Looking for a new career? Consider Community Management!
Looking for a new career? Consider Community Management!
With the explosive growth of residential development over the last 20 years or so in the greater Charlotte region (and elsewhere), there has been a tremendous increase in the number of community and condominium associations, commonly referred to as “HOAs.” While the members of some communities choose to manage their HOA themselves, the vast majority hire professional management companies to handle the administrative tasks involved in running an HOA, which include vetting and hiring vendors and contractors; collecting assessments from owners and paying bills; coordinating meetings of the members and the board of directors; managing bank accounts; preparation of financial statements and tax returns; and a host of other functions for which the HOA is responsible. Currently, there is a critical shortage of qualified, educated persons to fill the role of community managers.
Mike Stonestreet, president, and CEO of Community Association Management Systems, reports that Central Piedmont Community College now offers a course in community association management. Eleven students completed a course titled “The Essentials of Community Association Management” this summer and passed the exam. They are now completing their Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) certification, and several have received job offers.
According to Stonestreet, “As a management company owner, I feel that this three-week, six-evening course can provide an improved comprehensive understanding of community association management compared to the traditional two-and-a-half-day format used by other training organizations.” CPCC is offering the class again this fall beginning October 8, 2018, and plans to offer it again for the spring semester of 2019.
Ted Nye teaches the class for CPCC. According to Nye, “This more relaxed presentation of the Community Association’s Institute’s M-100 class material provides the opportunity for community managers, industry contractors, management administrators, and homeowners to absorb proven information in a local setting. Upon completion of the course and the exam, each student will be qualified to become an internationally accepted Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA). The demand for CMCAs goes beyond the United States to Canada, Australia, South Africa, Dubai, and even a cruise ship that sails around the world.”
For more information on the class offered by CPCC:
https://schedule.cpcc.edu/myschedule/show_sections/13364/
This column was originally published in the Charlotte Observer on October 13, 2018. © All rights reserved.
Mike Hunter