MONTREAL–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#bhhs—Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Québec, part of one of the largest global real estate brokerage franchise networks in the world, with more than 50,000 sales professionals in over 1500 offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East and India welcomes renowned residential and commercial real estate broker Marc Smadja to the brand.

Smadja, previously with Engel and Völkers in Montreal, has made a name for himself as a highly respected and successful broker representing his loyal clientele with the utmost passion and dedication. His unquestionable business ethics have also allowed him to gain both the respect and trust of his colleagues in the field. Working with buyers and sellers in the West Island and Downtown regions of Montreal, he wanted to associate himself with a brokerage that could benefit the best interests of his clients and allow him to take his career to the next level. As he explains, the choice was simple.

“Real estate and investing are two of my biggest passions so it goes without saying that I am thrilled to join such a reputable brokerage,” says Smadja. “Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Québec is a leading real estate brokerage that puts its people first and is also linked to one of the most successful investors in the world, Warren Buffett. I could not be happier and confident with my decision.”

“Having Marc Smadja as one of our family members solidifies the fact that we only look to be associated with those brokers that are successful, ethical and respected”, says Sacha Brosseau, the company’s founder and CEO. “Not to mention, he came highly recommended by two of our existing family members, which again proves that good brokers want to work with and be associated to other good brokers. It is a key part of our culture, and one of the many things that makes Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Québec such an amazing company to be a part of.”

The two other family members Brosseau is referring to are Candis Noble who was also previously with Engel and Völkers, and Zsolt Fischer who was previously with Re/Max Royal Jordan. When asked why the recommendation, both said “we believe in the family we are building at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Québec.”

As the company will soon celebrate its two year anniversary after launching in May 2020, it remains true to its vision of not having more than 100 core brokers within the province. Currently with a roster of 20 brokers servicing areas in and around the island Montreal, as well as the Laurentians and the Eastern Townships, Brosseau plans on growing his family selectively and through the recommendations of each of its members. “This is a people business, and I trust my people implicitly. More importantly, I appreciate and respect each and every one of them.”

For more information visit: http://www.bhhsquebec.ca

About Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is one of the world’s fastest-growing residential real estate brokerage franchise networks, with more than 50,000 real estate professionals,

in 1,500 offices throughout the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and India, and more than $179 billion in real estate sales volume. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, brings to the real estate market a definitive mark of trust, integrity, stability and longevity.

Visit www.berkshirehathawayhs.com

Contacts

MEDIA CONTACT:
Chelsea Freeman

PR & Communications

+1 949 241 5239

chelseafreeman@hsfranchise.com

Combination of HBC’s existing and future SaksWorks locations with Convene creates the largest premium flex meeting, event and workplace business globally.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Convene, the leading hybrid meeting, event, and workspace provider, announced today that it has completed its recapitalization plan, led by HBC, a holding company at the intersection of real estate, technology and retail, and a fund managed by the Private Equity Group of Ares Management Corporation (“Ares”) (NYSE: ARES), a leading global alternative investment manager.

Convene will operate HBC’s existing portfolio of flexible work, event, restaurant and meeting spaces, which are expected to be rebranded as Convene and will remain branded as SaksWorks in the interim. HBC will be the majority owner of the combined entity, with 26 facilities under management and dozens more under development, which is expected to be the largest premium flex space operator across the US, Canada and Europe.

“We built Convene with a mission of elevating the workday experience. This strategic investment by HBC and Ares provides instant scale and growth opportunities for our business. We are excited to partner with HBC who is equally focused on delivering premium and flexible experiences to enable today’s distributed workforce,” said Ryan Simonetti, co-founder and CEO of Convene. “As organizations continue to embrace hybrid work and are demanding higher quality environments in which to gather, we are well-positioned to seize this moment.”

Convene combines design, technology, and hospitality to deliver elevated meeting and event spaces that enable business productivity and collaboration. Convene Studio, a proprietary virtual and hybrid events platform, can be added to any Convene or third-party location venue to enable seamless, secure, hybrid, and virtual meetings for up to 10,000 virtual attendees, including full production services.

Convene’s signature award-winning hospitality delivers a human touch in both the physical and virtual worlds. A team of dedicated on-site professionals welcome each guest and offer in-house assistance with everything from catering to IT/AV support, to ensure workday experiences are effortless and personalized. Alongside unlimited craft snacks, tea and barista coffee, Convene’s Head Chefs develop seasonal menus to replenish creative energy in every one of our locations.

With the investment from HBC and Ares, Convene’s future expansion will focus on locations in key urban and suburban markets. As businesses are reimagining their office footprint and hybrid workforce strategies, commercial real estate landlords are also re-thinking what is required to stay competitive in today’s dynamic marketplace. Sought-after amenities such as coworking options, on-site culinary offerings, premium and elevated meeting and event venues, and hybrid technology that were once thought of as “nice to have” are now a “must have”. Convene is well-poised to bring this fully operationalized solution to a wide variety of commercial real estate partners across the globe.

“Ryan and his management team have a 12-year track record of building world-class destinations for hosting events, meetings, and flexible workspace,” said Hamid Hashemi, COO, HBC Properties & Investments. “We are looking forward to implementing our shared vision across parts of HBC’s real estate portfolio, including the conversion of certain of its assets into Convene locations. With this transaction, Convene will expand its footprint into suburban markets, where people can work and meet closer to home.”

“We are proud to support Ryan and the Convene team in their continued growth as they further enable the future of work through innovative spaces and experiences,” said Craig Snyder, Partner and Co-Portfolio Manager of Special Opportunities in the Ares Private Equity Group. “We believe that this transaction will help accelerate Convene’s leadership position and we look forward to being a partner to them as they execute on future opportunities.”

About Convene

Convene is the leading provider of premium meeting and workday experiences with a global network of venues and flexible office locations. Combining design, technology, and hospitality to elevate today’s modern work experience, Convene creates the spaces and experiences that help teams succeed. With Studio, an all-in-one solution for digitally-enabled events, and 23 locations across the U.S. & London including meeting spaces and flexible workplaces, Convene creates your best day at work, wherever it happens. The company has been named one of America’s 100 Most Promising Companies by Forbes and a Best Workplace by both Inc. and Fortune Magazine.

About HBC

HBC is a holding company of investments and businesses at the intersection of technology, retail operations, and real estate.

It is the majority owner of iconic e-commerce companies: Saks, a leading online destination for luxury fashion; The Bay, a Canadian e-commerce marketplace; and Saks OFF 5TH, a premier luxury off-price e-commerce company offering top brands at the best prices. These businesses were established as separate operating companies in 2021. HBC also wholly owns Hudson’s Bay, the operating company for Hudson’s Bay’s brick-and-mortar stores, as well as SFA, the entity that operates Saks Fifth Avenue’s physical locations, and O5, the operating company for Saks OFF 5TH stores.

With assets spanning top markets and prime locations across North America, HBC owns or controls—either entirely or with joint venture partners—approximately 40 million square feet of gross leasable area. HBC Properties and Investments, the company’s real estate and investments portfolio business manages these assets along with additional real estate offerings, including Streetworks Development, its property development division.

Founded in 1670, HBC is North America’s longest continually operating company and is headquartered in New York and Toronto. For more information visit: www.hbc.com.

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of December 31, 2021, Ares Management Corporation’s global platform had approximately 2,100 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East and approximately $314 billion of assets under management, as adjusted for Ares Management’s acquisition of AMP Capital’s Infrastructure Debt platform which closed February 10, 2022. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.

Contacts

HBC

Trenesa Danuser

press@hbc.com

Convene

Anna Feiner

Convene@dkcnews.com

Ares Management Corporation

Brittany Cash

media@aresmgmt.com

WINNIPEG, Manitoba–(BUSINESS WIRE)–You’ve decided to take the plunge and streamline your operations with a CMMS – congratulations! Before you just install and instruct your team to start using it, now is the time to plan and plan diligently.

Implemented correctly, a CMMS can provide a single source of the asset management and health, reduce operational costs, increase customer satisfaction, meet regulations and become a center of the maintenance execution management.

Implemented poorly without proper buy-in and roll-out plans can turn your entire team off the idea of using software. Usage will be sporadic and complaints will be constant. Getting the team onboard again will most likely prove to be the biggest challenge and ultimate failure.

We’ve compiled the top steps to ensure your CMMS is implemented correctly with the highest chance of success.

1. Implementation Team
   When creating your implementation team be sure it is cross-functional, identify your champions and assign an owner.
2. Workflow and SOPs
   
   Document your existing workflows and be sure to question the whitespace in between the activities to determine if they are necessary. Once you know what you do and how you do it, then you can start adapting workflows to the CMMS.
3. Data Standardization
   This is the time to assess, validate and clean your data – before you upload it to your CMMS. Create a vocabulary, maintenance codes, job statuses and other standards you want to measure in the future.
4. Plan
   Have your team utilize your process documentation to start building the steps required.
5. System Configuration
   Now it’s time to configure the CMMS to receive data. That involves configuring forms, fields, dropdowns, refining flows and testing, testing, testing.
6. Training
   Adapt your training to the recipient so they can clearly see the value of making this change.
7. Launch
   Look at your stages of the project and launch it with the same approach.

These steps are a broad overview to success in your implementation. Follow them for each of your milestones, continue to assess and revise your processes and be open and receptive to feedback and suggestions from your team.

If you’re interested in a CMMS that’s designed to meet the maintenance demands of modern companies, start with Maxpanda. Let’s get some work done, together.

Contacts

Media:

Steve Kyriakidis

Email: steve@maxpanda.com
Phone: 1-424-272-6675