By LAURIE JOHNSON Taking the reins for 1998 Memphis Area Association of Realtors 1998 president, Rosemarie Fair Stack, plans to spotlight philanthropy and education By LAURIE JOHNSON The Daily News During her upcoming term as president of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors, Rosemarie Fair Stack hopes to encourage members to become part of something "greater than themselves." With a number of business and operational goals including the disposition of excess land, the installation of a new multiple listing service system and the renovation of the associations Poplar Avenue headquarters accomplished during 1997, vision, philanthropy and education will be in the spotlight in 1998. "Without a doubt, we have enhanced every aspect of our business," said Stack, who will take office Jan. 1. Stack is co-owner and principal broker for One Source Commercial Inc. "So next year, for the first time in a long time, we will be able to focus on being more visionary and on making a positive statement in the community through community and public service." The organization will look to increase its involvement with local charities, she said. "We really want our members to become involved in something that is greater than they are," she said. Stack said while many MAAR members express an interest in doing good works both individually and as an organization busy schedules can get in the way. "Our members want to be charitable, but they dont always have the time to get involved to the extent that they would like," she said. "But if we, as a 3,000-member organization, can do something as a collective effort, I think we can certainly make an impact, as well as satisfy our members needs to become more charitably involved." Education also will be a key issue for 1998. All MAAR members will be required to complete three hours of continuing education credit by the end of the year. "It will be our charge to get the roughly 2,000 members left over from 1997 to complete that requirement," she said. "That will be a major feat." Born and raised in Japan to an American father, a U.S. government employee, and a Japanese mother, Stack came to the United States at age 18 to attend college at Michigan State University. She has been involved in the real estate business since the mid-1970s. She said she was attracted to the profession because of its flexible nature. "I wanted to be able to decide for myself what it was that I wanted to do and earn and to have control over my time and my destiny." She launched a career as a residential real estate broker in North Carolina and then moved to Georgia. She landed in Memphis when her former husbands job transferred him here. Presented with the "fabulous opportunity" to launch Methodist Hospital Systems real estate division, serving as its vice president, she soon discovered the commercial real estate sector was more to her liking. "The opportunity allowed me to get involved in some commercial ventures they were involved in, and that whet my appetite," she said. Stack went on to become the principal broker for Carlisle Properties Inc. and chief administrative officer of Carlisle Corp., a real estate development company that owns and operates Holiday Inns, Hampton Inns and Wendys restaurants and that developed Beale Street Landing in Downtown. In 1993, Stack established One Source with longtime friend and colleague Tom Talley. Both were interested in the hotel business. The enterprise specializes in office and retail leasing, property management and commercial property sales. One Source also is affiliated with French Quarter Properties, a hotel development and management company founded by Talley in 1983 that owns and operates French Quarter Inns, Holiday Inns and other hotel properties throughout the Mid-South. As a principal and chief administrative officer for French Quarter Properties Inc., Stack handles all aspects of business development. Stack said collaborating with MAARs board of directors which includes newly elected members Lee Carter, John Linthicum, Dave McComas, Henry Turley, Meredith McDonald and Lila Saunders as well as enjoying the continued boom of the areas real estate market, will be two enjoyable aspects of her upcoming term. "(The directors) are forward thinkers and respected members of the industry, and establishing a relationship and working with them is something I am really looking forward to," she said. "While weve had spurts of good times in the real estate industry, these last three years have been continued good times, and it has happened, uniquely, in both the residential and commercial sector, which doesnt necessarily coincide. "And with the recent changes in the tax laws, I believe sincerely that these good times will continue into the next millennium."