Ed Neaves has always been a builder.

Sometimes, that’s in the literal sense. After all, he’s built hundreds of homes over the years.

Other times, it has been building a business as a restaurateur, radio station owner or as a managing broker at real estate firms in Bloomington.

Neaves became president of Illinois REALTORS® in September, and his plans for 2020 call for a clear focus on building member value and positioning the 50,000-member trade association to succeed in the future.

It’s no small task, given the dynamics of the real estate industry.

“Real estate is an industry that is rapidly changing – I mean it changes week by week by week,” Neaves said. “It’s accelerating at such a fast pace that you have to be on top of what’s happening because it is changing so rapidly.”

Fast change requires 20/20 vision for 2020, he says. The association’s efforts should directly link members to the value Illinois REALTORS® brings through advocacy, education and other services ranging from legal guidance to professional standards.

“It’s a critical time. Everybody wants to know what’s in it for them,” Neaves said.

In 2020, Neaves will oversee a strategic planning process for the next three years and beyond for Illinois REALTORS®. This means members will review the current plan, measure it against how the marketplace is evolving and then draft a new blueprint for the organization.

The good news?

“Nobody does it better than this organization,” Neaves said. “Once you see inside everything the Illinois REALTORS® does as an organization … what they do day in and day out to provide service to their members is staggering. We must continue to get this message out through our ambassadors and continue to reinforce this value.”

Restaurant business, military shaped professional life

Neaves grew up in Rantoul, the son of Bob and Peggy Neaves. His father flew B-17s in Italy in World War II, and after he left the military he settled the family in central Illinois.

Neaves attended Rantoul Township High School, where he was president of the art and chess clubs, the National Honor Society chapter and played the lead in the junior class play. He also ran cross country and was a standout wrestler.

To make money, Neaves got a part-time job at the Redwood Inn in Rantoul, starting as a potato peeler then working his way up to dishwasher and running the buffet carving station.

As his 1969 high school graduation neared, Neaves decided he wanted to attend one of the nation’s armed forces service academies. A college visit to the Air Force Academy’s Colorado Springs campus made a lasting impact.

“I fell in love with the place and thought ‘what the heck,’ so I applied,” he said.

Several months later, a colonel showed up on his doorstep announcing he had been accepted to the Air Force Academy. Offers from West Point, Annapolis and the Merchant Marine Academy soon followed, but Neaves had his heart set on the Air Force.

Birdwatching hobby leads to falconry

It was at the Air Force Academy where his love for the military and a longtime passion as a birdwatcher came together.

Neaves’ parents would take him for weekend rides into the countryside, and for cheap entertainment the family would look for birds and pick blackberries.

Young Ed was fascinated by birds.

“They gave me every bird book known to man,” Neaves said. “To this day when I hear a birdsong, I can pretty much tell you (what it is) if it is a North American bird.”

Years later, as he walked stiffly at attention down an Air Force Academy hallway, Neaves saw a bulletin board notice seeking cadet applicants for the falconry program. The falcon is the official mascot of the Air Force Academy, and the school maintains a large complement of the birds.

Neaves immediately applied and was one of four freshman falconers selected to take care of the academy’s raptors.

“It was a PR job,” Neaves recalled. “Whenever we were on leave or home for anything, we took a bird with us. We appeared at high schools, on TV shows and radio shows.”

Upon receiving his degree in 1973, Neaves was assigned to the 437^th Military Airlift Wing based in Charleston, S.C., where he flew on C-141 and C-5A cargo transports on missions throughout South America.

At the end of his tour in 1977, the Vietnam War had wound down and the Air Force was looking to reduce enlistments. Neaves took the opportunity to return to Central Illinois where his family still lived.

Restaurant business launches real estate career

Back in Bloomington, Neaves enrolled in graduate school at Illinois State University. He later earned a master’s degree in business administration.

To support himself, he worked as a bartender at a restaurant called Pub I, then was promoted to manage a sister operation, Pub II, in Normal.

The experience took his career in a number of new directions, including his first venture into real estate.

“A customer at Pub II owned a real estate company, and through that conversation that’s how I got into real estate,” Neaves said. “For a while I sold a lot of real estate out of that bar, just talking to people. … Since I was the manager I could take off and show them property anytime I wanted.”

Neaves bought and sold investment properties. Among them was a lounge in Bloomington which he named Falcon Eddie’s, a nod to his past at the Air Force Academy. Among the clientele was a local radio station owner who shared the problems he was having running the business.

“I told him, ‘I’m a sales manager in real estate, I can run a radio station,’” Neaves recalled. “One night he said ‘OK’, come on down. I’ll never forget walking into that station and (meeting) all the people that worked there and him introducing “Falcon Eddie” as their new manager.”

Neaves’ work at WIHN FM 96 led to an opportunity with partners to buy another station in Champaign, WHZT FM 105.

The station played elevator music, a format Neaves knew had to immediately change. He commissioned a study to find out what niche wasn’t filled in the market.

“I’ve always been kind of a data nut,” he said.

The station’s format changed to hard rock. It was shifted to a digital format and operated out of a space about the size of a closet.

The changes vaulted WHZT to the top spot in the Champaign market.

“I got the most fun out of writing commercials and putting commercials on the air and going to the event and seeing success for the client,” Neaves said of the experience.

Real estate becomes primary focus

From the 1990s on, Neaves turned his focus to real estate after he and his partners sold the radio stations.

He helped merge Snyder Real Estate and Armstrong Realty to form Prudential Snyder Armstrong Real Estate, and in the process built the business from a $40 million a year operation to one which topped $450 million annually.

“From a management perspective this was one of my proudest accomplishments, successfully merging two separate brokerages, both fiercely proud of their heritage, with two completely different cultures, keeping every agent intact and on board during the first five years of the merger,” he said.

The company later changed corporate ownership and now operates as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Snyder Real Estate in Bloomington. Currently, Neaves manages 84 brokers.

Neaves and several partners formed Stelle Homes in Bloomington in 2002. The business built more than 500 homes throughout central Illinois.

The projects ranged from an affordable housing-oriented subdivision to high-end mansions.

He’s still building, now as a partner in Expert Builders of Central Illinois, which constructs eight to 12 houses annually.

Professional commitment growing part of role

In 2010, Neaves started to get involved with the Bloomington-Normal Association of REALTORS® and ultimately Illinois REALTORS®.

He credits this to the woman who would ultimately become his wife, Amanda Wycoff Neaves. They married in 2015, and have a two-year-old son, Edwin.

“She is the one that convinced me to run for the local board, to resurrect the local RPAC Committee, to re-engage at the highest energy level,” he said.

And, she encouraged him to make the volunteer work fun, even if it meant taking part in a local association talent show. “Without her, none of this would’ve happened,” Neaves said.

Because Neaves knew newly elected U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, he was quickly drafted to become the congressman’s Federal Political Coordinator (FPC). It was one of his first volunteer leadership roles for a REALTOR® organization.

“I was flown to Washington, D.C., to start training with the other new FPCs, Neaves recalls. “Immediately, I was hooked on advocacy.”

Both Ed and Amanda Neaves have served as president of the Bloomington-Normal association, and Amanda is a top producer in the market.

Since he became active with the state association a decade ago, Neaves has worked on or led a multitude of committees, ranging from chairing the Major Investor Working Group, REALTORS® Political Involvement Committee and the Federal Political Coordinators.

At the national level, Neaves represented Illinois REALTORS® with Illinois REALTORS® President Mike Drews on the REALTOR® Party Member Involvement Committee. The pair was honored for their work in 2015 with a NAR Chairman’s Award, an honor given for special leadership recognition.

Back in Illinois, Neaves received the Illinois REALTOR® Political Involvement Award for his longstanding commitment to promoting industry causes to local, state and federal policymakers.

It should be no surprise that advocacy ranks high on Neaves’ list of important things Illinois REALTORS® provides.

“Advocacy is our number one program that we have,” Neaves said. “Without advocacy, we have nothing. Illinois does it (advocacy) better than anybody in the United States. We are a model for what we have set up.”

Marketing Illinois as a place to do business will also be an emphasis for the year ahead. Neaves has traveled to Cannes, France, for the annual MIPIM real estate conference, and recently returned from Japan as part of a state of Illinois effort to develop relationships and investment.

“It’s critical to bring jobs to the state. Jobs bring people that buy houses,” he says.

Commitment to building ongoing for Neaves

Neaves said he’s aware of how fast the industry is changing.

“We have to be knowledgeable about what is happening and ask how this thing is going to play out, what analytics can we put in place to be ready for when change happens,” Neaves said.

No matter what happens to the real estate business model, Neaves said he’s even more convinced real estate agents will always be at the heart of the deal.

“The agent of the future will be needed in every transaction as long as he or she keeps up to date on their education and knowledge of the market,” he said.

It’s a belief that shapes what he says is the best part of his job – giving new owners keys to their home.

“The look in their eyes, their happiness, their pride, and their gratitude – it’s hard to beat that,” Neaves said.