Crye-Leike's Jennifer Welch named realtor of the year

SILOAM SPRINGS -- Crye-Leike Real Estate Services announced Thursday that one of its sales associates, Jennifer Welch of its Siloam Springs branch office, has been named the 2016 Realtor of the Year by the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors.

The Realtor of the Year criteria is set by the National Association of Realtors and includes service to the community, business accomplishments, service to the local, state and national Realtor organizations, and adherence to the Realtors' spirit of honesty and fair play in all life experiences.

A resident of Siloam Springs, Welch has been a Realtor since 2005 and an executive broker since 2008. She is a member of the National Association of Realtors, Arkansas Realtors Assocation and Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors.

Welch is actively involved with both her state and local Realtor associations, currently serving as the NABOR director and Multiple Listing Service Committee chairperson. She is serving her third year as a zone director for the ARA, is an alumna of the Graduate Realtors Leadership Academy, chaired the 91st annual ARA Convention and sits on ARA's Professional Standards, Public Relations and Convention Committees.

She is also involved with the NAR. She has been a part of the Realtors Political Action Committee since 2011 and has held a leadership role since 2014. She participates in Calls for Action and regularly promotes CFA involvement among her peers.

While being an active Realtor, Welch still finds time to serve her community. She volunteers her time in numerous civic capacities, which include Gentry Cheer sponsor, Gentry Schools' fundraising and various Gentry School activities. She has also sponsored First Baptist Church Camp, Northwest Arkansas Children's Center and is an avid supporter of Special Olympics Arkansas. She provides financial assistance to Hearts and Homes, and also serves as a mentor to teenage girls.

­"Jennifer represents the preamble of the code of ethics that states that a Realtor should display competency, fairness and high integrity with lofty moral code in business relations," said Jackie Keene, president of the Northwest Arkansas Board of Realtors. "Jennifer is a wonderful example of this, not only in her business relations, but also her personal relations. She has devoted many hours of her time working on our MLS system, which affects 2,000 real estate agents in their business. It is a huge responsibility."

Crye­Leike Real Estate Services, a full service real estate company, is the nation's sixth largest residential real estate brokerage firm and the largest in Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and the Mid­South. Its Siloam Springs branch office is one of eight branch and franchise offices located in Northwest Arkansas available to serve the real estate needs of buyers and sellers.

For further information about real estate in Benton County, visit Crye­Leike's Siloam Springs branch office, located at 801 Hwy 412 W. Suite A, Siloam Springs, Ark., or visit Crye­Leike's website at www.crye-leike.com. Affiliate broker Jennifer Welch may be reached at 479-599-9292 or [email protected].