Marano, calling the day's theme "opportunity New Jersey," tied the reorganization to the fact that C&W's three-office operation in the Garden State "represented the firm's third largest region worldwide based on 2004 revenue. What we're doing reflects how well New Jersey plays in our global operations."

In reality, it also plays out as a "trading-places" scenario. Kinum and Mosler hired Medina, the state's secretary of commerce under former Gov. Christie Whitman, to head C&W's new Technology Enterprise Group in 2002. During yesterday's presentation, Medina frequently referred to Kinum as his "teacher and mentor." Kinum will step aside to become part of the now three-year-old Technology Enterprise Group, which specializes in serving government, private and academic research groups and companies.

Citing Medina's experience in the public and private sectors, his technology background and the fact that he's both a lawyer and CPA, Marano termed him "the prototype for the modern brokerage community. There is no one better positioned to oversee our business development drive in the Garden State."

Medina said he would immediately launch what he termed "a strategic repositioning of the firm's New Jersey operations." That repositioning, which will come from what he termed "intense meetings" with C&W staffers, will focus on "strategic vision, relationships built on trust, people [new challenges, recruiting and training] and technology--employing the best-of-breed technology in our work.

"The role of the real estate services provider is changing," Medina continued. "Clients today are looking for us to provide more than real estate solutions. They want us to be strategic advisors who make a positive impact on their businesses."

Medina also suggested that C&W would be working more closely with the state to attract new business, especially in the area of the life sciences, specifically pharmaceuticals and biotech. "The state has solid incentive--our role is to raise the awareness," he told reporters following the official announcement.

Asked if he had specific goals in terms of adding staff or increasing market share, Medina said that would come after "input of all our people and an intense strategic vision session." In a press release issued after the presentation, however, it was indicated that C&W of NJ "expects to grow by more than 60 staff members during 2005 and 2006."

Another part of the management reorganization, according to Medina, is the recent hiring of Kimberly Brennan as managing director for the New Jersey region for C&W. Brennan, who came over from CB Richard Ellis, "will focus on administration, execution and management," Medina tells GlobeSt.com. "That will free me up to focus on business development, strategy and leadership. I will also be focusing on re-engineering our marketing approach."