December 15, 2017

Contact: Kim Walker, 704-940-3149

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – More than 400 Realtors^® gathered Friday at the Crowne Plaza Charlotte Executive Park for the Charlotte Regional Realtor^® Association/Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CarolinaMLS) 2017 Holiday Awards Luncheon & Annual Meeting.  Members paid tribute to outstanding real estate industry leaders and association volunteers. 

Industry awards

Jennifer Frontera, Realtor^®/broker with Wanda Smith & Associates, was named the 2017 Realtor^® of the Year. The award is the highest honor given by the association to a Realtor^® member who has made outstanding contributions to the community above and beyond the activities within the real estate profession.  Frontera, who served as president of the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association and CarolinaMLS in 2012, has more than 19 years of industry experience.  A multi-million dollar producer for most of her real estate career, Frontera is considered an expert in distressed property sales and specializes in bank-owned properties and foreclosures.  Frontera has volunteered countless hours not only with the local association, but also with both NC REALTORS® and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

Her volunteer work with the association began in 1998 and includes numerous committees and task forces spanning to the present day.  Most notably her service includes: Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association Board of Directors (2005, 2009-2013); CarolinaMLS Board of Directors (2003-2004, 2009-2013); Housing Opportunity Foundation Board of Directors (2009-2013); Audit, Budget and Finance Committee (2009-2013, 2015); and Realtors® Care Day Core Committee (2014-2015), to name a few.

Frontera’s service activity at the state association includes: NC REALTORS® Board of Directors (2005-2006, 2009-2014, 2016-2017), Issues Mobilization Committee (2012), NC REALTORS® Forms Committee (2013-2015) and Strategic Planning Committee (2014-2015).  On the national level, she has served on the NAR Board of Directors (2009-2013) and on the Risk Management Committee (2016). When she is not busy volunteering her time on behalf of the real estate profession, she still finds time to tutor children in reading at Indian Trail Elementary School.  Jennifer is married to husband Tony and has three children.

Renee Hornor, a Realtor^®/broker with Mooresville Realty, was named the 2017 Vane Mingle Rookie of the Year.  The award is presented to a new Realtor^® who excels in his or her new profession.  To be considered as a rookie nominee, the individual must have been a member of the Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association for at least 12 months and must have closed at least 10 transactions within their first 12 months as a Realtor®. Hornor joined the association in January 2016, and she closed 18 sales during her first 12 months of membership. Before launching a career in real estate, Hornor had a teaching career that spanned 23 years.  She taught advanced placement-level math and science at Southlake Christian Academy for 13 years, and prior to that taught for 10 years at public and private schools in Tennessee, Illinois and Kentucky. Hornor is active in the Lake Norman, Huntersville and Mooresville area and has spent more than 13 years volunteering at the Huntersville Oaks Skilled Nursing Facility where she helps to organize and facilitate monthly activities, community outings, pet therapy and daily bingo with the residents.  She has also served at the Mooresville Soup Kitchen and participates in the Huntersville ALS Walk. Renee and husband Will have three children.

The President’s 2017 Committee Chair of the Year Award was bestowed upon Brenda Hayden, Realtor^®/broker with Keller Williams SouthPark. The award is given annually at the president’s discretion to a chairperson who goes above and beyond the call of duty. Hayden, who is 2018 Charlotte Regional Realtor® Association/CarolinaMLS president-elect, served as the chair of the Housing Opportunity Foundation this past year and has also served on the Realtors® Care Day Core Committee since 2012.  She has also served on several other association committees and has been a long-standing member of the City of Charlotte Community Relations Committee, where she helps to police housing discrimination and fair housing violations.

As a part of the Holiday Awards Luncheon and Annual Meeting, members bring a new, unwrapped toy to the event.  This year association members gave away more than 500 toys to the Ronald McDonald House.

For more information, visit www.CarolinaHome.com.  For interviews please contact Kim Walker.

The Charlotte Regional Realtor^® Association is a trade association that provides its more than 10,100 Realtor^® members with the resources and services they need to conduct ethical, professional, successful and profitable businesses. The association is dedicated to being the region's primary resource for residential real estate information. The association operates the Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Inc. (CarolinaMLS), which has more than 15,300 Subscribers and is the private cooperative Realtors^® use for access to tens of thousands of residential listings in a multicounty service area, including Charlotte, the Piedmont area of North Carolina and South Carolina, and beyond.

Original Publish Date: 12/15/2017