CoreNet Global Names Matthias Grimm Corporate Real Estate Executive of the Year 

ATLANTA (OCTOBER 17, 2018) — CoreNet Global, the premier professional association for corporate real estate professionals, named Matthias Grimm, Vice President, Head Global Real Estate & Facilities, SAP SE as the Corporate Real Estate Executive of the Year. The award was presented at the CoreNet Global Summit, currently underway in Boston, MA.

Grimm has been instrumental in transforming and growing SAP’s Global Real Estate and Facilities (GRF) organization.

He sees people – not buildings – at the heart of a successful corporate real estate strategy. Operating within budget, GRF strives to give employees a working environment that enables their creativity and innovation to flow.

Under Grimm’s leadership, GRF contributed more than $25 million in P&L savings to the company’s financial performance in 2017.

CoreNet Global also announced additional finalists for the award:

Erica J. Chapman, ESQ., MCR,

Vice President, Global Real Estate + Workplace Productivity, Akamai

To help transform Akamai’s corporate real estate organization into a proactive, strategic influencer, Chapman re-branded the group to Global Real Estate + Workplace Productivity. The new name implied a shift in purpose from pure operations to a business partner and customer-focused entity.

Under Chapman’s leadership, a new Business Intelligence Tool consolidates data from Finance, HR, IT, Legal and other functions to help make better real estate decisions, enabling the company to see which offices are producing the best overall value.

Akamai’s decision to build a new headquarters in Cambridge’s Kendall Square did not come without careful consideration. Chapman guided the process, analyzing data around multiple options, and helped point the way toward a flexible, efficient work environment for the company.

Martin Clarke, MCR

Senior Vice President – Global Head of Workplace Services, Northern Trust

Clarke has produced strong results and maintained an unwavering focus on business enablement, elevating corporate real estate’s strategic significance within the bank. Clarke was appointed to direct Northern Trust’s location strategy, and he built the case for an evolved approach to the demand side of the real estate equation by considering current industry disruptors, such as robotics and automation.

Clarke’s group works with the business to drive demand and follow a productivity model that ensures work is carried out in the right place in the right way. This led him to re-imagine the next generation of service centers, which resulted in greater productivity and ongoing value to the organization.

“Martin has been an invaluable partner of our senior leadership team as we have grown our company,” said Frederick Waddell, Chairman of the Board, Northern Trust.

Brian Collins

Senior Manager, Real Estate & Facilities

Microsoft

Collins is constantly striving to improve himself, his team, and the services they deliver. Over the past year, Brian has led the change management program for Microsoft’s office modernization effort at the corporate campus in Redmond, WA.

Additionally, he has led the Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities Supported Employment Program, which won the 2018 CoreNet Global Professional Excellence Award. To help other companies start similar programs, he published a toolkit with best practices, advice and resources, making it publicly available for download.

Collins recently served as President of the Washington State Chapter, and during that time the Chapter increased its membership by more than 20 percent. The 2017 North American Summit was hosted by the Washington State Chapter, and Brian was personally involved and engaged in making the event a great success.

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is the world’s leading professional association for corporate real estate (CRE) and workplace executives, service providers and economic developers. CoreNet Global’s more than 11,000 members, who include 70% of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, please visit www.corenetglobal.org.