Guest feature: Sandy Wagerman is a research specialist forthe Frederick County Office of Economic Development. Follow Frederick County OED on Facebook and Twitter.

REALShare Frederick is a quarterly event for commercial real estate professionals who have properties in Frederick. The Frederick County Office of Economic Development (OED) created the program in 2014 as a way to ignite local commercial real estate conversations.

"REALShare has put our office in an advantageous position within the state to be one of the first economic development groups to offer this to our commercial real estate professionals," said Frederick County's OED director Helen Propheter. "The events have helped us form deeper relationships with this sector that is often the front door of prospect opportunities."

"Real estate brokers get the latest from leading deal makers and network with the industry's best," added Jodie Bollinger, business development specialist for commercial real estate.

Building on the success of the inaugural year, REALShare also covers informational topics hosted at a local property for sale or lease. The events are so popular that OED has been able to secure hosts for the next 18 months of meetings.

The first REALShare of 2016 was held this month at Rockpoint Commercial's Aspen Ridge Professional Center located at 163 Thomas Johnson Drive. The keynote speaker was Gary Large of Waynesboro Construction who talked about the construction trends and pricing of the commercial industry. Approximately 45 real estate agents attended the meeting with many first-time attendees.

Several projects were announced at this month's event, including Fitzgerald Realty announcing that Miscellaneous Metals moved to a newly renovated facility in Walkersville at the former Rotorex building. Clagett Enterprises announced that the third office building will break ground this summer at the Conley Farm. Warner Commercial announced available space at the Shiraz Plaza on Thomas Johnson Drive, and Matan Companies announced plans and opportunities for the Wedgewood West site.

"The REALShare events are very important for me as a commercial brokerage agent in Frederick County," said Dawn Furman Gordon, senior vice president of American National Properties. "This is our opportunity to learn, network and share information with the commercial brokerage community as well as learn pertinent news and data with Frederick County Economic Development Office. I look forward to our next event and appreciate the time and effort that is put into these meetings."

The next quarterly meeting will be held in May hosted by Kline Scott Visco. The events are open to commercial real estate professionals.

For more information, please contact Jodie Bollinger, Frederick County Office of Economic Development at 301-600-1058 or jbollinger@frederickcountymd.gov.