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RI Association of REALTORS® Announces 2008 RI REALTOR of the Year
Friday, November 07, 2008

November 5, 2008, Warwick, RI - Every year, the Rhode Island Association of Realtors (RIAR) recognizes one of approximately 4500 Realtors with the RI Realtor of the Year Award, the highest annual honor awarded by the state association. The winner is chosen from five Realtors who have received a Realtor of the Year Award from one of five local Rhode Island Realtor boards.

This year’s winner is Karl Martone of RE/MAX Properties in Smithfield, who received the Greater Providence Board of Realtors (GPBOR) 2008 Realtor of the Year Award. Martone has held numerous positions in the local, state and national associations including his most recent post as President Elect of the statewide association.

He has also served as President of the Greater Providence Board of Realtors and the State-Wide Multiple Listing Service (MLS). He is a two-time Lear Award recipient by the GPBOR, the highest honor that a Realtor can receive for outstanding service to the Board, the real estate community and the community at large. Martone has been the driving force behind the GPBOR’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament, helping to raise more than $200,000 for charities like the Childlife Program at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Special Olympics, Barbara Lombardi Domestic Violence Coalition, RI Community Food Bank and RI Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He is the 2009 President-Elect of the RI Association of REALTORS®.

Other candidates for the RI Realtor of the Year award included Rebecca Moniz, the recipient of the Kent-Washington Association of Realtors 2008 Realtor of the Year award; Richard Carrubba, recipient of the Newport County Board of Realtors 2008 Realtor of the Year award; Kevin Dumont, the Northern RI Board of Realtors 2008 Realtor of the Year award winner; and Donald Morash, winner of the RI Commercial & Appraisal Board of Realtors 2008 Realtor of the Year award.

The RI Association of Realtors® is comprised of approximately 4500 Realtors® and is one of more than 1800 local boards and associations that comprise the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). The National Association of Realtors®, the Voice for Real Estate, is the nation’s largest trade association, representing more than one million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries and who subscribe to a strict code of ethics.