Edina Realty picks new president from within

Twin Cities-based Edina Realty has a new president: Sharry Schmid, who takes over for Barb Jandric, who retired after 34 years at the company.

During Schmid's 21-year career at Edina Realty, she has held a number of positions, most recently senior vice president and regional manager of Edina Realty's Lakeville, Eden Prairie, Prior Lake, Savage and Shakopee offices.

She was also sales manager of the company's largest office at 6800 France Av. in Edina. Before that, she led the company's Builder Resource Group, a division that focused on large-scale condominium projects.

Schmid has also held several branch manager roles for Edina Realty Title in both Burnsville and Rochester.

Schmid said that her top priority in her new role is bolstering the resources the company offers agents, including technology, education and marketing.

The goal, she said, is to maximize the time agents can spend with customers by streamlining a variety of business functions that take away from face-to-face interactions with buyers and sellers.

"I'm trying to clear the path so they can do what they do best — being out with customers," she said.

Such tools are particularly important, Schmid said, because the company is expanding its ranks. From January through April, new agent recruiting was up nearly 15 percent compared with the same period last year.

The company also is rolling out Bambu, a social media tool the company offers free of charge to its agents. It helps agents share relevant real estate content from their Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts after it's curated by the social media team at Edina Realty.

The company started with a pilot of about 125 agents and will start to roll it out to all agents next week.

Schmid also serves on the board of directors for both the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors and the St. Paul Area Association of Realtors.

She will work closely with Greg Mason, chief executive.