Illinois REALTORS® celebrated 2022 REALTOR® of the Year Ed Neaves Monday night at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.

The banquet honored Neaves and recognized 21 local REALTORS® of the Year representing their local associations from around the state.

Neaves, managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Central Illinois Realtors® in Bloomington, has devoted his 26-year real estate career to improving the industry. He has served on the local, state and national levels of the REALTOR® associations, including leading the Illinois REALTORS® as its state president in 2020 and two terms as president-elect when there was a vacancy in the association’s leadership team.

He also served on a variety of state committees. He is a longtime member of the Illinois REALTORS® Board of Directors and is the chair of the association’s 2022 Audit Committee, vice chair of the Nominating Committee and is a member of the Advisory Council and Performance/Compensation Review Committee. He has chaired the Illinois REALTORS® Political Involvement Committee, the Federal Political Coordinators Working Group and the Major Investors Working Group and served on a variety of Illinois REALTORS® committees.

His advocacy also extends to being a REALTOR® resource to elected officials. He is the State Legislative Contact for state Sen. Jason Barickman (R-Bloomington) and the Federal Political Coordinator for U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-16th District).

He is among an elite group of REALTORS® nationwide inducted into the REALTORS® Political Action Committee (RPAC) Hall of Fame for lifetime contributions of at least $25,000. He was honored for his political leadership with the 2015 Illinois REALTORS® Political Involvement Award.

On the national level, Neaves has served on the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Board of Directors since 2018 and has served repeated terms on NAR’s State and Local Issues Mobilization Support Committee and REALTOR® Party Member Involvement Committee.

He has served in leadership positions of his local association, the Mid-Illinois REALTORS®, including president in 2017, local REALTOR® of the Year in 2020 and in 2011. In 2016, he received his local association’s Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.

Local associations also recognized their own 2022 REALTORS® of the Year:

• Jayme Ahlden Fay of RE/MAX Realty Associates in Champaign is the ROTY for Champaign County Association of REALTORS®.
• Ahmed Badat of AMB Realty & Investment Resources in Lisle represents the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of REALTORS®.
• The late Gary Broughton, formerly of the Century 21 Broughton Team in Quincy is the ROTY for the Quincy Association of REALTORS®.
• Monica Bullington of RE/MAX Rising in Bloomington represents the Mid-Illinois REALTORS® Association.
• Jason Catton of Realty Executives Acclaimed in Peoria Heights is the ROTY for the Peoria Area Association of REALTORS®.
• Barbara Davidson of Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors in Belleville represents the REALTOR® Association of Southwestern Illinois.
• Maureen Forgette of CENTURY 21 Roberts & Andrews in McHenry represents the Heartland REALTOR® Organization.
• Vickie Foster of Willow Real Estate, Inc., in Sycamore is the REALTOR® of the Year for the HomeTown Association of REALTORS®.
• Kathy Frankenberger of Baird & Warner Real Estate in Arlington Heights is REALTOR® of the Year for the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®.
• Peter Grant of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Speckman Realty in Bourbonnais is the ROTY for the Kankakee-Iroquois-Ford Association of REALTORS®.
• Maurice Hampton of Centered International Realty in Chicago is the REALTOR® of the Year for the Chicago Association of REALTORS®.
• Ashley Heilman of Welcome Home Northwest Illinois Inc., in Lena is REALTOR® of the Year for the Rockford Area REALTORS®.
• Kristine Heiman of Best Homes Fox Valley in Montgomery is the ROTY for the REALTOR® Association of the Fox Valley.
• Christopher Holvoet of Mel Foster Co., in Davenport, Iowa is the REALTOR® of the Year for the Quad City Area REALTORS®.
• Gibby Kirby of Realty Executives Success in Shorewood is the REALTOR® of the Year for the Three Rivers Association of REALTORS®.
• Mark Massey of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties in Edwardsville is REALTOR® of the Year for the Greater Gateway Association.
• Wayne Paprocki of eXp Realty in Schaumburg represents the North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS®.
• The late David Perkins, formerly of All American Realty in Mattoon is the ROTY for the Central Illinois Board of REALTORS®.
• Deb Sarsany of The Real Estate Group, Inc., in Springfield represents the Capital Area REALTORS®.
• Diane Schweickert of Janko Realty & Development in Peru is the ROTY for the Illini Valley Association of REALTORS®.
• Catherine Simon-Vobornik of Baird & Warner in Oak Park is the ROTY for the Oak Park Area Association of REALTORS®.