Food for Those in Need: #WeArePolinger

The Polinger Company values each and every local community where our properties are located. For this reason, we seek to actively support our neighbors in any way possible. Over the past couple of months, each of our properties ran wildly successful food drives. From canned goods to juice boxes, each property’s donation bins were overflowing, prompting the need for additional boxes and bins. Polinger Company employees and residents contributed to the over 1,644 pounds of food donations to local food banks. 

As a continuation of involvement with food assistance charities, our corporate team was thrilled to volunteer at the Capital Area Food Bank last month. The Capital Area Food Bank provides food to individuals and families in the DC metro-region who are in need of assistance. The organization has partnerships with 450 community sites that distribute food donations. They reach approximately 540,000 people in-need within the region! The Polinger team was happy to lend a helping hand as the food bank heavily relies on volunteers and donations.

The recent government shutdown was the longest in our nation’s history. It resulted in many furloughed government employees needing assistance to provide food for themselves and their dependents. The Polinger Company corporate team spent a day at the Capital Area Food Bank bagging goods such as fresh produce, grains, and canned goods for Shutdown Pop Up Markets. Our team’s goal was to fill eight crates consisting of 75 bags of food each. We are proud to share we surpassed our goal and filled a total of 15 crates!

If you’re interested in learning more about the Capital Area Food Bank you can explore their website here. We encourage residents to share volunteer opportunities with their property’s management team! They will relay the information to our #PolingerCares Committee. Our goal is to continually give back to local communities and we’d love to learn about causes and organizations our residents care about.

Polinger Company Finished 2018 With Six Wins

This past year was an incredible one for the Polinger Company, filled with many unforgettable memories from team building events to awards. From our corporate office to property team we closed out 2018 with several awards from the Property Management Association (PMA).  Awards include recognition of individual team members and various marketing efforts.

We would like to congratulate Deanna Carl of Brighton Village Apartments in Gaithersburg, MD for winning the 2018 Leasing Professional Award! This award recognizes leasing professionals for exceptional performance and service to residents. Way to go Deanna!

The Polinger Company had three wonderful team members recognized as Rising Stars in the leasing profession. Congratulations to Iris Valenzuela of Columbia Plaza Apartments, Angela White of Rollins Parks Apartments, and Alecea Ali-Williams of Highland House West Apartment Homes

Our team is honored to have received two 2018 Marketing & Advertising Excellence Awards. We won for our Amenity & Green Living Videos of The Swift at Petworth Metro and our Management Company Brochure, both of which were developed in collaboration with Millennium Marketing Solutions.

As we embrace 2019, we’re excited to see what it holds for our teams and properties. 

How To Participate on MLK Day of Service

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is on Monday, January 21. Not only is the day dedicated to celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. King, it is also a day of service. The Corporation for National and Community Service is responsible for organizing the MLK Day of Service and offers the ability to register your own volunteer project or sign up for an existing one in your local community. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time volunteering with your neighbors to help other local community members!

Projects encompass a wide array of categories such as adult education, arts & culture, hunger & homelessness, senior services, and much more. Below are some ideas of projects already organized near Polinger Company apartment communities to consider joining:

The Polinger Company strives to give back to the local communities of the cities where our properties are located. In addition to the National Day of giving, the #PolingerCares committee plans events throughout the year. Previous events have included a cleanup at Rock Creek Park and providing supplies for The Children’s Inn at NIH. Our next service event will be volunteering at the Capital Area Food Bank on Thursday, January 24. 

We Welcome Our New Senior Vice President

Here at Polinger Company, we pride ourselves on growth and development. For this reason, we are thrilled to welcome Maj-Lene Pedersen Keech as our new Senior Vice President of Residential Property Management! Maj-Lene is a skilled professional with over 20 years of multi-family experience and robust industry knowledge.

History of Excellence

Maj-Lene earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from Sierra Nevada College and her Master’s of Science in Real Estate with a concentration in Real Estate Development from Johns Hopkins University. Over the past 15 years, she has been a strong force in the Mid-Atlantic real estate industry, having held positions with Washington REIT, the Bozzuto Management Company, and most recently, as Senior Vice President with PRP Estate Management.

Industry Involvement

Beyond the walls of the office, Maj-Lene is active in the real estate and property management industries. In the past, she served as President for the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)’s Northern Virginia Chapter 77. She is currently serving as the Director on the Executive Council for Chapter 77 in addition to serving on the Property Management Association’s PACE committee and she is a member of CREW Northern Virginia.

Looking to the Future

Polinger Company manages more than 5,000 apartments and we are confident that Maj-Lene will bring each to new heights with her passion and dedication to providing residents with the best possible living experience. With Polinger her responsibilities include direction and oversight of our residential properties and marketing, along with personnel matters and owner relations. Maj-Lene also assists in the company’s apartment acquisition process, taking an active role in the evaluation, due diligence, underwriting and closing of investments.

Welcome to the family, Maj-Lene!

If you are interested in finding a beautiful apartment in a convenient location, discover our various apartment communities. To stay updated on the latest Polinger Company and industry news be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Take Your Child to Work Day

Polinger Company celebrated National Take Your Child to Work Day on Thursday, April 26, 2018, with an enthusiastic class of participants.

Children from the marketing, accounting, operations, administration, and construction teams were present. After a breakfast of fruit and donuts, lessons were taught by each department to help the children learn each role. 

Afua Ofori, Director of Human Resources, conducted a welcome session acclimating the children to the basics of property management and how Polinger Company operates. They viewed a slide show presentation and learned the difference between commercial and residential properties. 

Katie Sichinava, Project Accountant and Julia Hoops, Project Accountant taught the importance of budgets and income. As a game, the children were given a monthly stipend and were able to choose how to spend it based on flash cards showing needs and wants. Surprisingly, vegetables were bought in addition to video games.

Kim Cueva, Director of Marketing, showed the importance of a website and the internet. The children then created their own brochures based on what they believed was important to show a prospective renter. There was no shortage of creativity in the room. 

The children took a tour of the office and the outside grounds to help burn some energy. “It was a successful and very fun first “Take Your Child to Work Day” here at Polinger and we look forward to doing it again in the future,” said Ms. Cueva.