Calling all tenants

When Matt Drews came to Michael Saunders & Co. in August 2015 to run its commercial division, he brought with him some new ideas.

One of his first moves was to implement a new mentoring program where he hires young, inexperienced agents to team with senior brokers. And less than two months after he took over, he had conversations to launch a tenant representation team to help national businesses expand into the Gulf Coast.

The team's public launch was May 19 — just before the International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas. Drews and three team members hit Vegas, to make the networking rounds.