New additional managing director for GBO
08.12.2022 – Renè Weber, who has worked at the municipal utility subsidiary GBO Gemeinnützige Baugesellschaft Offenbach GmbH since 2005, will be the new, additional managing director alongside Daniela Matha from January 1, 2023.
According to a resolution passed by the municipal council in 2016, the management of the companies in the real estate division should be made up of two managing directors. Since the departure of Annette Schroeder-Rupp in June 2021, GBO has been managed by Daniela Matha alone. In the future management team, Daniela Matha will be the spokesperson for the management and will be responsible for the areas of energy-efficient refurbishment, new construction and finance. René Weber will be responsible for the existing properties, including tenant support.
16 years of experience at GBO
"The additional management position was advertised internally and externally," says Martin Wilhelm, City Treasurer and the department head responsible for the municipal housing association. "Together with Peter Walther, Managing Director of Stadtwerke Offenbach GmbH, I managed the application process. The search for a suitable candidate was supported by a personnel consultancy. Accompanied by the works council, we spoke to a number of applicants. In these rounds, René Weber emerged as the most suitable candidate. I am convinced that his many years of experience, his knowledge of the Offenbach situation and his in-depth knowledge of all housing industry processes make him the ideal candidate."
In the 16 years that he has worked at GBO, René Weber has worked in all key areas of GBO, is familiar with all work processes and can draw on a good network within the German real estate industry as well as a wealth of experience from his previous roles. He joined the company as Controller and became Deputy Commercial Director in 2012. In the course of an internal restructuring of GBO in 2018, his area of responsibility was expanded to include divisional management for property maintenance. Since another restructuring in April 2022, the 45-year-old has been in charge of the Controlling, Rents and Allocations and Digitalization departments.
Weber drives digitization forward
René Weber names the further digitalization of GBO as one of his next goals as future Managing Director. "This will not only make our work internally and networking with our parent company Stadtwerke Offenbach more efficient, it will also enable us to offer more digital services for our tenants," says Weber. "Nevertheless, our employees will still be available to our customers in person."
What particularly appeals to him about working at GBO is that, as a municipal housing association, it plays a positive role in Offenbach's development and actively helps to shape the city: "With our around 5,000 affordable apartments, we have a dampening effect on the rent index. We also own properties ranging from the Künstlerhaus and a start-up center to the Capitol and Stadthalle Offenbach, which contribute greatly to the quality of life in Offenbach." This is to be further strengthened by the fact that Stadtwerke Offenbach's real estate division is working more closely with OPG Offenbacher Projektentwicklungsgesellschaft and GBM. "Together with both companies, we can provide the city with planning and other services in addition to the residential offering."
Clear vision and good ideas
"I'm really looking forward to working with René Weber," says Daniela Matha about the future collaboration with her management colleague. "Since I joined GBO, I have come to know him as a colleague who has a clear vision for our company and brings in good, comprehensible ideas to optimize structures. Together with him, we can make progress on the upcoming tasks of climate protection and changing internal processes."