Signature Community Recovery and Reinvestment Plan

As the holiday season comes to an end, we are thankful for family and friends and all the blessings that make life worth living. But as we mark the beginning of a new year, we also know that our company faces great and growing challenges - challenges that threaten our industry and most importantly our dreams for the future.

We have eliminated over 20 positions this past year - and many others are working in jobs that pay less and come with fewer benefits. For many of our residents, this new year brings new unease and uncertainty as bills pile up, debts continue to mount and parents worry that their children won't have the same opportunities they had.

However we got here, the problems we face today are not just Signature Community problems they are America wide problems. The dreams of growing a great real estate brand know no boundaries.

These are industry wide problems, and we must come together to meet them with the urgency this moment demands. Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if President Elect Obama does not act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double digit unemployment and apartment occupancy rates slipping further and further downward.

That's why we need a Signature Community Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates opportunity in the short-term, but spurs growth and competitiveness in the long-term. And this plan must be designed in a new way - we can't just fall into the old real estate industry habit of throwing money at the problem. We must make strategic investments that will serve as a foundation on our long-term economic future.

We must demand vigorous oversight and strict accountability for achieving results. And we must restore fiscal responsibility and make the tough choices so that as the economy recovers, our portfolio value will increase. That is how we will achieve the number one goal of my plan - which is to buy 3,000 apartment units, more than 80 percent of them from distressed sellers and lenders.

To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on credit lines tomorrow, we will double our cost cutting efforts renewable energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient.

To build a 21st century company, we must engage in innovative projects across the nation to create opportunities rebuilding our most downtrodden assets, and expand our uniquely positioned brand.

To save not only jobs, but money and lives, we will update and computerize our maintenance response system to cut red tape, prevent mistakes, and help reduce costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

To make Signature Community, and our employees, a success in this new global economy, we will build a 21st century customer centric real estate business model.

I look forward to meeting with Senior Management next week to discuss this plan. I am optimistic that when we come together to seek solutions that advance not the interests of just our company, but also the aspirations of all residents, we will meet the challenges of our time, just as some of the great American Brands have met the challenges of theirs.

There is no reason we can't do this. We are a people of boundless industry and ingenuity. We are innovators and entrepreneurs and have the most dedicated and productive workers in the industry. And we have always triumphed in moments of trial by drawing on that great spirit of Making it Happen - that perseverance, determination and unyielding commitment to opportunity on which our company was founded.

In this new year, let us resolve to do so once more.

Thank you.
Nick