How RPR Economic Area Reports Support GADs in Advocacy Efforts
When Government Affairs Directors (GADs) step into a room with elected officials, they carry more than just talking points—they carry the voice of REALTORS® and the communities they serve. And to make that voice resonate, they need facts. Trends. Tangible insights. That’s where RPR Economic Area Reports deliver.
These reports—created specifically for local and federal legislative geographies—equip GADs with hyper-relevant economic, demographic and housing data that supports policy advocacy and relationship-building efforts. Think of them as leave-behinds with impact, or briefing tools that translate REALTOR® priorities into hard-hitting visuals and insights.
Let’s explore what’s inside these reports—and how two GADs, Marlo Paventi (Long Island Board of REALTORS®) and Ron Deedrick (Illinois REALTORS®) are putting them to work in real-world scenarios.
RPR Economic Area Reports: From local councils to Capitol Hill
RPR’s (Realtors Property Resource) Economic Area Reports are highly detailed, visually rich presentations of economic, housing and consumer data.
Both types of reports include Esri’s Tapestry Segmentation, which provides a snapshot of who lives in a community based on lifestyle and demographic groupings. They also chart everything from commuting times to education levels to home value trends—offering a comprehensive picture of how consumers live, work and spend in a specific area.
For GADs and Federal Political Coordinators (FPCs), these reports are tools for advocacy, relationship-building and storytelling. Whether printed as a leave-behind or emailed as a quarterly update, they’re designed to spark conversations and support REALTOR® legislative priorities.
Marlo Paventi: local advocacy with data that tells a story
At the Long Island Board of REALTORS® (LIBOR), GAD Marlo Paventi has built a data-driven advocacy strategy around RPR’s Economic Area Reports. She and her colleague send quarterly emails to local lawmakers—across NYC, Nassau and Suffolk counties—that include RPR reports as “parting gifts” for political staff and officials. It’s a tactic meant to build relationships, offer value and encourage future collaboration.
The reports also come in handy for direct legislative action. In one case, Paventi used RPR data to identify clusters of “zombie” homes (a property that has been abandoned during the foreclosure process) in Suffolk County, working with local legislators to advocate for a zombie task force. The visuals and stats from RPR helped justify the need for action, even leading to the creation of the task force.
In another instance, when the town of Riverhead proposed a narrow redefinition of “family” in housing ordinances, Paventi used an RPR township report to show that most local residents worked in service industries and lived in multigenerational or non-traditional households. That data helped defeat the measure the first time it appeared, by highlighting the community impact such a change could have.
Ron Deedrick: informing federal lawmakers in Illinois
Illinois GAD Ron Deedrick uses RPR Economic Area Reports in two major ways: during annual Capitol Hill visits and at “Let’s Talk Real Estate” events held when Congress is out of session. These reports provide real-time insight into housing, income and demographic shifts across nearly forty counties in southern Illinois—an area that spans both some of the poorest and more affluent communities in the state.
With Illinois being such a geographically and economically diverse state, the RPR reports help tell a unified story to members of Congress and the state’s two U.S. Senators. For new representatives especially, the data provides much-needed context about their districts and the real estate realities facing constituents.
Even in districts where relationships with lawmakers are limited, the reports help Illinois REALTORS® advocate for issues such housing affordability and development. The easy-to-understand charts and comparisons in RPR EARs make it easier to bridge gaps and highlight local needs.
Why It Matters: Data Builds Trust. Stories Drive Action.
RPR Economic Area Reports empower GADs to speak the language of policy: data.
They transform REALTOR® priorities into actionable insights that resonate with decision-makers at every level of government. Whether it's stopping a harmful ordinance or educating a senator on regional disparities, these reports help REALTORS® present a clear, persuasive case backed by facts—and that makes all the difference.
