Kevin Guthrie, president of the Building Owners & Managers Association Spokane, says the nonprofit has experienced a bit of a renaissance this year and is on pace to surpass 100 members this year.

 Guthrie, a senior property manager at Kiemle & Hagood Co., in downtown Spokane, believes changing BOMA Spokane’s meeting schedule last year helped fuel renewed interest in the organization.

“In our 104 years of existence, for all we know, we always met at least once a week, and that’s hard to do,” Guthrie says. “Last year, we scaled back and now meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month. Now, the meetings are well attended and on average we now have 35 to 40 members a meeting.”

Meetings are held at the Red Lion River Inn hotel from noon to 1 p.m.

The guest speaker lineup in August included Spokane Mayor David Condon and Rendall Farley, who is in charge of electrification and transportation initiatives for Avista Corp., of Spokane, Guthrie says.

BOMA Spokane currently has 96 members, up from 84 at the end of 2014. “The goal coming into this year was to exceed 100 members,” Guthrie says.

Annual membership costs $750. Every fall, BOMA Spokane offers what it calls “15 for 12.”

“Sometimes, we’ll see a bump in membership when we offer October through December of one year and the following 12 months all for the regular price of $750,” Guthrie says.

Roughly two-thirds of its members are subcontractors that serve the real estate industry, such as architects, electricians, and roofers. The remaining members include commercial building owners and building managers, Guthrie says.

Despite its age, BOMA Spokane is still not widely known, Guthrie says. He says there are still many potential members in the area that haven’t been captured.

BOMA Spokane says it’s one of the oldest members of BOMA International, a federation of 91 building-management and ownership advocacy groups throughout the U.S. and 17 other countries.

Each local affiliate, such as BOMA Spokane, is an independent association rather than a chapter of BOMA International, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 1907, BOMA represents the owners and managers of all commercial property types, encompassing more than 10 billion square feet of U.S. office space that supports close to 2 million jobs and contributing nearly $228 billion to the gross domestic product, BOMA International says in its 2016 annual report.

The organization lobbies at local, state, and national levels, often fighting what it contends are unnecessary and costly regulations that have the ability to erode building owners’ profits.

For example, every year, BOMA organizations battle what it sees as unnecessary retrofits for fire protection, water leak detection, elevator controls, elevator lobbies, and radon abatement systems, Guthrie says.

“BOMA’s advocacy team continues to work with various interest groups to ensure that approved provisions are cost effective, enforceable, and technically feasible,” BOMA International says in its 2016 annual report.

BOMA International claims to have played an active role in shaping workable regulations resulting from the American with Disabilities Act, BOMA says in its report.

BOMA Spokane doesn’t have its own building or office space.

The organization has a six-member board with three executive committee members. Aaron Hayes, of Global Credit Union, is president-elect, and Spencer Sowl of Avista Development Inc., a subsidiary of Avista Corp., is vice president. Lisa Quigley serves as BOMA Spokane’s association executive and coordinator, Guthrie says.

Kiemle & Hagood is a tenant in the Chase Financial Center, at 601 W. Riverside, which the company also manages. Guthrie just completed his first year of employment at Kiemle & Hagood after spending 13 years working for NAI Black, he says.

BOMA Spokane hosts an annual golf tournament that this year raised $2,000. The organization holds at least half-dozen fundraisers for charity a year, he says.

Each year, the BOMA Spokane president selects a charity to be the recipient of the organization’s fundraising efforts. Guthrie says he picked a program through Second Harvest Food Bank of the Inland Northwest to receive food assistance.

The food program is tailored for school-aged children from homes whose parents struggle to pay for food.

Guthrie says his work as a senior property manager has helped him in the role of BOMA Spokane president.

“This isn’t a sales pitch,” Guthrie says. “This is truly a great networking opportunity for building owners and managers in our community.”