John Murray is CEO and president of both vertically integrated Sustainable Innovations, Inc. (SI) (www.sustaininnovate.com) and Sustainable Innovations Development Company (SIDC). SI is a social multi-license social equity-controlled cannabis company in Illinois comprising of its retail brand, Fully Baked (www.fullybaked.org), and a portfolio of co-packing, white-labeled and service-based brands. SIDC is a multi-license hemp company in Rockford, IL with its Buckbee Weed Company (www.buckbeeweed.com), Mrs. Buckbee Wake-N-Bakery (www.mrsbuckbee.com), Baked (www.beebaked.com), and Half Baked Bar (www.halfbaked.bar) retail brands.
John is currently the chair of the National Cannabis Industry Association’s (NCIA)(www.thecannabisindustry.org) hemp committee, where he has been chair or co-chair for the last 3 terms. He has participated in multiple NCIA committees, including the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee and the Farm Bill and Minor, Novel and Synthetic Cannabinoid sub-committees. John has participated in multiple NCIA podcasts and NCIA Lobby Days in DC, including being a team leader for legislative visits. Locally, John is extremely active, serving on multiple committees for Cannabis Business Association of Illinois (www.cbail.org) and board of advisers for Illinois Hemp Business Association (www.ilhemp.org) as well as serves as director for the Illinois Cannabis Infuser Association (www.ilcia.org) and the Illinois Cannabis Dispensary Association (www.ildispensary.org).
John Murray, president of Key Realty, Inc., (www.keyrealtyus.com) has been ranked among the top individual real estate professional and team in the U.S. by Real Trends in the Wall Street Journal by transactions for the last 9 consecutive years. He is the President and co-owner of Realty Pilot (www.realtypilot.com), a technology automation company focused on enterprise solutions for the real estate industry. John is a technology professional working in the real estate industry. To that point, he has extensive experience in virtually every aspect of the real estate industry, from executive positions in multiple private equity funds (up to $1.5B) to loss mitigation, servicing, outsourcing and brokerage. This background gives him a unique edge when making decisions. John has individually listed and sold over 25,000 homes in his 24-year real estate career. He is currently focusing his efforts in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands where he is developing and/or funding multiple large hotel, resort and commercial projects in the Caribbean and Stateside. John also works with the US Department of HUD to restore homes and homeownership.
John’s extensive and in-depth understanding of the Illinois real estate market led him to formulate an important focus on social responsibility and a push towards feasible and sustainable homeownership by turning “houses” back into “homes”. John’s work directly contributes to true neighborhood stabilization and an ultimate rise in home values while promoting economic empowerment in areas designated as State identified Disproportionately Impacted Areas and federally identified Historically Underutilized Business Zones and Opportunity Zones.
John is a member of many nationwide real estate organizations and networks, through which he has held advisory roles, served on boards and is a current and frequent speaker. John has made numerous radio and television appearances including Fox Business News, and has been quoted in many news publications, such as The Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and New York Times. John’s life story was featured and may be read in LORE magazine.
John is a founding member of Real Estate Standards Organization (www.reso.org) and works with over 180 different MLS systems and 860,000 Realtors across the county through his technology platform and partnerships. John is dedicated to restoring the creditability and value of organized real estate in the eyes of the consumer by pushing the MLS to provide better market intelligence to its members than commercially available.
John currently serves a Board of Director for Rockford Area Realtors where he has previously served multiple terms on many MLS committees, including ethics, grievance, governmental affairs, and as vice-chair of the MLS. He recently served on Chicago’s Midwest Real Estate Data’s (www.mredllc.com) Board of Managers. In addition, John serves a Board Member for an international bank named International Financial Enterprise Bank (www.ifeb.bank) in Puerto Rico and serves as President of the PTO for the Rockford Public Schools, where he also serves as the Chess coach.
Prior to his Real Estate career, John served in the technology sector as CTO of a Fortune 500 company’s wireless subsidiary and spent the five years prior as an IT program manager for several Fortune 100 companies, including IBM Global Services. He has a BA from Illinois Wesleyan University and is pursuing an MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management. His extensive managerial experience will ensure that SI’s operation run smoothly.
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