SPARK’s Developer Academy Reinvigorates Real Estate Innovation in Greater Fremont

The vibe in the room was intense. Collaborative. A visceral energy in the air as 18 enthusiastic real estate pros of varying experience levels gathered together this spring for Developer Academy (DA), a fast-paced, week-long training program designed to inspire innovation in Fremont, one small change at a time.

“There was never a time that I felt bored at DA,” said Ryan Kephart, Greater Fremont Development Council’s Director of Community Development & Grant Administration. “Overwhelmed? Sure. Exhilarated? Yeah! But everyone there had dedicated a week of their life to this endeavor, and you could feel that everyone wanted to make the absolute most of it.”

Hosted by SPARK, a non-profit based in Omaha that helps people transform their communities one home or small business at a time, this was the first time that Developer Academy was held outside of Omaha.

“We had experienced professional developers looking to improve their skills and networks all the way down to people who had never been involved in any development before looking at branching out,” said Kephart. “The week touched on the major roles needed for a successful construction project, from developers to builders to lenders to government officials to ultimately the buyers who will use the buildings that get put up. While it would be easy to throw up your hands and declare the whole process too complicated and risky to be worth it, what I saw was a room full of people invigorated and willing to start pounding the ground and making the connections necessary to see ideas made manifest.” 

Changing the Trajectory of Their Careers

Developer Academy, which is SPARK’s signature education course, is intentionally designed to assist new real estate developers through four key professional development goals:

• Provide access to training in the fundamentals of real estate development
• Create networking opportunities to develop formal and informal business relationships with each other
• Develop a supportive and equitable ecosystem that includes lenders, grant-makers, city staff, development professionals, and mentors
• Create opportunities to access financing for their projects

“The feedback that we got from participants was overwhelmingly positive”. As the organizer, Angela Smith, put it, Once you’re in, you’re always in.” “Other past participants attested how being part of SPARK DA had changed the trajectory of their careers, and that the work they were doing now was more empowering and rewarding than what they had thought themselves capable of. The connections sewed among Fremonters will reap harvests for years to come in the form of well thought-out, sustainable, right sized developments for our community.”

Defining What Community Development Truly Means

Developer Academy participants share a common interest that goes far beyond Real Estate 101; they also share a desire to understand and define what community development truly means.

Those solutions look different for each neighborhood. It might be a mixed-income housing development, park renovations, or a commercial space rehabilitation.

The goal isn’t to come up with a “one size fits all” solution, but to thoughtfully consider the wants and needs for each community.

That approach also applied to the group’s capstone project, the culmination of all the education and training they learned during their week-long participation in the Academy.

“Five groups from the DA each put together a pitch for a real-world real estate project in either Dodge or Washington Counties. Our panelists included lending officials, a city planner, a city administrator, and a representative of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, all of whom shared that they were impressed with the level of detail and thought represented by each project. Jeff Ray, the Planning Director for Fremont even said, ‘I hope to see some of these come across my desk soon.’”

For more information about the SPARK Development Academy, click here or call us at 402-753-8126.