Minneapolis, MN (June 20, 2023) – In its annual workplace recognition, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal recognized Forte Real Estate Partners as a Best Places to Work honoree in the extra-small business category, which is defined as having between 10-24 employees.  To read the full article, follow the link to the MSP Business Journal:  https://bizj.us/1qitri

Forte, nearing its two-year anniversary, the team has grown to 21 employees who are commercial real estate professionals advising clients in financial and professional services, private equity, industrial, healthcare, and non-profit sectors, offering real estate advisory and brokerage, project management, portfolio/lease administration, property management.

“Our leadership team is focused on creating an environment and culture that is different from most of our competitors.  It’s gratifying that our employees recognize this and embrace our vision. We’re passionate about helping our clients’ purpose, drive their real estate decisions – but most of all, we really are partners with each other, our clients, and our outside service providers,” said Jim Jetland, principal – Forte Real Estate Partners.

This is the first time Forte applied for the recognition. This year marks the 25th annual BPTW awards — the Twin Cities longest-running program recognizing engaging workplaces.

Bloomington-based Forte Real Estate Partners garners its first Best Places to Work honor this year. Helping the commercial real estate services firm build an award-winning workplace is its Forte Way philosophy, which means, according to leadership, “We treat clients and employees like friends. We celebrate each other’s successes and share in our challenges. We are passionate about creative thinking, transparent actions, [and] doing the right thing.”

For more about why Forte is a BPTW, we asked Principal Jim Jetland: 

In the office, work from home or hybrid: What works best for your company? We have always emphasized the importance of being in the office when possible. We believe working together in the office provides a more consistent opportunity to collaborate on our clients’ real estate challenges and build stronger relationships with our co-workers. Working together in person provides our best work product.

What or who drives employee engagement at your company? We have a very flat organizational structure at Forte. Our goal is to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and their ideas are given serious consideration. We have a Culture Club committee to produce ideas to engage all our employees and their families to create events or support causes that make our culture special and unique. Whether you are one of the founding principals or our newest employee, we think you can add value in making Forte a place where employees are engaged in the culture, our clients and each other.

What’s a new employee benefit, amenity or company policy you’ve launched in the past 12 months? There are two benefits that I am most proud of that we offer at Forte: The first is company-provided medical and dental benefits for employees and their families at a very reasonable cost. This benefit is not typically offered in our industry from most of our competitors. Despite a significant cost to the company, we felt this benefit would make a big difference to our employees and set us apart from our competition. The second benefit is a company-provided profit sharing plan. Again, not typically offered in our industry, but amounts to a real financial impact to each employee.

Is there a custom, practice or celebration unique to your company? We strive to engage our employees through regular team-building events. These events are created for a few reasons: One is to get to know each other better outside of the traditional office environment. The second reason is to find events where we are giving back to the broader community, like doing a build for Habitat for Humanity or Feed My Starving Children. Lastly, we want our employees to have fun! They work hard; they should have the opportunity to enjoy work while providing our clients with exceptional service.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, along with their research partner, Omaha, Neb.-based Quantum Workplace, have identified 70 companies in the region that scored top marks from their employees when asked to rate their employers on a variety of questions related to management, communication and more.

The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, which is revealing the 70 honorees in each category organized by employee count, is sharing the names of the honorees in the Aug. 18 Best Places to Work special publication. Each honoree will be featured with more details about what makes them an award-winning workplace.

Forte Real Estate Partners

Category: Extra Small

Rank: 12

Score: 96.375571

Repeat wins: First-time winner

Top Minnesota executive: Jim Jetland, principal

Minnesota employees: 17

Business: Provides commercial real estate services such as property management and project management

City: Bloomington

Web: forterep.com

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About Us:  Created in 2021 when Paramount Real Estate merged with Excelsior Advisory, Forte Real Estate Partners is a team of experienced, passionate, creative commercial real estate experts who advocate for clients, guiding decisions about space that drives their success. Using a more personalized approach, they uncover new ideas and bring value to commercial real estate assets by offering a full-service real estate platform. Forte is a member of TCN Worldwide.

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