On the Level: Theresa Salmen, owner of THMgmt Inc.

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Theresa Salmen admits that her job is hard to explain.  Even her mother doesn’t get it.

Lives in: Cotswold

Age: 47

Family: divorced; children, Alec, 15, Haley, 10

Education: bachelor’s degree in business, Colorado State University

When Theresa Salmen came to Charlotte from Colorado she only intended to stay about six months and then head back to Denver.

That was 20 years ago, and now she runs her own company, THMgmt Inc., a firm specializing in association management and meeting planning.

As one of the only companies in the region that handles administrative tasks for trade organizations, THMgmt coordinates activities for influential real estate groups, such as NAOIP, the Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors and the Urban Land Institute.

So, association management … What do you do exactly?

We manage professional and trade societies. Real estate is the area I focus on, and I am executive director for organizations there. But we also have business, medical and retail clients. We have financial planners. We do database management, finances and work with lobbyists. You can’t really advertise association management, because it is hard for people to get sometimes. My mom still doesn’t even really understand what I do.

Which associations do you manage?

I am directly in charge of Charlotte Region Commercial Board of Realtors as executive vice president. I’m also executive vice president for the Charlotte Region Commercial Property Exchange. I am the district council coordinator for Urban Land Institute of Charlotte and executive director for NAIOP.

Some people might say you’re spread a little thin. Are you?

I think it is a benefit because I can bring a lot of things to the table. It isn’t just me working on each of these organizations. We have staff to help out. Because I focus on real estate, it gives some synergy when I work with ULI and the commercial board.

Social media handle a lot of networking needs today. Why do people still need these trade groups?

There’s a lot of competition from social media. Things like LinkedIn are creating that sense of community and some groups make a closed group for only their members. But people are still attending conferences and they want that face-to-face contact. The beauty of associations is they give back to the community. Also, everyone is challenged to make the communications meaningful and not look like spam.

How has Charlotte real estate changed since you started?

It’s become more professional and it isn’t just the peddler on the street. About 20 years ago was when the banks had such a huge influx and it was starting to be boomtown. Now we’re in recession, but you have some good people out there doing good work in the community. Everyone’s goal is to have a good sustainable community.

Baughman can be reached at [email protected].