Nancy Koch Named 2007 Illinois REALTOR of the Year

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.– Nancy Koch, GRI, of Morton was named the 2007 Illinois REALTOR of the Year. The announcement was made at the Illinois Association of REALTORS (IAR) Business Meetings in Springfield on March 22. A REALTOR of the Year banquet will be held in Koch’s honor on September 18, 2007, at the Drury Lane Conference Center in Oakbrook Terrace.

The REALTOR of the Year award is presented to the one member of the Illinois Association of REALTORS who best exemplifies the professional qualities of a REALTOR. The award recognizes leadership and service in civic, community and charitable causes, as well as activity in the REALTOR Association.

“Nancy is a professional by every standard and has been tremendously active in REALTOR education and professional standards at the local, state and national levels of the REALTOR family,” said Robert Zoretich, president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS.

With a career that spans 26 years, Koch is the broker-manager of Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty in Peoria. For Coldwell Banker, she also serves as the Northern Region Manager for the firm covering Peoria, East Peoria, Morton and Pekin.

Koch is a past president of her local Peoria Area Association of REALTORS (PAAR) and was named its REALTOR of the Year in 1998. In 2005 she received PAAR's Outstanding Association Service Award. She has served on many local association committees over the years including chair of the Professional Standards and Education committees and president of PAAR’s Central Illinois Homes Guide for the last six years.

During her many years of active state involvement, Koch has played an integral role in decision-making and planning for IAR’s education mission. She has held leadership roles as chair of the IAR Convention Working Group, Professional Development Member Involvement Group, Education Review Task Force and Education Working Group.

Koch is a longtime member and served as president in 2003 and 2004 of the IAR’s nonprofit Real Estate Educational Foundation (www.ilreef.org), which awards scholarships for the study of real estate and related fields at colleges and universities both within and outside Illinois.

She currently serves as dean of IAR’s REALTOR Institute Working Group which oversees Illinois’ Graduate REALTOR Institute or GRI designation program. She also serves on IAR’s Professional Development Member Involvement Working Group, Education Working Group and Business Issues/License Law Working Group.

Active nationally since 2004, Koch has served on the National Association of REALTORS Education Committee, GRI Working Group, Conventional Finance and Lending Committee and NAR Board of Directors.

Koch is a real estate pre-license instructor for the State of Illinois and gives her time and talents outside the real estate community as a member of the Morton and Peoria Chambers of Commerce and the local chapter of the American Cancer Society. She lives in Morton with her husband Wesley, a professor at Illinois Central College. They have two children and one grandchild.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS is a voluntary trade association whose 60,000 members are engaged in all facets of the real estate industry. In addition to serving the professional needs of its members, the Illinois Association of REALTORS works to protect the rights of private property owners in the state by recommending and promoting legislation that safeguards and advances the interest of real property ownership.

-30-