"As an industry, we're relatively poor in training andestablishing a platform for people to enter the industry," saidWilliam Flaherty, senior vice president of Maguire Properties,during the Industry Leaders Talk panel. "This has been offset a bitby the community colleges and universities aggressively improvingtheir real estate programs, but much more still needs to bedone."

Chris Hite, president of Coreland Cos., agreed, adding that hefeels the upcoming generation can bring a slew of talents that willbe needed for future real estate managers. "No longer does a realestate manager need to just be proficient in the operation of realestate, they now need accounting skills, they need to be WallStreet-oriented, they need to be able to manage people," he said."There is a shortage of very talented, young managers in thecommunity. We're not doing a good job of training and getting themessage out."

Kevin Baldridge, a fellow panelist and senior vice president ofoperations for the Irvine Co., said one way companies can targetthe younger generations is through advertising on not only realestate-based web sites, but on social networks that are gearedtoward the college and post-college crowd.