Sam Thomas

Experience

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  Colliers International

  Sept 2001 - Sept 2003

  Property Manager

  Colliers International is a leading global real estate services firm with offices in 63 countries and annual revenues over $2 Billion. At Colliers I was responsible for the full-service management of a 300+ unit multi-family apartment complex and a portfolio of 12 commercial properties, including budgeting, CAM reconciliations, financial reporting, capital improvements and maintenance needs.

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  SIMA Corporation

  Aug 2003 - Apr 2007

  Commercial Property Manager

  SIMA Management is a boutique commercial real estate investment and management firm headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA. At SIMA I managed a large and diverse portfolio of commercial properties valued at over $200M, consisting of 600,000 square feet and over 300 tenants including industrial, class A office and high profile retail centers in Santa Barbara's core retail district. Fostered strong, collaborative relationships with tenants to reduce vacancy and maximize investor returns. Partnered with national tenants (Levi's, Starbucks, Estee Lauder, Old Navy) to guide them through local permitting and expedite store openings. Show less

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  The Select Family of Staffing Companies

  Apr 2007 - Feb 2015

  Corporate Real Estate Manager

  At the time, Select Staffing was the tenth largest staffing company in the United States with over 400 franchise and company-owned locations and annual revenues over $2.1 Billion. As manager of the Real Estate Department, I led all aspects of the company’s non-franchised real estate holdings including over 210 leased facilities. I was able to lead the company to significant rent savings through disposition of over 100 surplus leases from rapid acquisition growth and also stabilize the portfolio and reduce rent costs through the economic downturn in 2009. Core responsibilities included:* Site selection* Lease negotiation and document review* Tenant Improvement design and project management* Merger and acquisition Real Estate consolidations and dispositionsIn February 2015, Select staffing merged with Employbridge, and I was promoted to Sr. Director over Real Estate and Facilities for the new combined entity. Show less

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  EMPLOYBRIDGE

  Feb 2015 - Mar 2019

  As Employbridge continued to grow, I was promoted to Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities. In this role, I provide strategic leadership of the Real Estate and Facilities teams responsible for 350+ office, industrial and retail locations, over $16M in annual rent spend and $4M in annual CapEx and other discretionary spend. Heavy cross-departmental collaboration to support and implement key company growth initiatives and brand expansions, specifically in the industrial sector. Marrying technology and the love of traditional customer service to deliver a world class facilities experience for our field and corporate colleagues, and evangelize the company culture in each and every action. Show less Shortly after the merger of Select Staffing and Employbridge, I was promoted to Senior Director over the combined Real Estate and Facilities teams. In the ensuing year I was able to lead the integration of two nationally diverse branch networks, as well as the support teams in California and Texas. Alongside the work of capturing synergies from overlapping field office leases (negotiating buyouts for unnecessary leases), I set a vision and a strategy for the newly combined teams to support the anticipated growth stemming from the merger. * Led RFP and implementation of new lease administration software for the combined portfolio. * Created collaborative project management workflow to streamline and expedite branch openings. * Developed consistent branch finish schedule to reduce tenant improvement costs by 11%. In 2016 I was awarded the prestigious Employbridge Spirit Award, given to the one employee (out of over 3,000) that best exemplified the company's core values that year. Show less

  • Vice President, Real Estate and Facilities

    Jan 2018 - Mar 2019

  • Senior Director, Real Estate and Facilities

    Feb 2015 - Jan 2018
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  Yardi

  Apr 2019 - now

  As Senior Manager of Real Estate & Facilities, I specialize in optimizing corporate real estate strategies and managing facilities that support Yardi’s innovation and growth. With expertise in lease negotiations, workplace operations, and strategic space planning, I ensure our real estate portfolio aligns with business objectives while fostering an efficient, productive, and engaging work environment.I love tackling the challenges of corporate real estate and facilities, balancing business needs with employee experience. Always happy to connect and chat about industry trends, best practices, or just ideas for making workplaces better. Show less When companies want to implement an occupier software solution (lease administration, lessee accounting and transaction management), they want to work with someone that understands their needs and speaks their language. I'm able to leverage my experience as a leader in that field to customize and expedite occupier software implementations for clients with dozens or thousands of leases. Working with client contacts from lease administrators to the C-Suite to assure solutions are delivered and goals are met. Show less

  • Sr. Manager of Corporate Real Estate and Facilities

    Jun 2024 - now

  • Corporate Real Estate Occupier Software Development and Implementation Consultant

    Jun 2021 - Jan 2025

  • Senior Account Executive

    Apr 2019 - Aug 2021