A 40-year journey to making Austin a better place

Posted on 12/20/2017 by Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce

Paul Hilgers, CEO of the Austin Board of Realtors, wins the Greater Austin Business Award for lifelong commitment to enhancing the community


Five jobs and 40 years later, Paul Hilgers is still enhancing the quality of life for local communities in the Central Texas region. What began as a career with the City of Austin expanding affordable housing programs, Hilgers has followed his lifelong commitment to making Austin a better place to live and work for every resident.

This bold vision and tireless passion has landed him the role of CEO with the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) and won him the Wells Fargo Executive Leadership Award. The accolade, a category of the Greater Austin Business Awards program, recognizes presidents and executive officers for devoting time and energy to strengthen and transform the organization they lead. Unlike the usual CEOs that utilize the typical command and control rhetoric, Hilgers takes another route. He develops strong working relationships with volunteers and staff that inspire them to create their ideal company culture.

“Hilgers gives an incredible amount of latitude to ABoR team and leaders to explore new ideas within their departments,” said Emily Chenevert, Chief Operating Officer for the Public and Community Affairs Department of ABoR. “His trust and risk-taking have generated several innovative developments that have established ABoR as a change-maker in the U.S. real estate industry.”

Clearly, his technique is working. Under his leadership, ABoR has seen an increase in membership by 35 percent and expanded to two new locations in North and South Austin. The organization was one of the first REALTOR associations to implement data integrity standards to protect the accuracy of consumer housing market data and was recently nominated for an Inman Innovator Award—one of the most prestigious awards for real estate innovation in the country.

“I am so honored to be recognized for working with a Board dedicated to serving the Greater Austin community and working with such a professional team of employees,” said Hilgers. “We have worked together to create a culture that treats every employee with the dignity and respect they need to perform for our ABoR membership and that is the foundation of all of our accomplishments.”

For more information on the Austin Board of Realtors, visit their website here.


Pictured (left to right): Ellen Wood, Chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce; Christopher Kennedy, CEO of Leadership Austin; Suki Steinhauser, CEO of Communities in Schools of Central Texas; David O’Neil, Greater Texas South Region President of Wells Fargo; Paul Hilgers, CEO of the Austin Board of Realtors; Mark Curry, Community Bank President of Wells Fargo; and Mason Ayer, CEO of Kerbey Lane Café.


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