One of the most distinguished, award-winning marketing, management, and sales strategists in the world, Robert has helped merchandise more than $48 billion of residential, resort, retail, recreational, commercial, institutional, industrial, and governmental real estate, as well as other business products and services.
Founder and president of North Star Synergies, Inc., an executive business development strategy firm, Robert specializes in management, marketing, and sales consulting in the real estate industry and beyond. He created the Denver-based, international firm in April 2011 after 28 years of outstanding executive business development with S. Robert August & Co, Inc.
BECOMING A LEGEND
Robert was an economic development icon in the early 1980s. He was named Economic Developer of the Year (1979) and Marketeer of the Year (1981) by the Metro North Chamber of Commerce in Denver. He founded the Douglas County Economic Development Council and the Teller County Economic Development Council, and he helped establish the Adams County Economic Development Council. He was honored for his work in founding the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Colorado Springs, which was named Best New SMC in the nation for 1983.
From his early leadership in economic development, Robert devised an innovative real estate marketing approach that leverages the resources of economic development councils, chambers of commerce, HBAs, Boards of REALTORS, and more to maximize a project’s success. This unique and effective marketing model is a primary reason why Robert remains one of the most coveted real estate marketing experts around the globe.
INDUSTRY STEWARDSHIP
A perennial leader of the Home Builders Association, Robert is Senior Life Director of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). He is Past Chairman of the National Sales and Marketing Council (NSMC) of the NAHB. He holds a Master in Residential Marketing (MIRM) and is a member and Past President of the Institute of Residential Marketing, an exclusive organization representing the country's leading sales and marketing professionals. Robert is a Founding Member and Past Chairman of the Global Opportunities Board. He is certified by the NAHB Education Department as one of four Master Train the Trainers nationwide, a Master Instructor, and is also certified to teach 10 NAHB management, marketing and sales courses.
Robert is Past Chairman of the Sales and Marketing Councils of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver and Colorado Springs. He also served 19 years as Public Affairs Chairman and member of the Board of Directors for the Colorado Association of Home Builders.
He is a nationally recognized leader in membership recruitment and retention, advertisement, and sponsorship sales for the NAHB. He has helped raise more than hundreds of million for the organization. Today, Robert ranks as the #1 Spike - an all-time membership recruiter among millions, with almost 5,000 SPIKE credits.
Robert created and developed the first centralized Parade of Homes for the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver in 1986, which was awarded #1 Public Relations Campaign by the NAHB. This event has since become nationally renowned as the industry model.
RECOGNITION
Robert's biggest honor is the 2020 induction into the NAHB Hall of Fame for Exemplary Service and his second biggest NAHB honor is the Legend of Residential Marketing (2017), presented for his creative and innovative career in the real estate industry by the National Association of Home Builders National Sales and Marketing Council at The Nationals award ceremony in Orlando, Florida. Another top honor is The William “Bill” Molster Award, given to the most outstanding sales and marketing professional in the nation by the NAHB, the nation’s leading building trade association of 150,000-plus companies. Robert is the only recipient to win the Molster Award twice (1996, 2002).
Robert's other recent awards include: NAHB Global Opportunities Board Service Award for Visionary Guidance and Undaunting Leadership (2019), NAHB Sales and Marketing Educator of the Year (2015); Master Certified Sales Professional of the Year, and, the Home Builders Association of Metro Denver Legend Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales and Marketing (2013).
Robert received the Trina Ripley Excellence in Education Award (2011) for outstanding lifetime achievement in educating new home sales and marketing professionals from the NAHB National Sales and Marketing Council’s Institute of Residential Marketing. He was recognized by the International Real Estate Trade Organization for his contribution and devotion to the real estate industry (2005) and received The President’s Award (2002) from the Colorado Association of Home Builders. In 2008, Robert was inducted into the Institute of Residential Marketing (IRM) College of Fellows. The biggest IRM honor, only eight individuals hold this international fellowship.
BEYOND NORTH STAR
Robert serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for Environmental Service Professionals, a mold and moisture inspection management concern. He recently served on the Board of Directors of UVAIRx, a manufacturer of healthy indoor air quality products.
A past member of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, Robert is a regular contributor to Builder-Architect Magazine, the NAHB's NSMC Sales & Marketing Ideas, and has co-authored the first remodeling book for NAHB book "Marketing for Remodelers: Building Business Leads."
Robert holds a B.A. in Labor-Management Relations from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver's Daniels College of Business.
Robert and his best friend, Penny, have been married for 51 years. They have two incredible sons, Jason and Alan.