Ed Neaves, managing broker of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Central Illinois REALTORS^® in Bloomington, has been named the 2022 Illinois REALTOR^® of the Year by Illinois REALTORS^®. Neaves served as president of Illinois REALTORS® in 2020.

The announcement was made during the state association’s Winter Business Meetings held Jan. 18-20 in Bloomington-Normal. Neaves will be honored at a March 28 banquet in Springfield.

Neaves has been a leader in the real estate industry with his local association, the Mid-Illinois REALTORS^® Association, Illinois REALTORS^® and the National Association of REALTORS^®.

As the 2020 Illinois REALTORS^® President, Neaves led the state association and its more than 50,000 members during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is a longtime member of the Illinois REALTORS^® Board of Directors and currently serves as chair of the association’s Audit Committee, vice chair of the Nominating Committee and is a member of the Advisory Council and the Strategic Planning and Performance/Compensation Review committees.

Neaves has always been committed to the power of REALTOR^® political advocacy. He has chaired the Illinois REALTORS^® Political Involvement Committee, the Federal Political Coordinators Working Group and Major Investors Working Group and served on a variety of Illinois REALTORS^® committees.

Neaves 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 who have been 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.

In his Bloomington-Normal community, he served as the president of his local association in 2017 and was honored as the local REALTOR^® of the Year in 2011 and again in 2020. In 2016, he was awarded his local association’s Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award.

Neaves is also an entrepreneur who has owned and operated restaurants and radio stations in central Illinois. He a past president of the Bloomington-Normal Area Home Builders Association, McLean County Humane Society and the Bloomington-Normal Jaycees. He has served on the boards of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, United Way of McLean County and currently serves on the Miller Park Zoological Society Board of Directors.

Neaves earned an MBA degree from Illinois State University. He and his wife, Amanda Wycoff Neaves, who also is a REALTOR^®, live in Normal with their son Edwin James.