September Letter from Al Hartman

By | Blog, Letters from Al Hartman

Dear Hartman Team Members,

I hope you all enjoy the quarterly book club as much as I do. This quarter, we read “Who Moved My Cheese?” by Dr. Spencer Johnson. I hope that the book helps guide you through changes, good and bad. I believe, as a company, we adapt to change relatively well. The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.”

A recent example is how the company navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team thrives and is equipped to handle any situation. I appreciate all the work put into preparing and executing alternative plans when necessary.

At the end of October, we will be Vision Mapping at our quarterly meeting. I ask each of you to take this time to think about your personal and professional goals for the next year. The Vision Mapping process is designed to help you create a plan to visualize your future growth at Hartman and how we, as a company, can help you achieve those goals. While thinking about and praying for direction on your vision, keep in mind the company’s vision is to grow to two billion dollars in assets by 2025. Ask yourself how to contribute to that vision. I would also encourage you to keep in mind that our life coach will be working with each team member to fulfill their personal visions.

Overall, for August, our FFO Yield is 12.8% versus the 7.4% budgeted, and our year to date FFO Yield is over budget at 11.2% versus 7.1%. The majority of the favorable FFO was due to aggressive reduction and management of expenses throughout COVID-19’s impact on our customers’ businesses.

August’s new leasing activity (for all markets) totaled 56,123 square feet. With our potential occupancy at 81.83%; and on track for 85% by end of year. Congratulations to our leasing agent, Jessica Cyphers, for increasing her portfolio’s occupancy by 0.97% this month.

The good news keeps coming! The board executed the $8 million-dollar Employee Profit Sharing and Retention Plan, and the first two payments have been awarded! Thank you for putting so much hard work into our company; it is a testament to you that we can implement programs like this. We will be distributing almost $500,000 annually to those team members that have been with the company over 2 years.

The C12 committee also approved The Hartman Scholarship Program for undergraduate students. The Hartman Scholarship Program is eligible to all dependents of full-time Hartman employees pursuing an undergraduate degree in specific fields of study at an accredited Texas college or university. Also, Hartman announced it would make the program eligible to approved dependents in specialty K-12 programs. Our people’s growth and development are truly the highest calling of leadership, and I am proud to extend that to our team members’ families.

The construction and development team has made massive progress in developing the new pad site at 17211 North Freeway. They have also filed permits to begin development at our Fort Worth property that will add over 130,000 square feet to our portfolio. This team has made fantastic progress this year, and I am proud of their achievements.

In closing, I ask each of you to encourage each other and push yourselves to see the good and positives within your work. I also want to remind each of you to utilize the resources we have here at the company, such as our life coach, chaplain services, weekly bible studies, prayer request system, RightNow Media, and our library of Christian books. Stay strong in the word, and with God, all things are possible.

“Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

God Bless you all!

Sincerely,
Al Hartman

About the author:
.3.
Al Hartman is the President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Hartman Advisors and the CEO of Hartman Income REIT Management, Inc. Learn more about Al Hartman and follow Al Hartman on Twitter and LinkedIn.