RETS Taps Thornburg as Director for San Francisco Office

April 27, 2010
By Allison Landa, News Editor

Commercial real estate recruiting and staffing firm RETS Associates has named Cheryl Thornburg as director in its San Francisco office. Thornburg, who specializes in recruiting commercial real estate and financial services professionals in the Bay Area, will work closely with Diane Blake in the firm’s Silicon Valley office in order to attend to the firm’s growing Northern California client base.

“Cheryl brings 15 years of recruiting experience to RETS Associates,” RETS president Kent Elliott told CPE. “Additionally, she has worked with Brandi Newman, managing director of our Los Angeles office, at a previous firm so they have great working synergies. Cheryl’s experience and personality complement the high-end client service that is the cornerstone of our firm.”

Newman was hired just six months ago. According to RETS, she has already successfully connected several high-level executives with commercial real estate companies in Southern California.

Thornburg most recently worked with Sullivan Research West, where she secured professionals for companies of varying sizes. Those included Wells Fargo Bank, Westaff: Business Staffing Solutions, and Genentech. She earned her bachelor’s degree from California State University, Chico.

Elliott told CPE that the firm plans for Thornburg to expand its real estate and financial services practice in the Bay Area.

“RETS works with a number of top clients and our goal is to achieve deeper market penetration with those clients and other top firms,” he said. “She will do that by working with Diane Blake … and leverage off the client relationships that we have built in the Bay Area over the last 8 years.”

Elliott and Christopher Lee founded RETS in 2002; they were joined in 2008 by former CB Richard Ellis executive Jana Turner. RETS’ clients include REITs, developers, investors, pension fund advisors, operating companies and real estate firms doing business in property management, facilities management, corporate services, and brokerage sales and leasing.