Clark Finney, an associate at Cushman & Wakefield, provedhis mettle in REBNY's view. He was presented with the yearly awardby Studley's William Montana, chairman of REBNY's commercial board,at the association's biannual luncheon last Wednesday. To hearFinney tell it, the accolade was a product of the training hisC&W mentors provided him.

"I learned from my team—specifically, my senior partners JohnCefaly, Bob Lowe and Gus Field," Finney tells GlobeSt.com. When hebegan his tenure at C&W three years ago, "we were at the heightof the market, and now arguably we're at the bottom. But nothinghas changed in terms of my day-to-day work ethic and the way that Iattack each day and each problem. That's a result of how theytrained me to take a very methodical, analytical approach." Theself-starter acumen that has impressed Finney's colleagues wassomething he brought to the equation, having co-founded a web-basedfinancial services tool called Marketclocks.com upon his graduationfrom Washington and Lee University in 2006.

However, Finney acknowledges that the changing market conditionsdid call upon different skills than were required at the 2007 peak,especially as his senior partners made him point person on severalmajor accounts. "In 2009, I had to focus my efforts to come outwith results that I did," he says. "I had to dig in and understandmy client's business as best as possible: how what they do impactstheir results and is reflected in the real estate theyrequire."