Last night marked a transition in leadership for the Illinois Association of REALTORS® as REALTOR® Mike Onorato, GRI, was installed as the 2010 president of our state association representing 50,000 Illinois REALTORS®.

Onorato is a 27-year veteran of the real estate business and is broker-owner of the family business his father started in 1970—Onorato Real Estate in Coal City, Illinois, serving Grundy County and southern Will County.

“There is not one of us in this room that hasn’t been affected in some way by this recession,” said Onorato in his acceptance speech where he challenged REALTORS® in the audience to look forward and recharge at this moment in time—to learn something new about real estate marketing or about the new dynamics of customer service. “Earn a professional designation; mentor someone new entering the business. Retool and redefine yourselves as business professionals as we all become empowered to better serve the consumers and communities we live in.”

REALTOR® Sheryl Grider, ABR, CRB, e-PRO, GRI, of East Peoria was installed as IAR’s 2010 president-elect. Grider is the development and operations coordinator for Traders Realty in Peoria.

REALTOR® Loretta Alonzo, CRB, GRI, of Romeoville, broker-owner of Century 21 Alonzo & Associates in La Grange Park was installed as the 2010 treasurer of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

Immediate Past President Pat Callan, broker-owner of Realty Executives Premiere in Wheaton, will continue to lend his expertise on the IAR Leadership Team after serving as president in 2009.