Beach Realtor named to elite 40 under 40 club
Beach Realtor Andrew Cochrane was recently named as one of the top 40 fresh faces of leadership under the age of 40 in Southwest Florida by Gulfshore Business magazine, the leading business-to-business publication in Southwest Florida which serves the Gulf Coast area from south of Naples to north of Port Charlotte. He will receive a crystal trophy at the Moraya Bay Beach Tower in Naples on Thursday, Sept. 16.
The “40 Under 40” distinction was bestowed to him in the September issue of the Naples-based magazine, which monitors the area’s major industries, including real estate and development, healthcare, tourism and agriculture. A Realtor for Lahaina Realty, Cochrane has been reading Gulfshore Business for many years with his father Dennis Cochrane, a retired Beach Realtor, and was humbled and surprised by the induction. So surprised that he spit up a previously sipped gulp of soda on his white shirt when he replayed the congratulatory message that announced his inclusion to the club.
“It’s rather impressive because they get 500 to 600 applications a year for this,” he said. “It’s quite an honor because it’s quite an area of business professionals that it covers. I thought I’d never make this because folks that are in there are people who have written novels or surgeons or high-profile attorneys.”
In the publication article, staff writer Lori Johnston cited Cochrane as “continuing to mold the American SandSculpting Championship Festival (a three-day November event which attracts up to 70,000 people to Fort Myers Beach) into a major tourism draw.” Johnston’s piece also recognized Cochrane, who has chaired the festival for the past five years, for “coordinating up to 200 volunteers” for the world championship qualifying event.
But, it is a complete body of work that makes an honor shine, and the Michigan native has left quite a prolific mark. He is the current Chairman of the Board for the Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, an organization he is actively involved in and has accumulated several awards since becoming a member. The accomplishments include ‘Member of the Year’ for 2007 and 2009, and ‘Outstanding Service Member of the Year’ in 2008. He is also a board member of the Horizon Council, the Fort Myers Beach Legislative committee and the Beach Traffic Committee as well as a member of the Community Emergency Response Team.
“They focus at all the community service involvement,” said Cochrane about 40 Under 40. “I give thousands of hours every year to community service.”
Since his arrival to Southwest Florida, he also has become a multi-million dollar producer as an independent Real Estate professional after receiving degrees from many educational institutes. The academic laundry list includes graduation from the Certified Residential Specialist Course in 2007; the Realtors Internet Expert Course, which teaches professionals the elaborate intricacies of working with real estate online such as websites, email and other various on-line tools, in 2006; the Accredited Buyers Representative Course, which is designed for real estate buyer agents who focus on working directly with buyer-clients, in 2006; The Real Estate Institute, the sign of a real estate professional who has made the commitment to provide a high level of professional services by securing a strong educational foundation, in 2006; and the Florida Academy of Real Estate in 2004.
He has attended several prestigious sales training courses like the Principals and Practices of Working with Foreign Investors Workshop in 2005 and the David Knox Real Estate Workshop in 2004. ?Before his move to Southwest Florida, Cochrane worked as an executive trainer and market leader for 15 years for the Footlocker Corporation throughout Michigan and Dallas. He has a certificate of completion from the Burt Rodgers School of Real Estate in 1993, a college education from the University of South Florida in 1994 and yet another course fulfillment from the Floyd Wickman Real Estate Closers Workshop in 1989.
Being active in the community has been a life-long endeavor for Cochrane, who is a notary public. At age 15, he became an Eagle Scout -one of the first members to receive all three Eagle Palms in the state of Michigan- and received the Meritorious Action Award for saving a life when he resuscitated his uncle through CPR after a swimming altercation.
“Andrew has done so much for the chamber of commerce,” said Beach Chamber President John Albion, who nominated Cochrane to the 40 Under 40 honor. “He is very deserving of it. It’s important when people try to step it up and help their community that there are opportunities to say thank you such as this recognition.”