NEW YORK CITY-Two years after he “got the engines running” on a mandate to grow the New York tri-state region of Cassidy Turley, Peter Hennessy has seen the future. It's business development, and specifically the nearly two dozen new hires who joined the firm between the ages of 22 and 32.

Part of a hiring wave that has numbered about 130 since Hennessy came in as president of the tri-state region, the young recruits are seen as “the backbone for the future of the organization,” says Hennessy. “Because in the next five to seven years, a number of my more senior team members will start to wind down their careers. We need to replace; we need to build for the future.”

Their energy and enthusiasm has paid off in the near term, as well. “If you look at the leasing activity that occurred in 2012, total square footage was down almost 20%,” says Hennessy. At the same time, he says, the tri-state region's revenue was up almost 14%. “The telltale for us is that we're taking market share away from others. You don't grow in a declining market without taking market share from other organizations.”