Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 2-19-16 Edition

Features
Tampa Native Chosen As President Of Real Estate Organization
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Recently, a Tampa native was chosen to lead the Louisiana REALTORS or- ganization. He is the first African American chosen to lead the organization in that state.
Curtis Wright, Sr.,
began his role as president on January 1st. He launched his real estate career 20 years ago after retiring from the military after a 24-year stint in the U. S. Air Force.
Wright, a graduate of Howard W. Blake High School, class of 1969, credits his success in part to his humble beginnings in Tampa. “I remember our motto at Blake, “We Can Because We Think We Can,” and that has been a very powerful rally- ing throughout my military career and now my real es- tate career.”
During his tenure with the Air Force, Wright served in the Vietnam Con- flict, Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
After completing his mil- itary career, Wright settled
CURTIS WRIGHT, SR. President of Louisiana REALTORS
in Bossier City, Louisiana, and became involved in the real estate industry.
Of his high school motto, Wright said, “I’ve even used it with first-time home- buyers because sometimes getting through the financial and emotional challenges of trying to achieve the Ameri- can Dream, they need to know ‘they can because they think they can.’”
He is the owner/broker of Curtropolis Realty Serv- ices in Northwest Louisiana, and licensed by the Louisiana Real Estate Com- mission as an education vendor of Curtis Wright Seminars. He teaches real
estate continuing education, pre-licensing and post li- censing training.
Additionally, Wright is a motivational speaker and has hosted and produced a real estate radio talk show “Talk Real Estate with Curtis” in Shreveport.
When time permits, Wright enjoys playing rac- quetball, chess, pinochle and watching football and basketball. He is the father of 5, grandfather of 7, and great grandfather to 1.
Wright includes among his goals as President, “To touch all 12,000 plus mem- bers at least once and hear their concerns, encourage their greatness and promote the relevance of Louisiana REALTORS® every chance possible.
“It’s also important to have excellent two-way communication with our partners in the mortgage, home inspection, appraisal, pest control and home builders sector so we can all succeed. I strive to be a trusted motivational speaker, trainer, real estate professional, leader and spokesperson for all REAL- TORS®,” Wright said.
HART CEO Says Customer Service Is A Priority
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
In an effort to bring something new to their pa- trons, HART has allowed the Tampa Veggie Van to set up at their Net Park location.
HART CEO, Katharine Eagan, said that was made possible through a request from the operators of the Tampa Veggie Van.
“We got a call and they wanted to go to various loca- tions where our buses stop to display fresh fruits and veg- etables. We thought Net Park was a great place to do that. We wanted to make sure our patrons would take advan- tage of this opportunity.
“Right now, we’ll keep it at Net Park for a couple of months, and then if we can move it to the University area and then on from there to other locations.”
Asked what they are doing to improve service to their patrons and the need for better bus shelters, Ms. Eagan said they are working to improve all of their bus stops, especially improving the maintenance of the stops.
“We try to get out more often to clean-up the stops. Its hard getting shelters in residential areas because of the space needed to put them up. We try to make sure we get information to the Jay- Cees so they can see if it can be done.
“As far as the most critical needs of our patrons are con- cerned, we are addressing the need for more frequency in the times the bus picks up patrons. We are also ad- dressing complaints about our Marion Transit Center and homeless people loiter- ing or sleeping there. Passen- gers on our buses don’t want to deal with homeless people
KATHARINE EAGAN HARTline CEO
while they are waiting on the bus.”
Ms. Eagan said they try to put shelters in the areas where the buses are being used the most, and the de- mand is high.
“What a lot of people don’t know is the advertising that appears at the bus stops has a lot to do with where they are located.
“We are improving our customer service program with an initiative called “Voice of the Customer,” where we will directly ad- dress the concerns of our pa- trons, like safety, courteous drivers, and more stops.”
Ms. Eagan said if buses are being detoured without the knowledge of the patrons waiting on the bus, they try to let the passengers know so they won’t be waiting on a bus that’s either delayed, or not stopping where it usually does.
“We also tell our supervi- sors to let passengers know as they travel past some of the stops.
“We’ve hired some new staff to make sure our man- agement team is being trained properly and listens to what the passengers are saying and what they want to see improved or changed.”
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