PHOENIX—Peter Nieman, executive vice presidentat Colliers International in Greater Phoenix, iscelebrating 53 years of experience in the commercial real estateindustry this year and has been with Colliers since 1993. Niemanalso founded and operated several real estate companies inCalifornia, one of which he sold to Grubb &Ellis. He later worked for Grubb & Ellis for fouryears. He was also a founder and director of ColumbiaNational Bank of Santa Monica, CA, and NationalBank of the Redwoods, Santa Rosa, CA.

GlobeSt.com: What has changed in the industry during thelast 53 years or should we say what hasn't?

Peter Nieman: The speed of transactions is oneof the most significant changes. When I started in the commercialreal estate industry in 1963, there were no computers, cell phones,fax machines or real estate information services such asCoStar or Xceligent. If a clientwanted to know about available 5,000 square foot office spaces, Idrove around town identifying appropriate buildings. Then Irequested brochures and floor plans from landlords who mailed theinformation to me. In a hurry, I would personally drive to thelandlord's office and pick up the brochure or floor plan. Theprocess usually took a few days or longer if the client wanted asearch in multiple submarkets. Today, a broker or assistant cangather the same amount of information online in minutes. Technologyhas dramatically increased the pace of deals.