MRI Software Honors Real Estate Technology Leaders with 2022 RE:Visionary Awards

Awards were presented at the MRI Ascend users conference in New Orleans

Solon, Ohio – November 9, 2022 – MRI Software, a global leader in real estate software solutions, announced the recipients of the fourth annual RE:Visionary Awards at its MRI Ascend 2022 North American users conference, held in New Orleans on October 23-26. The awards, which were revealed in the general session on the second day of Ascend, included multiple categories: Lifetime Achievement, Innovation, Flexibility, Community, Impact, Ambassador of the Year and Partner of the Year. The RE:Visionary Awards honor MRI clients and partners that have leveraged the company’s open and connected software and extensive partner network to elevate their business and gain a competitive advantage.

“It is a privilege for MRI to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our clients and partners,” says Patrick Ghilani, MRI Software’s Chief Executive Officer. “The RE:Visionary Awards recognize the many ways in which real estate visionaries are employing technology to enhance communities, demonstrating the power of innovation and collaboration to transform the way we live, work and play.”

2022 RE:Visionary Awards recipients:

Lifetime Achievement
Karen Blake, Vice President of Systems Operations, Steiner + Associates
This award recognizes Karen Blake as an individual who has contributed significantly to her organization, MRI, and the broader real estate community throughout her career. For more than 20 years, Blake has been an MRI client and evangelist, ensuring that Steiner + Associates maximized their use of the software, including the implementation of key commercial management components. She was instrumental in the successful early rollout of leasing and productivity solutions and has worked closely with MRI on many projects over the years, participating in client testing and software limited availability programs. With a wealth of knowledge, she has become a leader in the real estate space and has worked together with the MRI team to solve complex systems issues. Her expertise and dedication have helped push the industry and MRI products forward.

Innovation
Paramount Group
Paramount Group has successfully leveraged out-of-the box functionality, along with MRI’s extensive API library and customization tools to build a robust, integrated, and sophisticated system. The company has embraced innovation, continually upgrading the system over the years – moving to the cloud-based version of MRI’s property management solution and taking advantage of MRI’s Partner Connect integrations with Nexus, Procore, and VTS. Paramount Group has also utilized new solution offerings from MRI, including MRI Angus and Fixed Assets, to build a leading-edge set of technology tools that have improved automation and efficiency for accounting and financials across the board.

Flexibility
Phillips Edison & Company
Phillips Edison & Company (PECO) has taken full advantage of MRI’s product flexibility to create enhancements and automations for business processes that have boosted its efficiency, including first month’s rent and security deposit, tenant open tracking, and lease flow opportunity streamlining. Taking full advantage of MRI’s open and connected ecosystem, PECO was able to integrate lead capture and conversion, payment, customer service, e-signature, and tenant tracking capabilities to greatly reduce manual tasks, speed up initial payments and accelerate its tenant onboarding experience. As a result, PECO was able to reduce time spent on the entire process by days or even weeks.

Community
Rochester Housing Authority
The Rochester Housing Authority (RHA) consistently shares user feedback, ideas and suggestions with MRI to drive innovations that benefit the community and other Public Housing Agency clients. RHA improved its communication with residents, applicants, and landlords by using Callmax and streamlined rent collection with MRI RentPayment. To make their data more secure and accessible to staff, RHA recently migrated to MRI’s cloud environment, enabling remote connectivity and multi-factor authentication. RHA’s feedback has been instrumental in helping MRI craft better processes to serve its customers and creating new client professional services offerings. RHA continuously shares best practices with other agencies to help advance the industry.

Impact
Cinnaire
Cinnaire, an MRI investment management client, believes in staying on the leading edge of real estate technology to ensure a meaningful impact on the business and the communities it serves. As a full-service Community Development Financial Institution, Cinnaire supports community revitalization and economic development throughout the Midwest and MidAtlantic. For more than 29 years, Cinnaire has been providing lending, tax credit programs, real estate community development, and commercial financing to mission-focused investors and organizations. The company currently manages a $4.9 billion portfolio of loans and equity and has made over $9.3 billion in community impact since its inception. As a pioneer in the industry, Cinnaire has continued to evolve and innovate throughout the decades, constantly looking for new and better ways to create thriving communities and operate efficiently as an organization. Cinnaire relies on MRI Portfolio Management to support its daily operations, from Asset Management to Fund Management. Cinnaire leverages and shares the organization’s cutting-edge processes to consistently move the affordable housing industry forward.

Ambassador of the Year
Shaun Smith, Chief Information Officer, Benderson Development
Shaun Smith, an accomplished industry leader and technology innovator, serves as an honorary team member of MRI – in effect, an extension of the organization. An early adopter who has helped with the development of new products for the MRI community, Smith is currently working on one of the largest ERP data conversions that his company, Benderson, has carried out: 30 years of converted data, plus consolidation of 21 applications into MRI’s property management platform. An advocate of the innovative solutions in the MRI ecosystem, he has worked with MRI for over nine years as CIO for a number of companies. He prides himself on knowing every feature of the MRI solutions he works with and implementing them fully. Smith has even worked with the MRI training team to help create a job-role-specific MRI training and certification program. He is a regular presenter for MRI and is one of the company’s most passionate external ambassadors.

Partner of the Year
AvidXchange
AvidXchange helps businesses automate their accounts payable, enabling them to more efficiently process invoices and make payments without the manual, paper-based hassle. MRI has a decades-long partnership with AvidXchange that began with a standard integration relationship and led to the development of MRI Vendor Pay powered by AvidXchange – one of MRI’s leading financial solutions. Hundreds of clients utilize this out-of-the-box solution, leading to significant efficiency and cost savings. It’s not just about the numbers, but the value AvidXchange brings to each individual client, whether they operate in commercial real estate, residential real estate, or affordable and public housing. As a highly complementary solution, AvidXchange exemplifies how a commitment to flexibility gives businesses the freedom to choose how they want to drive success. 

The MRI RE:Visionary Awards and MRI Ascend took place in New Orleans. Ascend brought together more than 1,300 MRI clients and staff – including representatives of more than 60 technology partners – for four days of keynotes, presentations, networking events, seminars, workshops, and exhibits on MRI and its real estate technology ecosystem. The U.S. conference will be followed by a sister event in the UK on December 7, 2022.

About MRI Software
MRI Software is a leading provider of real estate software solutions that transform the way communities live, work and play. MRI’s open and connected, AI-first platform empowers owners, operators and occupiers in commercial and residential property organizations to innovate in rapidly changing markets. MRI has been a trailblazer in the PropTech industry for over five decades, serving more than two million users worldwide. Through innovative solutions and a rich partner ecosystem, MRI gives real estate companies the freedom to realize their vision of building thriving communities and stronger businesses. For more information, please visit mrisoftware.com.

Media Contacts:
(U.S. for MRI)
Rachel Antman (+1 212 362 5837)
rachel@saygency.com

(EMEA for MRI)
Platform Communications
Hugh Filman (+44 7905 044850)
or Katrina Trantau (+44 7597 163076)
mri@platformcomms.com 

(ANZ for MRI)
Heather Jones (+61 400 394 669)
heather@hjconsulting.com.au