By Joshua Burd
The Garibaldi Group has made its first two hires under an apprenticeship program aimed at positioning its brokerage team for the future.
The Chatham-based firm on Tuesday announced the hiring of Bojan Nastoski and Matt Freeman, noting that both will be responsible for lead generation and new business development for the group’s commercial real estate services. Nastoski recently completed his MBA at Montclair State University, following five years in corporate real estate in both analytic and customer-facing roles, while Freeman is a recent graduate of Rowan University with a degree in marketing, who also held a corporate real estate internship.
“We’re thrilled to have Bojan and Matt as part of our team,” said Michael Staskiewicz, managing broker of The Garibaldi Group. “We’ve spent a lot of time developing a scalable, repeatable training program for potential brokers. We’ve adapted our lead-generation strategies and leveraged the available technology and data analytics, setting us up for continued long-term success as a company.”
In a news release, Garibaldi said the program is meant to teach new hires the ins and outs of the brokerage industry, while creating new leads and opportunities for the firm. The company has opted to push ahead with training during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, citing the importance of cultivating the next generation of industry professionals.
The brainchild of Staskiewicz, who was aided by President Jeffrey Garibaldi Jr., the apprenticeship program provides trainees a strong foundation in the basics and nuances of the business, the news release said. Using data analytics and in-depth character assessment, the company works to predict which candidates would be the best fit and able to excel in their new roles while complementing the team’s existing skillsets.
Nostoski and Freeman will participate in technology-based training that will continue for up to two years and will evolve with each employee as their skills grow, allowing them to begin training the next round of new hires as they move through the ranks, the firm said. From there, they can easily move into a full brokerage position or an analyst role, playing on their individual strengths and interests.
“As a company, we’ve been executing inbound marketing and lead-generation strategies that allow our new business professionals to add value more quickly than the traditional model,” Garibaldi said. “Our new Broker Apprentice program is unique in the commercial real estate industry, providing targeted, easily scalable training and clear success metrics to help each of our new hires achieve their goals. That, paired with dedicated mentoring and leadership from Michael Staskiewicz, really sets our program apart from anything else out there.”
