The Swartz Report: College Road Trips and Happy Holidays
This past week, my daughter and I embarked on a road trip not experienced since her college days where the two of us spent time getting her back to campus at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you may remember our many unplanned stops; the world’s largest golf tee and wind chime come to mind, as well as several stops at various college campuses along the way. Her senior year trip included a stop off I-70 in a rest area to view the total eclipse (spectacular, if you remember.) Ah, those were the days! Unfortunately, college graduation came and the real world settled into place.
While the Covid pandemic has been stressful for all, an economic burden to most, health crisis to millions and a noticeable change in our social behavior, it did provide an opportunity for another Father-Daughter road trip. This time, we flew to the DC area, picked up her car (which had been in her underground parking lot since last spring) and drove back to Kansas City, as she will continue to work remotely until June. The drive did not disappoint as we spent two days through the mountains of western Maryland, West Virginia and Kentucky; the plowed fields of Indiana and Illinois and finally, listening to our beloved Chiefs as we trekked across I-70 in Missouri. (Not the most scenic for sure, so the Chiefs offered an excellent distraction ????)
The Scenic Highway 68 through West Virginia put us within 2,000 feet of the Pennsylvania border and the views were terrific, even in December. We can only imagine what the scenery would be in the fall with the changing colors. Stops in Morgantown to see the University of West Virginia and in Lexington to visit the University of Kentucky were only modified by the aspect of not leaving the car, so we drove around the respective campuses. This was relatively easy since there were no students and effectively no traffic!
This was also an opportunity to connect with my daughter as a non-student.
No excitement or fear of the upcoming school year, just conversations about life; the boring (finances, car repairs, the future…) and not so boring (food, music and friends). The two days passed quickly and I look forward to the next opportunity (but not if it is caused by another Pandemic!)
Thank You
As we wrap up another year, I again thank you for your friendship, loyalty and trust in me as well as my employees. I mentioned on a phone call to one of my clients that when all is said and done, we are service providers. We do not have a tangible product to touch, smell, see, hear or taste, but you do see our passion, concern and dedication to our clients. Hopefully that’s a differentiator for us. My goal is to insure we maintain this enthusiasm as we work together in 2021.
As always, I appreciate your feedback. You may contact me via email, ; or reply to this blog on my respective websites – www.swartzandassociates.com or www.indurantetax.com.
Happy Holidays to everyone!
May 2021 bring good health, safety and joy to all.
Next week, I will be taking my first business trip out of town since the beginning of the pandemic. While Zoom and Microsoft Meetings have been incredibly useful, and being able to see others is an effective alternative to the usual conference call, there are simply things not easily replicated when we meet face to face. So, next week, I will be traveling back to Las Vegas to meet with my employees of Indurante (as well as Swartz + Associates, Inc. since 
The timing of the change is much harder to predict, but it is fair to assume the dynamics of commercial real estate over the next 3-5 years will be quite different than what we have traditionally experienced. The question is, how will the county jurisdictions react?
We will be working on expanding our presence in the Las Vegas market, as we believe changes in market value first appear in the Southwest (AZ, NV and CA) and the Southeast (FL and GA). With our Indurante office creating a presence in Las Vegas, this is a natural opportunity to grow the Swartz practice with existing clients and expanding our service to those with properties in Clark County.
In preparing for this month’s update, I reviewed my August 2019 blog for a little inspiration. I found many of the things I presented following my accident to be true today in the midst of a pandemic. The focus being holding your employees accountable and having them taking on more responsibility. This may be true even more so than a year ago.
Last Tuesday, my father had quintuple bypass surgery. Yes, no typo, five bypasses! The surgery went as well as anyone could have expected for a man turning 89 in November. What to do, what to do… In this Coronavirus environment, all one can do is offer emotional support for the family. There is no visitation at the hospital. No hugs, no holding hands, no “just being there”. Only phone calls, Zoom setups during the week and words of encouragement. The true providers are the nursing staff, who serve both the medical needs of the patient and the emotional needs during this pandemic. Truly unbelievable.
Last month, I mentioned one our employees, Mark Phillips, 
We recently celebrated Father’s Day weekend and Juneteenth! I feel like Jimmy Kimmel and Steven Colbert as I write yet another blog from my home. The more things change, the more things remain the same……
This was a quote from a family member as we sat around the dinner table for the 50th consecutive day. That comment could not have held more truth. As we spent the last two weeks of March figuring out what in the world was going on and re-acclimated ourselves to a full household (this time full of consenting adults and not teenage children dealing with the pressures of adolescence, middle school and high school), April was filled with the “new routine”. April found three of us working our jobs remotely and the 4th finishing up second semester of his sophomore year of college.
One question we don’t have an answer for at this point is what the real estate market will look like going forward. Will office space (and the need for office space) change in look, feel and desirability? Over recent years, we’ve seen the exponential increase in online sales as consumers order more goods from the Internet and have them delivered directly to their residence. With stay at home orders in place, more people have turned to this mode of shopping, not only out of convenience but necessity.
Today, I participated in virtual roundtable discussion sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. This one hour conference via Zoom, consisted of 68 small business owners (or high level decision makers within their respective companies).
Like most of us, I have been watching the sweeping changes occurring in our lives over the past 10 days. What started as a potential nuisance has developed into a complete crisis. Whether you believe we, as a nation, have over-reacted or have not yet done enough to do our part, this is a generational event which demands calm and patience. We must listen to, and adhere to our governmental officials, both at the local and national levels.