Chicago/Midwest People & Company News, week of November 6, 2026

Berkadia announced that Associate Director Ben Thomas has joined its mortgage banking platform in Kansas City, Missouri. Thomas reports to Managing Director John Schorgl. Thomas specializes in permanent financing, as well as construction and bridge financing for commercial real estate and multifamily properties. Throughout his career, he has closed more than $1 billion in loans nationwide and leverages a broad range of capital sources, including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, HUD, life insurance companies, banks, CMBS lenders, and bridge lenders.

James Elia has joined Farbman Group as vice president of revenue. Elia will lead efforts to grow revenue across Farbman Group’s family of companies, including property management, NAI Farbman brokerage, Huntington Construction, Huntington Maintenance, the Apex trade companies and ClimateGuard Pro.

Colliers announced that Jeff Winters has been appointed managing director and brokerage market leader for Kansas City, Missouri. In his new role, Winters will oversee all brokerage operations, including recruitment, retention, and business development for the market. He will report to Jeremy Jacobs, President | Central Region Brokerage. Winters succeeds Ed Elder, who has led the Kansas City office for the past 10 years. Elder will remain with Colliers as a principal, focusing on client relationships, strategic pursuits, and new business development.

Baird & Warner has launched BWCONNECT, an integrated tech platform rooted in how its agents work. BWCONNECT eliminates the friction of disjointed tech and brings together the company’s best-in-class technology, marketing, business intelligence and support resources in a single ecosystem optimized around the agent’s natural workflow.