HOMESTEAD HAPPENINGS
Employee Spotlight: Maggie Watros
Name: Maggie Watros
Job Title: Graphic Designer
Property: Home Office Employee
1.) How long have you been with Homestead? 3 months
2.) What were you doing before Homestead? Serving/ Bartending/ Traveling
3.) Where are you originally from? Columbus, OH
4.) What are your two favorite hobbies? Hiking and Yoga
5.) What would you most like to tell your 13 year old self? Travel as much as you can before the year 2020
6.) If you could have coffee with three people, dead or alive, who would it be? Margaret Atwood, Walt Disney and Leonardo da Vinci
7.) Who is the most famous person you have ever met? Shawn Johnson
8.) What is your dream vacation? Backpacking Southeast Asia
9.) What is the one THING, you can’t live without? My phone
10.) What is your proudest moment at Homestead Companies? Being a part of the rebrand!
EMPLOYEE REFERRAL BONUS PROGRAM
As you know, here at Homestead Companies, we are always looking to grow our teams with talented people, just like you. If you know of someone that would love to join our team, please use our Employee Referral Bonus Program. Refer qualified candidates and as a “thank you,” you will receive $250 when the employee surpasses 90 days of employment. In order to receive the bonus, you must still be an active employee and in good standing with Homestead Companies at the time your referral hits their 90-day mark. Homestead reserves the right to change or eliminate this policy any time with or without notice.
Eligibility Criteria: You are eligible for a referral award only when you refer external candidates. Turn, Seasonal, and Temporary positions are not eligible for a referral bonus. Employees with a direct or indirect reporting relationship to the position are not eligible to submit for referral bonus. HR and employees involved in the hiring process/hiring decision for that position are not eligible to submit for referral bonus. Only one referral award can be given per candidate. If a candidate is referred by more than one employee, the first referral received will be the one rewarded if the candidate is hired.
To refer a potential employee, please prompt your contact to fill out an online application for the role the desire on our public careers page.
When you confirm they have applied, please submit the Employee Referral Form.
Big Winners!
Congratulations to Cory Ratai, Homestead U, and Maggie Watros, Graphic Designer at Homestead Companies. They were the 2020 Homestead Companies Cornhole Champions. They knocked off 14 other teams in a lightning round of cornhole. They fought hot temperatures, sun in their eyes, and still managed to pull away with a victory. Cory Rati, Captain of the team, was quoted "I'm not going to lie, my mind was on leasing at The Cottages. But we it pulled together!”
Captain John’s Bootcamp: Fitness and wellness tips
With a good nutritional base and mindset comes a small piece of advice and tip for a positive lifestyle and headspace.
Always improve at least one of three things in your daily routine:
Improve yourself
Improve your position
Improve those around you
Live by a code: "You will always be who you always were if you always did what you always do."
Improve life, take good risks, and be positive and smile.
New Website Coming Soon!
We have a new website, launching June 10th!! This blog will be live on the website but we didn’t want to spoil the surprise quite yet. The new design features a whole new user experience with easier navigation, features that allow more customization, and a clean look that gives off those professional vibes. Samantha Hume, Digital Designer, was the lead on this project. "This project has been one of my favorites! Seeing Homestead Companies evolve and translate to a digital platform was really amazing to see and work on. The project also involved a lot of cross-collaboration with other departments to ensure the functionally really encapsulated what we stand for as a company." The new website was designed for residents, prospects, vendors, and investors. The layout has easy navigation that will hopefully enhance our leasing efforts. You'll also be excited to hear that each Homestead America community will have it's own custom website. These will be coming soon, so stay tuned for details!
Captain John Bootcamp: Health Tip
Introducing Captain John’s Bootcamp:
John Janning, Project Engineer for Homestead Construction, is a huge fitness buff. Health and mindedness are at the forefront of John’s lifestyle. Every month John will feature a health tip to improve your mind, body, and soul. But first, let's get to know our new fitness guru. An intro from John.
“I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Reppin’ Clintonville for life. I went to Norwich University in Vermont. I loved not having a fun time during college. Was the recipient of Army R.O.T.C. Scholarship. Graduated with a B.A. in Studies in War and Peace….cool…what does a degree in military history get me…school in something that matters later. Commissioned in the U.S. Army in 2012 and served in the infantry and human resources as an officer. So I know how to deliver mail and shoot things. Important things when it comes to life skills. I decided to resign my commission in 2017 and pursue cooler civilian life things. A.S. in Construction Management at CSCC. Enjoys long walks on the beach, deep conversation, meditation, and of course, pumping iron at the Homestead Dawg House Gym. Stay fit! mind, body, and soul! Really good listener, hard worker, dedicated and lives life to the fullest. Hardcore all the way!”
This month I want to focus on mental health. With everything going on in the world today, I think we all owe it to ourselves to check on one another and to take care of the most important person, you!
Employee Spotlight: Colleen Clark
Name: Colleen Clark
Job Title: Director of HR
Property: Home Office Employee
1.) How long have you been with Homestead? Coming upon 6 months
2.) What were you doing before Homestead? Non Profit HR Executive & Consulting
3.) Where are you originally from? Columbus, OH
4.) What are your two favorite hobbies? Playing cards and soccer
5.) What would you most like to tell your 13 year old self? Lay off the lip gloss and be glad and grateful every day.
6.) If you could have coffee with three people, dead or alive, who would it be? My bestie, Paul Rudd, & George W Bush.
7.) Who is the most famous person you have ever met? Lou Ferrigno
8.) What is your dream vacation? Attending the world cup in Europe
9.) What is the one THING, you can’t live without? Fountain diet cokes
10.) What is your proudest moment at HA/HU? Witnessing team members support our residents & business during the COVID response. They really showed up and it makes me proud to be on the team!
A new niche - Harlow Opens Its Doors To Our First Residents
Harlow On Main Apartments has completed construction and welcomed its first residents. This project was the first downtown development for the Homestead Companies and their team developed a cool, unique, modern design with memorable amenity space and that is what makes this community iconic in Downtown Columbus. Ryan McGahan - VPM for Homestead Companies stated "This was a fun project and it was a big win for Homestead. We designed a lease-up strategy that was similar to a Student Lease up. We put our focus on generating buzz on social media and leveraging local events. With COVID hitting right in the middle of our lease-up we've definitely experienced challenges but we adapted quickly and we are optimistic that Harlow will have success for many years to come. Check it out at www.harlowonmain.com
Congrats to our April Champ, Kosha at Helix!
It's my pleasure to announce the April HU Champion, the employee who went above and beyond to demonstrate our mission statement of providing the best resident life experience possible:
Kosha Clark in Starkville MS
Kosha is our Business Administrator at Helix, and has done a fantastic job of keeping the property's delinquency below 2%, while approaching each resident with empathy and compassion for hardships they're currently facing:
"Kosha is a Rockstar! She brings a peace and balance to our office everyday, and is able to share this with our residents and vendors. Any and all teachings I'm able to offer Kosha, she returns to me 100% We are so proud and blessed to have Kosha as a leader and friend. Well deserved honor, Champ Kosha!" - Heather Doty, Community Manager
Thank you, Kosha, for not only taking care of our residents, but taking care of the financial needs of the property!