Professional Community Association Management Since 1984
Archived Newsletters
Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.
2020 CAI Awards Gala
Each year, the Greater Houston Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) holds its Annual Gala to honor exceptional companies and individuals in the community management industry. CAI is a national organization dedicated to building better communities through information, education, and resources to the homeowner volunteers who govern communities and the professionals who support them. This year, the Gala was held on January 10th, 2020 to celebrate the successes of 2019.
Nominations for award recipients are open to all Houston Chapter CAI members and reviewed by a panel of esteemed Executive Directors from 50 CAI chapters around the country. This year, our nominations included:
We are proud and excited to announce that we were awarded two of these titles!
Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council was granted the Community Spirit Award! This award was based on its community holiday celebration. Our team worked with CRSWCC’s Board of Directors to put together a huge, culturally-inclusive, awesome event!
C.I.A. Services was granted the title of Management Company of the Year for 2019! The Management Company of the Year nominees are companies that exhibit excellence in customer service, management, governance, and finance as well as show dedication to the industry, clients, and CAI.
It is a true privilege to be awarded such a high honor by our peers and for our company, our communities, and individual employees to be recognized! Thank you to all of our hard-working employees and community members that made all of this possible!
Rhonda Runge of Cinco Ranch Residential II
by Roxanne Bailey
Rhonda Runge is the epitome of what you would want in a community volunteer. As of November 2019, Rhonda is a newly elected member of the Cinco Ranch Residential Association II Board of Directors. She has also been a member of the Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council Board since March of last year. The CRSWCC oversees all of the events and community classes at the Lake House for the entire association. She is also a part of several committees, including the CRRA2 Fence Advisory Committee, a hands-on committee that is tasked with finding the best solution for the repair and/or replacement of the 35 miles of fencing around the community.
Rhonda states, “I love working with others and have previously sat on another HOA board in downtown Houston and currently serve as a board member for the Houston Mortgage Bankers Association.”
Prior to moving to Cinco Ranch in 2018, Rhonda and her family lived in the Montrose area of Houston. She has been married to her husband Monte for 25 years and they have one Aggie daughter, Paige. She is an avid dog lover (they have one rescue Pekingese named Verdi), and really enjoys walking and biking the trails to scope out the unique wildlife in Cinco Ranch! Rhonda has been the owner of an independent property & casualty insurance agency for the past 10 years.
From the moment she moved in, Rhonda began providing Cinco Ranch with great help and guidance. Thank you for all that you do!
What Loyalty Means to Me
As you may know, since August 2019 we have been featuring each of our core values from the perspective of our employees. We’ve had so many SPECIAL articles from employees around each of our 4 offices, and February 2020 brings us to the conclusion of this series.
If you did not know, we refer to our core values as "SPECIAL," as each letter of that word represents a particular core value. Click any of the core values below to go back to the article it was featured in.
This month, we’re featuring the final letter of SPECIAL: Loyalty.
Loyalty Through the Story of Hachi
by Valerie Flinn
I believe it is greatly important that the last word in our acronym of ‘SPECIAL’ is Loyalty, as it is an imperative quality of a company working directly with people every day. When I think of being loyal, one of my favorite stories comes to mind, that of the Akita Inu known as "Hachi."
Hachi was the pet of Tokyo University’s Professor Eisaburo Ueno. Hachi walked the professor to the train station every day and returned each afternoon to faithfully wait for the professor, to walk him home in the evening. One day tragedy struck, and the professor met with a medical emergency that ended his life, but no one could explain this to Hachi. All he knew was that this is where his human met him each afternoon, and Hachi knew he must be there. Over the years, several folks tried to adopt Hachi, but he always returned to wait at the train station for his owner. This went on for 10 long years, with Hachi’s loyalty on display for all to see, day in and day out, rain, snow, or sunshine.
The People of Shibuya respected this deep abiding loyalty and provided him with necessities. When the time came that Hachi too passed over, he was laid to rest next to his human. And not long after, a statue of Hachi was commissioned. It stands as a monument to his abiding loyalty, in the courtyard of the train station.
This intense and loving loyalty is indicative of extreme care and determination, similar to that of our company. At C.I.A. Services, I see this loyalty daily, as the company continues to perform committed and supportive service to our communities and clients.
Looking at each letter of our acronym "SPECIAL," I know why we call C.I.A. Services not only our place of work, but our second home. Each individual here employs each of our Core Values to not only our clients, but to each other. I’m grateful to be a part of this second family.
My Definition of Loyalty
by Kristen Craig
By definition, being loyal is to be faithful to your word and devoted to your commitments. I believe that loyalty is one of the most important traits that a person can possess. Loyalty involves dedication, sacrifice, and compassion; it is a noble quality in a person and is a valuable asset to everyone. Loyal people become great mentors, leaders, and administrators in life; they bear good moral characteristics, honest outlook, and well-disciplined mannerisms. Loyalty is not only the foundation of the ideal human character, but it is also built on sincerity and simplicity and is bold in nature.
I know that loyalty can be a rare find in the world today, which is why I appreciate the Core Values of C.I.A. Services. From experience, I know that as a company we strive to show why we are S.P.E.C.I.A.L., with emphasis on our Loyalty. We keep our clients and homeowners close to heart and remain loyal through the hardships.
We offer each of our seminars in the form of a recorded webcast on demand for you to watch at any time! If you have missed a seminar, our seminars are available on our YouTube channel. The following seminars are now available:
Just go to our website, www.ciaservices.com, and click on the Resources tab. From there, select our Library and you will see the links to each webcast and other training materials or you can simply click on the links above.
Associations in Practice Series
We are proud of every one of our communities, so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:
To see the full story on these communities and to see all of the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our site.
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Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in February.
Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.
Employee Anniversaries
We love to celebrate special milestones with our employees. In the Employee Corner of each eNews issue, we will list all employees that have reached their first anniversary with our company. Additionally, once employees reach five years, we recognize them each year on their anniversary month.
Evan Ducote is celebrating his 6 year anniversary this month. Evan is a Maintenance Coordinator at the Aliana community. He is very knowledgable on all things landscaping. He is a very outgoing and giving person and would give you the shirt off of his back!
Charles Driskell is celebrating his 5th year with C.I.A. Services! Charles is a very organized and efficient Maintenance Coordinator that acts as "the backbone" of our San Antonio office. Outside of the office, Charles enjoys hunting, fishing, and spending time with his children and grandchildren.
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In the News!
Last month, our very own Ryne Williams from the Humble Office was featured in a Click2Houston article and news segment for his fashion blog. Specifically, he showcased three "fashionable father" looks that any dad can easily (and with little cost!) pull off without taking too much time away from the family or work.
Access the full article here. We are proud to see a fellow employee being recognized on a large scale.
customercare@ciaservices.com
Toll Free: 866-219-0563
Houston 713-981-9000
San Antonio 210-490-0000
