From left: Jason Lynch, principal; Jessica Vasil, president; Brian Lynch, principal; and Rick Marchisio, principal, make up the leadership team that launched Lee & Associates’ New Jersey office in 2009. — Photo by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ
By Joshua Burd
Lee & Associates New Jersey is now Lee & Associates – WBE LLC, having officially achieved its certification as a Woman-owned Business Enterprise.
The team, which is based in Elmwood Park, is marking the milestone 15 years after its founding as the regional operation of the national commercial real estate services firm. It now hopes to leverage its new designation as a competitive advantage to its existing team and as part of a plan to help advance women in commercial real estate, in an industry that still lags in the presence of female leadership at the senior vice president, partner and c-suite levels.
Jessica Vasil, the firm’s longtime regional operations leader, is serving as president of Lee & Associates – WBE and will drive the company forward alongside principals Richard Marchisio, Brian Lynch and Jason Lynch, the same group of four that launched the office in 2009.
“We are thrilled to announce this next chapter for our organization, which coincides with Lee & Associates’ milestone 15th anniversary year in New Jersey,” Vasil said. “Our executive team has always looked holistically at how the commercial real estate industry is changing and how we can make it better. Our transition to Lee & Associates – WBE provides our current and future brokers with additional opportunities to succeed while reinforcing our corporate culture of inclusion.”
In announcing the move, the firm noted that it’s now the largest Woman-owned Business Enterprise commercial real estate brokerage firm in the New York metropolitan area and the only national brand with a WBE-designated operation. The formal rollout of Lee & Associates – WBE occurred through the first months of 2024, with broker licenses moving from Lee & Associates New Jersey to the new entity, while the company achieved the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council or WBENC certification in late February.
As the team noted, the designation is “the most widely recognized and respected national certification for women-owned businesses,” according to the program website. Due to the in-depth qualification process, WBENC is considered the industry’s gold standard.
Lee & Associates – WBE, meantime, cited CREW Network’s latest study on gender and diversity that shows women account for just 22 and 9 percent of the senior vice president/partner and c-suite levels of the industry, respectively.
“To that end, our introduction of the WBE platform and the resulting empowerment have been met with great enthusiasm here,” Vasil said.
“From a business development standpoint, the WBE is intended to open new doors for our brokerage professionals; the WBENC certification standard is accepted by thousands of corporations and government entities,” Vasil said. “Our New Jersey brokers are now positioned to serve local, state and federal government agencies, businesses and health care networks and property owners. Further, our new designation has enabled the creation of a nationwide Lee & Associates WBE network spanning all 50 states and Canada.”
Lee & Associates – WBE continues to operate from multiple locations throughout New Jersey, which also include Edison and the Whippany section of Hanover. Its professionals, meantime, have more than 600 years of combined experience in commercial real estate brokerage, receivership, property management and consulting.
Locally grown: Lee & Associates, marking 10 years in New Jersey, is primed for additional expansion
