When Tommy Webber of ERA Webber Real Estate in Ogden, Utah, took on the leadership role of the company his grandfather founded in 1947, he knew he wanted to honor the tradition of service his company was known for. But he also had his sights set on the future. And that future involved growth.
Webber recognized that the time was right to pursue growth on two fronts: through mergers and acquisitions as well as through strategic recruiting. Tapping into the tools and support of ERA Real Estate, Webber implemented several changes that more than doubled the size of his company.
ERA Real Estate’s franchise sales team and broker services group worked with Webber to identify potential companies in his market that would complement his existing operations. ERA Webber Real Estate merged with Jet Realty to form ERA Skyline Real Estate. The name change signaled a new era of growth for the company as well as Webber’s goal to become the premier brokerage in his market. Shortly after the merger with Jet Realty, ERA Skyline acquired Key Realty Group.
“Culture is always important,” says Webber, 33, a charter member of the ERA® Young Leaders Network. “As a third-generation family business, we are old-fashioned enough to embrace integrity and modern enough to employ the latest technology to better serve our clients. A successful blending of companies relies on a shared foundation and culture and we found a great match with Jet Realty and Key Realty Group.”
In fact, the merger and the acquisition served to expand ERA Skyline’s footprint and service area and increased agent count by 300 percent.
“The in-house training ERA Real Estate provided as part of the transition was invaluable, not only in getting new agents up to speed on ERA Real Estate’s tools and resources, but also by providing refresher training for existing agents,” reports Webber. “Everyone was really fired up after the training.”