CCBR acquired land at 303 W. 6th Street, its current location just off the central business district in Jamestown, New York, and built its home on the site in the late 1980's. The building provides a central office for all Board services and a conference room available upon request for meetings of up to about 40 persons. A VCR and TV are available for use during these sessions.

The Board Office is staffed by a full-time Executive Officer, a full-time MLS Assistant and a part-time Membership/Accounting Assistant. The Board's membership, Multiple Listing Service, accounting, and other functions and services are computerized. The office uses 3PCs, as well as a Console for the MLS data. CCBR has enhanced its MLS with an MLS computer system capable of providing on-line color photos of listings.

CCBR is governed by an eight-member Board of Directors with an elected President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary, and is assisted by 12 established and continuing committees: Professional Standards; MLS; Computer; Education/Seminars;Legislative;Finance/Accounting;Bylaws; Membership/Programs;Public Relations; Grievance; RPAC; and Equal Opportunity in Housing/HUD. All activities are governed by written bylaws and Procedures Manual.

The Board of Directors and most committees meet monthly. Some, such as Grievance and Professional Standards, meet on an "as needed" basis. Except for July, August, November and December, there is also a General Membership Meeting each month with guest speakers who have included such persons as the District Manager of the New York Department of State, local attorney, Sheriff's deputy, Industrial Development Authority representative, NYSAR staff, elected officials, and more. A summer picnic replaces the July and August monthly meetings and a Fall Installation dinner replaces the November and December meetings.

The Board is in sound financial shape. The members are provided a monthly financial report at each General Membership Meeting.

Each month, the Board's newsletter "Realty Notes" keeps the membership informed about the doings of CCBR, NAR, NYSAR, State and Local happenings. A "President's Message" is usually featured, and highlights of current and upcoming events are presented. The Executive Officer and many committees report current topics of interest each month and, frequently, the office staff have something to say. An update on new and existing programs can usually be found,. A monthly calendar of events is also included. Members are invited to submit their own original written material to be considered for inclusion.

In March 1993, a Cellular Phone Program was instituted for members. Our program offers the lowest discounts available in the entire area for cellular service. The service, provided through Frontier Cellular offers many free benefits including free voice mail. Frontier Cellular provides local calling to CCBR Cellular Participants throughout New York State (excluding New York City).

Other Board sponsored programs and benefits include Presidential Awards (annual awards to Sales Associates based on sales volume); Citizen of the Year; Scholarship Program; Equal Opportunity Promotional programs, Coordinated Thursday evening open houses and group purchasing to get reduced prices. Another added benefit for members, is the inclusion of their single family residential listings advertised on the national web site, REALTOR.COM at no charge.

The Education/Seminars Committee coordinates educational material available from area colleges and universities to help make Members aware of courses available to assist them in meeting their mandatory education requirements. The Committee also arranges special educational courses and seminars when appropriate training sessions are not available elsewhere, and assists the E.O. with input to ensure a good New Member Orientation program.

The Legislative Committee attends sessions in Albany and Washington, among other locations, and keeps the membership informed of important legislative events.

The Bylaws Committee updates CCBR's Bylaws annually in accordance with NAR's requirements, and in 1994 incorporated Board of Choice provisions mandated by NAR and NYSAR. CCBR has a 121 page Manual which is provided to each Member Realty Office. The Manual includes the Bylaws as well as all pertinent operating rules, procedures, fees, and so forth. A supplement to the Manual, another 110+ pages, controls the operation of the Board Office and central Multiple Listing Service. The Manual is kept current with minor revisions as needed, and is reviewed annually in its entirety for update to assure smooth operations throughout the system.

The Membership and Programs Committee reviews new member applications, assists the E.O. with the New Member Orientation program, sets up special programs, recruits new members, and performs member retention services.

The MLS Committee coordinates and monitors the operations of the Multiple Listing Service. It resolves questions and conflicts presented to it by the participants and users, and studies the best methods to provide the service to the membership. The Computer Committee works closely with the MLS Committee to be sure computer recommendations are compatible with MLS and other needs.

Custom Hot Sheets are available to MLS Participants with a computer summarizing all new listings since the last time a participant pulled a hot sheet. Bi-weekly Hot Sheets are available to Participants. Offices with fax machines receive their Hot Sheets via FAX about 8:00 a.m. on Monday and Thursdays. Offices with neither computers nor faxes have Hot Sheets placed in their "boxes" at the Board Office where they can pick them up at their convenience.

The Board, in general, is supported by the dues of its members and supplemented by income received through its special programs. The MLS is supported by participation and listing fees paid by its Participants and Users. Board dues do not support MLS and MLS fees do not provide income to the Board. CCBR attempts to balance the income from the two different sources to keep each area self-supporting.

Participation Fees in the MLS are analyzed and assessed bi-annually, in March and September. In October 2000, the Fee for a CCBR member was set at $144/yr times the the number of licensed brokers, associate brokers, sales associates and licensed or certified appraisers in each Member's office. A non-member of our Board (member of another NYS Board) pays $288/yr. The fee is assessed against the principal broker from a Member office and is payable by that broker. It is up to the individual office whether the associates pay the principal or not for their use of the system. Listing fees are $12 per listing from a computer office if the office provides its own photo, $16 if CCBR is to provide the photo. The fees are $15 and $19 respectively from a noncomputer office (the additional $3 compensates the MLS system for staff inputing the listings).

A system of fines for improper, or late listing forms and listing contracts helps to ensure proper adherence to MLS rules, policies and procedures, and assures each participant and user that the listing he or she shows was properly handled by the listing agent/listing office..

In addition to participating and using the MLS system, the fees include free listing contracts and listing forms to the participants. Staff is also available to answer Members' and participants' questions regarding completion of the forms, or input into the computer. The service also provides sales contracts, agency disclosure forms, lead paint disclosure forms and phamplets and other supplies to participants. In addition to the contracts themselves, the MLS committee works closely with local bar associations to assure the legal integrity of the contracts. By policing adherence to MLS rules and the use of MLS forms, the system helps assure each participant that he or she is complying with applicable regulations and assures them that the other party to a multiple listing is complying with the same rules.