Pete Zimek

Pete Zimek is the founder and president of iLS network, a collective of online apartment guides serving renters in six cities across the State of Florida. Generating over 60,000 visits each month, the websites use cutting edge technology to match renters with the apartment community that best fits their lifestyle and budget.

Pete's personal mission is to connect people with ideas and other people in ways that create opportunity, and all of his business and philanthropic endeavors have centered on those themes.

A National Apartment Association Education Institute (NAAEI) Faculty Member, Pete serves as a volunteer instructor for a number of local apartment associations across the State of Florida. His courses include NAAEI's CAM and CAPS modules as well as original content focused on marketing and leadership.

In Orlando, Pete has served as the chair of the Marketing & Branding Committee for AAGO and as a supplier member of the organization's Board of Directors. 407apartments.com, his website matching Orlando renters with apartment communities, is a three-time recipient of AAGO's prestigious "Supplier Company of the Year" Golden Key award, and he has been personally named "Social Media Person of the Year."

Outside of Orlando, Pete serves as the past-treasurer and board member for NCFAA and is a delegate to the Florida Apartment Association board of directors.

Pete is also an active member of Leadership Florida. He was a member of the inaugural Connect Florida Statewide Leadership Institute class, Leadership Florida's program for young professionals. He went on to serve as Statewide Chair of Connect Florida.

No stranger to associations, Pete's latest venture, novi AMS, is a technology company that partners with associations to create smart, friendly association management solutions so that they can focus on their non-profit missions.

In a prior life, despite the fact that he's actually allergic to milk, Pete owned and operated two Ben & Jerry's franchise stores in Gainesville, Florida and served for a number of years on the company's national Franchise Advisory Council and marketing committee. His innovative – and sometimes edgy – marketing campaigns resulted in being named the company's 2006 Marketer of the Year. Pete credits his interaction with the company's founders all those years ago for instilling an ethos of social entrepreneurship and service into his current endeavors.

Pete received his bachelor's degree in History from the University of Florida in 2001. He earned his master's in Management in 2002 also from the University of Florida and was recognized upon graduation as an MSM scholar. A transplant originally from New Orleans, Pete has made Florida his home with his wife Jennifer and daughters Olivia and Alexis.

"We are on a mission to change the way that renters find their apartments. People want a local source, but they want that local source to have the same or better technology than what the national sources have. That's what we do."

bio background

Education

University of Florida University of Florida Bachelor of Arts - History (2001) Master of Science - Management / MSM Scholar (2002)
National Apartment Association Education Institute National Apartment Association Education Institute Advanced Instructor Training (2013)Certified Apartment Supplier (2013)

Service

North Central Florida Apartment Association North Central Florida Apartment Association Board Member Past Treasurer
Apartment Association of Greater OrlandoBoard MemberPast Branding & Communications Task Force Chair
Florida Apartment Association Florida Apartment Association Board Member
Business Magazine Gainesville Business Magazine Gainesville Editorial Board Member
Connect Florida Connect Florida Past Chair
Leadership Gainesville Alumni Association Leadership Gainesville Alumni Association Past President

Achievements


Gator100 2016 Honoree Logo
University of Florida Gator100 Honoree (2016)
Connect Florida
Connect Florida Chair's Award (2016)
Apartment Association of Greater Orlando Supplier Company of the Year (2012, 2013, 2014) Social Media Person of the Year (2011)
North Central Florida Apartment Association North Central Florida Apartment Association Associate Volunteer of the Year (2012, 2014) ACE Award: Vendor of the Year (2013)
Home Magazine

Home Magazine Gainesville 40 Under 40 (2013)

Ben & Jerry's

Ben & Jerry's Marketer of the Year (2006)

Teaching

Certified Apartment Manager Certified Apartment Manager Marketing • Human Resources Risk Management • Fair Housing
Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor Certified Apartment Portfolio Supervisor Leadership
Original Curriculum 7 Deadly Sins of Apartment Marketing 7 Deadly Sins of Email Technology in the Workplace (adapted from Russ Webb) Beginner Excel

Guest Speaking

UF Warrington College of Business Featured Speaker Warrington College of Business (2013)
Young Professionals
University of Florida Class Speaker Social EntrepreneurshipEntrepreneurial JournalismAdvertising StrategyAdvertising Media SalesMass MediaInternational AdvertisingUF Young Entrepreneurs
University of Florida Division of Student Affairs Entrepreneurship ClubAd Society
Ben & Jerry's Global Franchise Gathering

Memberships

  • Leadership Florida
  • Bay Area Apartment Association
  • First Coast Apartment Association
  • Adfed of Gainesville
  • Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce