Raad, of Center Valley.
In Carbon and Monroe counties, the tax base is a little unfair, with high taxes for property owners, Raad added.
Zurn also was interested in trying to create partnerships with other associations, Raad said.
“Those were his main goals,” Raad said. “He was very excited, very passionate about his role here, and he will be sorely missed.”
Retaining Carbon County leadership is a crucial component for the organization as it embarks on a new year.
“In this time of crisis, I believe our board wanted to instill stability,” said Justin Porembo, CEO of the GLVR.
To ensure a full complement of the 15-member board of directors, the organization named Jim Christman of Keller Williams Real Estate in Palmerton to the board, Porembo said.
“Jim Zurn was really the pulse and heartbeat of Carbon County, that’s why we looked at Christman filling the void left by Jim,” Porembo said.
With the organization’s president-elect, Cass Chies, also a Carbon County resident, Porembo said it would provide further Carbon County representation on the board. The 2016 leadership team also includes Timothy Mahon as treasurer, Sean LaSalle as secretary and immediate past-president Kimberly Lucas-Mantz.
Just as Raad introduced Zurn to the organization’s constituents in Lehigh and Northampton counties, Raad would do the same for Chies, who will be the next president, Porembo said.
“The entire leadership team definitely has the vision to move our association forward, instilling a lot of Jim’s goals and expanding our regional footprint and also expanding member benefits for all of our Realtor members,” Porembo said.
Raad has served on the GLVR board of directors since 2011, according to a news release. Since 2005, he has served on the Multiple Listing Service committee, was the vice chairman for 2010-2011 and chairman for 2012-2013.
Having served on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors since 2012, Raad will be vice chairman of PAR’s commercial, industrial and investment committee in 2016. He also was selected to the National Association of Realtors board of directors for 2016-2017.
Raad previously served on the board of directors for Camelot for Children and the city of Allentown Historical Architectural Review Board and is a lifelong resident of the Lehigh Valley.
