2010 Speakers

Richard Juge
President
RE/MAX Commercial Brokers, Inc.

Richard Juge is a lifelong resident of New Orleans and has worked exclusively in the industry of commercial real estate. He holds the CCIM, SIOR (Society of Office and Industrial Realtors), and CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) designations. Juge's accomplishments include being honored for the largest commercial office leases in 1997, 2000, 2001, & 2002, the largest special purpose transaction in 1998, the largest industrial lease of 2004, 2005, and 2006 by the N.O. Metro Commercial Investment Division. He is a senior instructor for the CCIM Institute for Intro, 103, and 104.

Richard is also serving as the CCIM Institute President for 2010. He has served on the Board of STDB Inc. as well as a founding member of the CCIM Partners Advisory Board.

Juge the broker/owner of two RE/MAX Commercial offices in S.E. Louisiana; Metairie (New Orleans) & Mandeville.

Brian Andrews
President
Andrews Commercial Mortgage

Brian Andrews is President of Andrews Commercial Mortgage and arranges financing for commercial real estate projects throughout the gulf south.  He is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America and holds their coveted Commercial Mortgage Banker designation. In 2008 he was an instructor for the MBA’s Commercial Mortgage Banker continuing education program focusing on commercial lending practices.

Brian is a past board member of the CID and was recognized as the Affiliate Member of the Year in 2000 and again in 2002.  He has been the commercial real estate finance speaker at the TRENDS seminar since 1999 and in 2008 was the moderator of a panel discussion on the “State of the Mortgage Market” at the Louisiana Realtors Association “ REAL Issues” Spring Conference.

Brian is currently on the board of the Greater Baton Rouge Growth Coalition and has moderated panel discussions on Community Development Districts and GO Zone legislation for the Growth Coalition membership.  He has been the Master of Ceremonies for the Good Growth Awards Banquet for the past six years.

Brian was a contributing author of the “Louisiana Gulf Opportunity Zone Business Guide” presented by Louisiana Economic Development and published by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.  He is also a regular columnist for Real Estate Weekly, the weekly enewsletter published by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.

Brian is an adjunct instructor in the Finance Department at LSU and teaches the Commercial Bank Management class.  He has also been a speaker at LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center at the Center for Continuing Professional Development concerning commercial real estate lending. In addition to his participation on boards and panels within the real estate community, Brian’s other civic endeavors have included the United Way, Baton Rouge Area Ballet Theater (board member and Treasurer), Baton Rouge Zoo (board member and President) and President of the Glasgow Middle School Parent/Teacher Organization.

Janna Shearman CES
First American Exchange

Janna Shearman is vice president and manager of the Louisiana office of First American Exchange Company, a division of The First American Corporation, America’s largest provider of business information.

She has worked in the exchange industry since 2004 and has attained the designation of Certified Exchange Specialist. As a frequent lecturer on 1031 exchanges, she provides continuing education credit courses for attorneys, accountants, title insurance agents, and REALTORS. Ms. Shearman facilitates all types of 1031 tax-deferred exchanges, including simultaneous, delayed, reverse, and construction exchanges of both real and personal property. She has had articles published in several trade journals.

Before joining First American Exchange, she worked as a commercial real estate paralegal and licensed title insurance agent. She is a member of the New Orleans chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women and currently serves on the Programs Committee and is also a member of the Federation of Exchange Accommodators. Janna delights in delivering personalized service to clients, backed by the financial security and strength of a Fortune 500 parent company.

As NAR’s Associate Commercial Policy Representative, Vijay monitors and analyzes federal legislative and regulatory developments in order to shape the direction of today’s policies.  He also lobbies the U.S. Congress and federal regulatory agencies to ensure that the interests of the commercial real estate industry are addressed.  Additionally, Vijay keeps membership up-to-date on key legislative/regulatory issues through a number of online resources and publications.

Vijay has lobbied for a variety of organizations over the last several years.  While working at Government Affairs Specialists Inc, a contract lobbying firm, he lobbied for multiple clients, including the United Way.  He later fought for pension and health care benefits for retirees at State Universities Annuitants Association, a not-for-profit organization.  Soon thereafter, Vijay worked as a policy analyst for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Just prior to his arrival at NAR, Vijay worked as Senior Legislative Liaison for the Institute of Real Estate Management.  He also led CCIM Institute’s federal and state legislative/regulatory advocacy efforts as Government Affairs Manager.

Vijay earned his B.S. in Political Science as well as his M.A. in Political Studies from the University of Illinois.  Vijay is a registered federal lobbyist.

Elizabeth "Boo" Thomas
Center for Planning Excellence

Elizabeth “Boo” Thomas is the President and CEO of the Center for Planning Excellence in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) is an organization that coordinates urban, rural and regional planning efforts across Louisiana and assists individual communities in inclusive visioning efforts from inception to implementation.  C-PEX began as an initiative of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation and is now an independent nonprofit.

At the local level, CPEX has facilitated Plan Baton Rouge, a master plan to develop downtown into a thriving, walkable, 24- hour destination, and is facilitating Phase 2 of Plan Baton Rouge.  The Old South Baton Rouge Strategic Neighborhood Revitalization and Economic Development Plan, another local community planning effort, applied the lessons learned from Plan Baton Rouge to a disinvested neighborhood between downtown Baton Rouge and the campus of Louisiana State University, and plan implementation is well on its way.

At the parish level, CPEX has been involved in an advisory role with eight parishes interested in excellent planning.  At the regional scale, CPEX facilitated Louisiana Speaks Regional Plan, a long term plan that provides a vision for rebuilding Louisiana safer, stronger and smarter over the next 50 years. Launched in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Louisiana Speaks initiative brought together local, state and federal experts and stakeholders to create the comprehensive, sustainable plan that will guide recovery and growth for southern Louisiana over the next 50 years.  Under Ms. Thomas’ leadership, CPEX facilitated 18 months of regional planning and consensus-building, as well as an unprecedented level of public outreach that engaged more than 27,000 residents. 

After obtaining her Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from LSU in 1989, Elizabeth has led neighborhood redevelopment efforts in Baton Rouge, been a strong advocate for smart growth planning, and has served on many boards.  She has been recognized by the Chamber, the Business Report, LSU, Louisiana Architecture Foundation, the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the YMCA.