Rick Harris, CCIM, GAA Receives 2020 Greater Tampa Realtors Humanitarian Award

Rick Harris CCIM, GAA is yet again being recognized for his continued volunteer work for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) for The Arc Tampa Bay Inc. Greater Tampa REALTORS® (GTR) has awarded Harris their 2020 Humanitarian Award for his community involvement. Rick is no stranger to these awards as he was the recipient for Florida REALTORS® Humanitarian Recognition award in January of 2020 and National Association of REALTORS® Good Neighbor Award in 2018.

The Arc Tampa Bay (www.thearctb.org) owns and operates 18 group homes and a 22-unit apartment complex that houses more than 150 people and an art center and another building for their Day Programs. Harris has helped with his real estate and construction expertise to obtain millions in grants for Arc projects like remodeling, hurricane hardening, solar and other energy upgrades and a new large generator for  the Long Center used to shelter consumers in case of a natural disaster such as hurricanes. Harris, who has served on the Arc Board since 2011 and as President in 2018, continues to be a key Board Director and Chair of the Property Management Committee for this non-profit that has a $13 million annual budget used for housing, special services, educational and work programs for about 275 children and adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Rick commented, “I am so honored to receive recognition from REALTOR organizations for my volunteer work at The Arc Tampa Bay (formerly UPARC). This is a great non-profit organization that has been supporting people with IDD for over 50 years. Our next major challenge is to meet minimum wage increases needed for our support personnel caring for our consumers, which will exceed an additional $1.2 million every year. This is a real challenge and we are seeking continued financial support from our community to meet this need.”

Harris, CEO of Richard Harris & Associates, Inc. in Palm Harbor, FL, provides commercial real estate, appraisal and consulting services and serves as Florida CCIM West Coast Chapter’s Scholarship Chair.

About CCIM

“CCIM stands for Certified Commercial Investment Member. For more than 50 years, CCIMs have been recognized as leading experts in commercial investment real estate. The CCIM lapel pin denotes that the wearer has completed advanced coursework in financial and market analysis, and demonstrated extensive experience in the commercial real estate industry.”