If you’re wondering how you can get started with energy rebates, you’ve come to the right place. These incentives provide upfront savings while saving you thousands on utility costs for years to come. For example, switching from baseboard heating to a heat pump saves an average of $1,300 per year. These rebates are not just about saving money — they also create more sustainable communities while improving living conditions for low-income and disadvantaged communities. Budget season is an opportune moment to review outstanding repairs and strategize on how communities can leverage direct savings effectively. Keep reading so you’re ready to act when the time comes. The Inflation Reduction Act in a nutshell In 2022 President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, dedicating nearly $400 billion to fund clean energy and address climate issues. From this, $8.8 billion will go to Home Energy rebates, including the Home Efficiency Rebates and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates. States are encouraged to dedicate up to 10% of rebate funding, with a $400K cap, to support upgrades in low-income, multifamily buildings. The Home Efficiency Rebates Program (Section 50121) Section 50121 awards rebates for energy efficiency improvements in residential buildings. This program is about incentivizing property managers and homeowners to make energy-saving improvements, rather than requiring full renovations and complete overhauls. By targeting improvements, such as HVAC systems, the program aims to reduce our energy consumption and utility bills. Here’s what you need to know: Eligibility: Rebates are available for energy-saving measures, such as insulation, air sealing and high-efficiency HVAC systems. Benefits for multifamily property owners: Owners can receive rebates for upgrades that reduce energy consumption — leading to lower utility bills and improved tenant satisfaction. Funding allocation: States are required to allocate a portion of the rebate funds to low-income multifamily households, ensuring broader access to energy efficiency improvements. Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates (Section 50122) Section 50122 offers rebates for qualified electrification projects for low- or moderate-income households. Electrification is crucial for transitioning homes away from carbon-powered energy. By offering rebates for qualified projects, this program encourages property managers to adopt more efficient technologies that reduce carbon footprints and improve indoor air quality. Here’s what you need to know: Eligibility: Includes rebates for electric stoves, heat pumps, water heaters and other energy-efficient appliances. Benefits for multifamily property owners: Provides direct incentives, including point-of- sales rebates of up to 100% for properties serving residents with an area median income (AMI) of 80% or lower. A portion of funds is specifically reserved for underserved communities. By upgrading to modern energy-efficient appliances, property owners can reduce utility costs and increase energy efficiency. Funding allocation: Encourages the adoption of electric appliances, contributing to the overall reduction of carbon emissions from residential buildings. Community benefit: Contributes to combatting climate change while delivering long-term savings. Electric appliances offer smart features that enhance convenience and allow users to optimize energy consumption. What does it all mean for property managers and the community? These forward-thinking incentives save costs for property managers while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. Not to mention, updated and efficient appliances mean happier tenants. It’s a win for you, the environment and your residents. Now, let’s assess some of the key takeaways: Financial incentives: Rebates offset the cost of energy efficiency and electrification upgrades. Pass-through benefits: Property owners who receive rebates for energy efficiency and electrification improvements must pass the savings on to renters, meaning they can benefit without facing rent increases. Targeted assistance for low-income households: A significant portion of the rebate funds are allocated specifically for low-income households. This ensures that the most vulnerable have access to energy-efficient and electrified homes. Tenant notification and consent: Property owners may be required to notify tenants about planned improvements and obtain their consent, particularly when the upgrades involve entering rental units. This ensures transparency and respect for renters’ rights and privacy. Affordability: Programs often include...

Looking to advance value-based care (VBC) in your senior living communities but not sure how to get there? Our fully integrated solution — the Yardi Senior Living Suite — is built to help. To give you a better understanding of how VBC works (and how our technology can support you) we created an informative new ebook. Don’t miss the insights shared — get a highlight below then explore the full ebook. What is value-based care? VBC focuses on the quality of care and the resident experience. More specifically, enhancing the resident experience through proactive, personalized and person-centered care. In today’s senior living communities, providing VBC can drastically improve resident health outcomes and increase operational returns. How does our technology support VBC? The Yardi Senior Living Suite combines resident care, marketing, sales, finance, business intelligence, pharmacy, operations and more on a cloud-hosted, HIPAA and SOX-compliant software platform. The suite of products is single-stack — uniting on a fully integrated platform — and offers intuitive functionality that helps you provide the best care and improve health outcomes across your communities. Taking a closer look, our single connected solution supports VBC by: Enhancing communications among residents, families and the entire care team. Providing data-driven insights for identifying at-risk residents, proactively mitigating issues and offering preventative care. Empowering staff with interoperable workflows, personalized to meet resident needs. Supporting community wellness programs and boosting resident engagement. Ensuring comprehensive population health management thanks to actionable information and trends. Offering a digital signature workflow that enables quick adaptation of care plans as resident needs change. Presenting health care data that’s pulled into the clinical intake, equipping you to report on resident status during transitions of care. Enabling value-based care reimbursement models.  Centralizing data in one secure place, sharing a cohesive picture of resident health with physicians, health systems and more. Explore our single-stack solution for VBC Yardi EHR: Yardi EHR is a full-service electronic health record solution that unites clinical intake processing, medication management, resident assessments, interoperability, care planning and more. It enables streamlined analysis of population health metrics and real-time information sharing — helping you track and improve resident health outcomes. Senior IQ: Senior IQ is a dynamic business intelligence solution that presents real-time, community-specific data in sharable dashboards. You have the power to analyze actionable information and identify trends — helping you predict resident health outcomes and adjust care plans accordingly. RentCafe Wellness: RentCafe Wellness is a comprehensive community wellness solution that enables you to schedule activities, share information via online calendars, track resident attendance and more. By supporting resident engagement and providing families with access to wellness information, you reduce the risk of isolation — optimizing resident health outcomes. Read the ebook in full The Yardi Senior Living Suite offers more tools built to support VBC — read the ebook in its entirety to learn more. And if you have any questions for our team, don’t hesitate to reach...

It’s time for this year’s National Assisted Living Week (NALW), an annual recognition of assisted living communities and the individuals they serve. NALW was established by the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) in 1995 and each year, a special theme is announced. The 2024 theme — Inspiring Generations — encourages senior living staff, residents and families to share stories and wisdom with one another. We’ll share more on this year’s observance below, covering how our senior living clients are participating. Happy #NALW! Learn about National Assisted Living Week NALW seeks to recognize assisted living communities and highlight the important role they play. Specifically, their role in caring for America’s seniors and individuals with disabilities. The 2024 observance encourages communities around the country to offer events in honor of NALW — and to educate the public about the importance of long-term care.   Fortunately, NCAL provides a thorough planning guide each year to help communities drive these events forward. Check out the 2024 planning guide from NCAL! See how Yardi clients celebrated this year Pacifica Senior Living took to social media to spotlight NALW, including an announcement post shining light on the joys of community living. Pacifica also shared posts celebrating individual communities — complete with heartwarming photos — including Pacifica Encinitas, West Park and San Leandro.   At Benchmark Senior Living, a celebratory blog post was dedicated to NALW (plus a LinkedIn post sharing a snapshot). The blog post honors this year’s NALW theme with inspiring stories from Benchmark communities, all focused on residents. Maplewood Senior Living also posted on LinkedIn for NALW, sharing a strong message: associates are the heart of Maplewood communities, and their devotion to residents deserves recognition. “This week, we celebrate the exceptional dedication and compassion of our associates who make every community a vibrant, caring place for our residents,” shared Maplewood in the post. For Vitality Living, NALW is all about honoring the incredible bonds formed between residents, team members and volunteers. Their social media post encourages other communities to celebrate the connections they share — and notes appreciation for individuals across Vitality communities. Join the 2024 observance It’s never too late to celebrate assisted living communities and the residents they serve. Join the cause by reading more on National Assisted Living Week — and share your own stories on social media with the hashtag...

Coalition for Family Harmony is the only dual-domestic violence and sexual assault community-based organization in Ventura County, Calif., providing comprehensive intervention, prevention, and education on intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Since 1976, the Coalition for Family Harmony has provided an array of survivor-centered, trauma-informed programs aimed at healing the emotional and physical pain following violence and encouraging generational change for its youth. “We ask for funding to support the operations of our 24-hour emergency intimate partner violence and sexual assault services teams,” said Noel Stalcup, director of operations for Coalition for Family Harmony. Its 24-hour intimate partner violence team operates out of two emergency shelters, one for clients from the public and one specifically for clients from indigenous cultures in Mexico. Its shelter programs offer immediate access to emergency shelter, rental assistance, individual therapy for families, transportation, food and clothing, temporary restraining orders and employment advocacy. The newest feature of its domestic violence program is the mobile healthcare clinic. The Coalition partners with a local medical doctor to provide regular medical care to those affected by domestic violence living in shelters across Ventura County. The Coalition for Family Harmony is also home to Ventura County’s only rape crisis program. Advocates respond 24 hours a day, providing in-person crisis support to those affected by sexual assault during a forensic exam and law enforcement interviews. Advocates provide survivor-centered, trauma-informed care throughout the healing stages, including linkages to its sexual assault individual and group therapy and play therapy for youth. The Coalition hopes to increase domestic violence shelter capacity by collaborating with the Ventura County Family Justice Center. With goals to include expansion for bilingual clients, sustain legal programs restraining order service and increase legal assistance, strengthen partnerships and increase the number of volunteers for the 24-hour rape crisis response calendar. Unfortunately, the Coalition for Family Harmony is facing budget reductions that directly impact its core emergency shelter and rape crisis programs. “Last year, our emergency program served 5,535 survivors and their children in Ventura County with life-saving services. With the proposed reductions, we will not have the capacity to serve our community and the survivors who rely on our services,” said Stalcup. Funding from Yardi helps the Coalition for Family Harmony support emergency domestic violence and sexual assault programs. Funding helps them keep two part-time advocates shifts filled for its 24-hour calendar for rape crisis response and emergency shelter for clients and their families to escape violence at home. “We thank Yardi for their continued support and look forward to the possibility of receiving a donation for Yardi’s annual non-profit giving campaign,” expressed Stalcup. Volunteer Opportunities The Coalition for Family Harmony has various volunteer opportunities. Those interested in volunteering must be trained and ready to represent the Coalition at numerous events, interfacing with the community and spreading the word about its essential services. For more information, please fill out the volunteer application form to help make a difference in the lives of their clients. “With your support, we can make a significant difference in the lives of survivors and work towards creating a safer and more supportive Ventura County community,” expressed Stalcup. Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving. Yardi is Energized for Good! Visit www.yardi.org for more about our philanthropic...

Connecting accurate information to support budgeting, leasing and construction projects is essential to optimizing CRE asset performance. Working with the right set of software tools not only ensures transparency and data accuracy but also provides real-time and actionable insights. For example, when live data from the leasing pipeline and construction projects are available within your budgeting solution, you can manage forecasts on a rolling basis without the hassle of updating spreadsheets. So what’s the best practice? Using a single stack solution with a single source of truth and real-time data access. From lead-to-lease pipeline management to streamlining the budgeting process and optimizing the construction lifecycle, connected solutions with seamless dataflow and automated workflows can unlock operational efficiency. Side-by-side comparisons and real-time budget tracking Yardi Forecast Manager is a full-featured software solution that enables clients to monitor annual budget performance relative to their approved budget. Clients can promote deals from Yardi Deal Manager to Forecast Manager and use re-forecasting to accurately analyze their budget based on all deals in the pipeline. A built-in hover-over feature in the forecasting tool shows where a particular data set originated and clients can make necessary adjustments along the way. Correspondingly, Deal Manager incorporates settings that ensure the appropriate information is pushed to Forecast Manager. When it comes to assessing risk, clients have access to a comprehensive view of their portfolios in both Deal Manager and Forecast Manager and they can filter and view a wide range of information about each space — even across properties — including tenant risk and lease expiration date. As an additional benefit, Forecast Manager enables clients to easily identify deals (when they also use Deal Manager) at a particular stage and promote them into the forecast. A deal can be included in the budget by simply clicking the “promote” button next to the deal. Promoting the deal means that it will be included in the worksheet the next time the client runs the forecast or revenue projection. No more tedious spreadsheets This combination of features and integration of deal pipeline data helps asset management and operation teams budget more accurately and eliminates the need for manually compiling various spreadsheets. Industry leaders using Forecast Manager are seeing results. Rexford Industrial quickly discovered the benefits of using a connected software solution to optimize the CRE revenue lifecycle. “Our forecasting is correct the first time and easy to see on a dashboard. I can add acquisitions and quickly get a snapshot of what the acquisition will do many quarters out. All this used to take days, and now it takes 15 minutes,” said Alex DeHaven, VP of Corporate Finance, Rexford Industrial. Learn more about Yardi Forecast Manager and hear how it’s working for Rexford...

In the 2023-24 school year, the Yardi Foundation launched a transformative initiative aimed at empowering first-generation college students across North America. Partnering with 20 colleges and universities, Yardi committed over $3 million in scholarships and student support, making higher education more accessible for those who need it most. As the program continues to expand, it will soon include partnerships with 29 schools by the 2025-26 school year, including new initiatives at institutions like the University of Saskatchewan. USask: Investing in potential At the University of Saskatchewan (USask), the Yardi Scholars Program is set to make a significant impact. The program will support two recipients per year for four consecutive years, with the first scholars starting in the fall of 2025. By fall 2028, a total of eight students will be enrolled. Each scholar receives $10,000 annually, with up to four years of funding available. These scholarships target first-generation students from low-income families who are interested in business and computer science majors. “On behalf of students, faculty and staff at the Edwards School of Business, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Yardi Scholars program for establishing a transformative bursary that will support first-generation students,” says Steph Bodnar, development office at University of Saskatchewan, Edwards School of Business. “This bursary allows students with financial barriers to attend university and pursue their academic dreams. The Yardi Scholars program will have a lasting impact on these students’ journey through higher education.” TMU: Expanding horizons Similarly, at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), the Yardi Scholars Program began in 2023, offering the same robust support to students. Additionally, Yardi Canada has committed to a three-year support program for two PhD students, further broadening the scope of their philanthropy in Canada. “We are immensely grateful to Peter Altobelli and Yardi for their support to our students,” says Dean Cynthia Holmes. “Ted Rogers School is considered to have one of the highest percentages of first-generation students in Canada, and Yardi Canada’s gift will improve access to quality post-secondary education and help us support students’ success.” Building a brighter future The Yardi Scholars Program is more than just financial aid. It’s about building lasting connections, fostering mentorship and creating opportunities for internships. By providing financial support, Yardi ensures that students can focus on their studies and achieve their academic goals. Yardi senior management actively engages with the scholars, offering guidance and support throughout their educational journey. This hands-on approach not only benefits the students but also strengthens Yardi’s commitment to community involvement and social responsibility. Supporting a generation to come Through its substantial investment in education, the Yardi Foundation is paving the way for future leaders. By supporting first-generation students, Yardi is not only changing individual lives but also contributing to the broader goal of making higher education accessible to all. For more information on the Yardi Scholars Program and other philanthropic initiatives, please visit...

Yardi Case Manager was introduced in 2023 and is one of the newest solutions integrated within the Yardi Affordable Housing Suite. Let’s learn more about it from Yardi Affordable Housing Industry Principal Mark Livanec. Mark, let’s start at the beginning. Tell us what a case is. Cases are any situation, ticket, or task that requires property managers or resident service staff to track and resolve. The flexibility of defining and managing case resolution workflows is one of the things I like most about Yardi Case Manager. Affordable housing providers have a lot of flexibility and powerful ticketing tools that will help them track the services they provide daily. There is also flexibility in how cases are created given Case Manager’s integration with the Yardi Affordable Housing Suite. A resident can create a case using their RentCafe Affordable Housing app on their mobile device, eliminating the need to make a phone call or visit the front office. There’s even automation built in that creates a set of tasks and team assignments necessary to resolve each case that come in from various sources. What’s the main reason Yardi clients should add Case Manager? Integration with Yardi Voyager, including our upcoming solution Compliance Manager powered by Voyager 8, make Case Manager a prime opportunity to strengthen affordable housing compliance without complicated workflows. Affordable housing programs are highly scrutinized by the federal, state and local funding programs. Yardi Case Manager can help keep providers in compliance by tracking service requests, reasonable accommodation requests, the work done to accommodate requests and how each case is resolved. How does tracking cases mitigate risk? One important example is fair housing, which includes laws that ensure affordable housing providers treat applicants and residents equally. Throughout the resident lifecycle, affordable housing providers need to document their interactions with every household they serve. When it comes to tacking and following through on requests, Yardi Case Manager is a great tool to keep everything consistent for everyone. Similarly, several laws require housing providers to accommodate reasonable requests for modifications to forms and living spaces. For example, applicants or residents may need special equipment installed in a unit because of a physical disability, others may need forms translated to a specific language. Not providing a reasonable request to make housing physically accessible can raise red flags with auditors and can lead to litigation. Yardi Case Manager is designed to make sure affordable housing site staff not only record the request for reasonable accommodation but serves as a tool to document follow-through efforts. Without proper documentation, your organization can be at risk of fair housing litigation. Domestic violence situations are another type of case that requires special attention and extreme confidentiality. Yardi Case Manager enables affordable housing providers to keep certain cases private and, on a need-to-know basis, to keep everyone safe and prevent unlawful disclosures. Why Yardi Case Manager when there are already prospect and resident records in Yardi Voyager? Yardi Case Manager has workflows that are specifically optimized for service delivery staff. That functionality can help keep things simple and effective since it’s easy to train, configure and use throughout the workday. There is, of course, integration with Yardi Voyager for access to cases through the upcoming Compliance Manager, powered by Voyager 8 dashboard. Cases can be tied to specific members of a household record, and notes from maintenance techs and inspectors can be copied to cases. But, if an affordable housing provider prefers to keep Yardi Case Manager as a tool primarily in use by their resident service coordinators and other front-line site staff, that works as well. How can Yardi Case Manager expand to help cover more types of requests? Case types can be configurable to unique request scenarios for applicants, residents, vendors/landlords, and even employees. Service coordinators can track case progress from start to finish via customizable tasks, team assignments and reports. The table below gives examples...

Quality time in nature is one of Venture Land Trust’s greatest gifts to the community for a sustainable future. Yardi-supported nonprofit Ventura Land Trust, established in 2003 in Ventura, Calif., connects the community with educational programs about nature and fosters the next generation of environmental stewards. Then, in 2009, Ventura Wild was established as the primary education initiative that supports youth aged two to 13 years old with meaningful outdoor learning experiences. Serving nearly a thousand students annually, Ventura Wild’s programs connect children to nature by nurturing awareness, knowledge, skills, and stewardship in the natural world. “With the support from funders, scholarships are made available throughout the year for any of our sessions-long programs and summer camps,” said Sarah ‘Trudy’ Trudeau, education manager for Venture Land Trust. In addition to Venture Wild, Venture Land Trust offers another educational initiative called Nature by Design that provides subsidized field trips and session-long programs for Title-1 schools in Ventura County. These programs are designed, often in line with the classroom’s objectives, to connect children to nature through hands-on learning experiences related to the natural sciences. “By balancing the school day with time in the outdoors, students return to the classroom happier, healthier and with a great sense of motivation,” explained Trudeau. Ventura Land Trust hopes to expand and grow its scholarship fund to support more families with financial assistance. With the help of Yardi funding, it can offer more subsidized programs for local schools and underserved communities to create excellent access to the outdoors. “We are incredibly grateful for the funding received from Yardi! It has greatly supported our ability to provide scholarships and connect more families to nature in our community,” said Trudeau. Reaping Native Plants Being in reciprocity with nature is a key part of Ventura Land Trust’s environmental programs. In addition to modeling Leave No Trace principles, it facilitates stewardship projects to encourage children to give back and take part in restoring wild spaces. In 2022, its preschool-aged students supported a large planting project at one of Ventura Land Trust preserves. With the support from its team, these eager three-year-olds carefully chose their native plant to place into the earth. Students were encouraged to water and care for their plants each week that followed. Today, many of these students are still in these programs. Now five years old, Wesley is delighted to see that the Black Walnut tree (Juglans californica) he planted has grown taller than him! Volunteer Opportunities Join the community and Ventura Land Trust with volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Those interested in leadership opportunities and internships for teens and young adults can apply here or contact Ventura Land Trust at (805)-643-8044 extension 4 or [email protected]. Find future non-profit profiles at https://www.yardi.com/blog/category/giving. Yardi is Energized for Good! Visit www.yardi.org for more about our philanthropic...

2024 is a big year for Yardi, and it’s not just because we’re celebrating 40 years in business. This year marks an exciting shift in our innovation process, exemplified by the new AI solutions presented during YASC 2024’s opening spotlight session for multifamily. Here’s a recap of innovations and features unveiled during the event. Marketing with AI Ready to streamline content creation and optimize marketing spend? As Esther Bonardi, Yardi vice president of corporate marketing and REACH by RentCafe, put it, “AI is everywhere, and it’s impacting all of our development from the time renters start looking for their apartment, and all the way until they’re renewing their lease.” Here’s a peek at new AI-driven solutions to help you drive more quality prospects. Simplifying content creation with Creator by Virtuoso The new Creator by Virtuoso — included in Marketing IQ Genius — uses AI to generate and schedule content for property websites. Whether it’s page narratives, blog posts or Google Business Profile updates, content creation has never been easier. Marketers can now update websites and social feeds with minimal effort, ensuring they stay competitive in the digital landscape. Data-driven budgeting and strategy Marketing IQ Genius also includes more advanced SEO and PPC reporting, as well as PPC budget recommendations powered by machine learning. Get strategic suggestions that help you make informed decisions about your advertising spend.  Allocate budgets more effectively and drive better results based on real-time data and insights. Speed to lease: Accelerating the customer journey with AI “Days equal dollars when it comes to vacancy loss,” Paul Yount, industry principal, said to a crowd of multifamily professionals — but not before he somehow weaved a baby picture of himself onto a slide. (It all connected to his YASC session, “Back to the Future of Leasing and AI.”) Speed is everything when it comes to turning your prospect into a resident — and our AI initiatives are making that process even faster. Here are some updates that will help you reduce vacancy loss. More efficient leasing Chat IQ, powered by Yardi Virtuoso, provides instant, personalized responses to your customers that keep them engaged and informed throughout their leasing journey. Plus, our income and identity verification solutions streamline approvals, ensuring maximum speed when it comes to converting an inquiry into a lease. Self-serve maintenance Our new self-serve maintenance feature guides residents through minor fixes, reducing the hassle associated with maintenance and the workload on property managers. This not only enhances resident satisfaction but also frees up time for teams to focus on more strategic tasks. Yardi Energy Yardi Energy has exciting new updates in store to help you manage energy usage more efficiently, so you can reduce cost while aligning with environmental best practices. Enhancing the resident experience We’re also rolling out new innovations that will make your resident experience even better. Get ready for increased resident satisfaction and renewals. Rewards by RentCafe Resident retention is key to long-term success, and our new rewards program for residents is designed to do just that. Rewards by RentCafe incentivizes your residents to pay rent on time by rewarding them for on-time rent payments and subscriptions to Resident Services by ResidentShield. Points can be redeemed for fun things like travel and shopping, helping you enhance satisfaction. Resident Services by ResidentShield As just mentioned, we’ve rolled out a comprehensive suite of resident services that cater to every stage of the resident lifecycle. But the highlight is our move-in tracker, which simplifies the move-in process for residents by giving them one place to sign up and activate all the essentials, like Wi-Fi and electricity. This helps them feel at home from day one, and gives you bonus points for a seamless experience — without extra effort on your part. The roadmap A preview of enhancements you can take advantage of now, or soon! Chat IQ It just keeps getting better with Chat IQ. This...

It’s a milestone year for Yardi, and the air was buzzing with excitement as nearly 4,500 real estate technology leaders gathered in San Diego this morning to kick off the 2024 Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference (YASC). The theme of this year’s event is “the journey continues,” and it promises to be an exhilarating and insightful three-day experience for all YASC attendees. Kicking off the General Session, Esther Bonardi, vice president of corporate marketing and REACH by RentCafe, reflected on the company’s innovative past and exciting present. “The journey does not stop here and goes into the future, and maybe (this week), you will share something with us that goes into our future,” Bonardi said. YASC attendees received a commemorative silver coin marking a “moment in time, and we hope you go back home and remember you were here when Yardi hit 40 years.” Guiding principles and great determination Yardi founder and CEO, Anant Yardi, shared his personal memories of starting Yardi on his Apple II computer in Santa Barbara, Calif. Later in the opener, his son Kevin Yardi, today the company’s vice president, recalled falling asleep to the sound of his father’s keystrokes as he programmed late into the night. In the early 1980s, Mr. Yardi shared that his claim to fame was that those using Yardi software only needed one floppy disk for the program, instead of the more common three or four. The Apple II Mr. Yardi worked on made the trip to San Diego for the 40-year anniversary, demurely sharing the stage with all speakers.  “At any point of time throughout the 40 years at Yardi, there was always a vision and a goal,” Mr. Yardi said. Despite early setbacks, he relied on “tenacity and a degree of stubbornness to keep at it, accompanied by optimism and clarity.”  “Any growth must be planned and orchestrated with rapid learning and execution,” Mr. Yardi noted. He shared a poignant personal story – in the late 1990s, his late father encouraged him to quit while he was ahead, suggesting that as the business grew larger, the more complaints and challenges he would encounter. Mr. Yardi politely declined to follow the advice. Since then, the company has grown from around 300 staff members to over 9,500. “Behind every challenge lurks an opportunity, so when you’re challenged, recognize there is an opportunity lurking behind it. I would like to see the journey continue with all these traditions and guiding principles. At the end of these 40 years, there’s humility and gratitude. In terms of gratitude, without our clients and employees, this wouldn’t have happened,” Mr. Yardi said. Cutting edge technology and artificial intelligence Rob Teel, president of global solutions, and Akshai Rao, president of residential, took the stage to share exciting news about Yardi Voyager 8 and Virtuoso. Introduced at last year’s YASC and now adopted by over 1,500 Yardi clients, Voyager 8 features engaging dashboards, seamless and easy data, and offers business insights not just for accounting. It’s an ideal platform for even the most tech-skeptical executive or portfolio owner. The upgrade to Voyager 8 is simple and scalable. “You can go at your own pace,” Rao noted. Voyager 8 can be rolled out to some teams or properties first, rather than to the entire company at once. “Let us help you, we are here to help.” Virtuoso, Yardi’s artificial intelligence solution, continues to evolve with a mobile app set to launch in Q1 2025. Virtuoso features include a chatbot, smart AP and leasing features, and a virtual assistant, which will improve decision-making, task management and efficiency. Another neat Virtuoso feature will include Marketplace ordering, which is like Google Lens and will allow team members to take a photo of a product and source it immediately. For those who might still be iffy about using AI, Rao said: “We will always back up AI with human intelligence, our teams’ knowledge...

The 2024 Changemakers series is complete! The annual series celebrates leaders who are paving the path for a brighter future in senior living — and we’re happy to play a part in sharing their stories. The final Changemaker to spotlight is Stephanie Harris, CEO and Principal at Arrow Senior Living. In her interview with Senior Housing News (SHN), Harris discusses how she’s changed as a leader over the years, her strong appetite for risk and her focus on staff satisfaction.  Get insights from Changemaker Stephanie Harris SHN: Obviously, we at SHN think of you as a changemaker, but do you see yourself that way — are you always excited to drive change? Harris: Absolutely, I see myself as a changemaker. Change is in my origin story. I founded this company in 2005 as Turnaround Solutions with the purpose of transforming previously distressed assets through hands-on problem-solving and relationship-based sales solutions. My business card even defines the word ‘Turnaround’ as “becoming changed for the better.” It’s ingrained in our culture to constantly improve and evolve, seeking better ways to operate senior living through best practices in sales, marketing, and technology. SHN: In what areas do you think you are a changemaker? Harris: I am a changemaker in building higher performing sales strategies and implementing technologies to automate and supplement workflows. What I am most proud of is the culture we have built. Most of our team members come from outside of senior living and must learn the business from our vantage point, versus bringing old solutions and habits. This fresh perspective has helped us build a continuous improvement model and attract a dedicated team committed to revolutionizing how we engage with employees, residents, and families we serve. SHN: Changemakers tend to be risk-takers. Do you agree with that statement? How do you describe your own appetite for risk? Harris: I am a risk-taker. I bet the house when I formed this business while in law school, so much so that I had to move into my office. Over the past 24 years in this industry, my appetite for risk has become more balanced by a strategic approach to decision-making. I believe in taking calculated risks that drive innovation and growth. I do find myself more focused on gentle evolution versus revolutionary change as our organization grows and matures. I worry in some ways that over time I may hinder future progress if my appetite for risk changes. Hear more from Changemaker Stephanie Harris Read Stephanie Harris’ entire interview with SHN. We hope you enjoyed this year’s series — visit SHN’s site to revisit the...