As the real estate market and the economy in general continue to be on a global mission, CB Richard Ellis and, in particular, its Global Industry Services Group, will become even more important to its corporate clients, according to Jim Dieter, Executive Managing Director of the Chicago, Ill.-based Global Industry Services Group of CB Richard Ellis.
      "The depth of our global platform is unmatched and provides us and our clients with many strategic and tactical benefits that few companies in the real estate services industry can match," reports Dieter.
      Dieter says that CB Richard Ellis' immense business lines include information management, professional development, consulting, corporate services, retail and industrial services, investment, debt and equity financing, facilities management, project management, valuation/appraisal services, and owner agency services.
      "Our Industrial Services professionals work closely with our Global Corporate Services Group in serving such clients as Ford, Maytag, Sears Logistics, Rockwell Automation, TruServ, and U.S. Gypsum," says Dieter.
      On the Industrial Services side of the company, which Dieter runs, there are over 800 industrial services professionals worldwide, making it one of the largest industrial services business lines of its kind. "One of the challenges that a large business line like I run has is sharing, communicating, and leveraging its wealth of information, relationships, skills and knowledge or what we call within the company 'connecting the dots,'" he says.
      Apparently, Dieter and his Global Industry Services Group are doing an exemplary job of connecting the dots as the group completed over 8,000 transactions in 2003, amounting to more than 343 million sq. ft. (31,864,700 sq. m.) and close to $18 billion in total consideration.