Lopiccolo takes next step with new office

In barely 10 years, Jenny Lopiccolo launched a residential real estate company Coldwell Bankers Best Sellers that today operates offices in Carson City and Dayton.

She created a mortgage company, Elliot Ames Nevada, with offices in Reno, Carson City and Minden.

And Lopiccolo this spring launched a commercial brokerage, Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier Brokers in Carson City.

Despite all the activity, she's not finished.

"We're still in a growth mode," Lopiccolo says.

"I don't know where it will end."

The growth of her companies has followed a methodical path since Lopiccolo bought her first home while she was a 20-year-old business student at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Fascinated by the home-buying process, she left school and got her real estate license in 1982.

For eight years, she was a highly successful residential real estate agent.

She earned her broker's license in 1989 and started working as a sales manager again, successfully.

Five years later, with a dozen years of experience under her belt, Lopiccolo stepped out on her own.

"I had ideas that I wanted to put into place.

I wanted to create a good company," she says.

But she was aware, too, of the risks that successful salespeople carry with them when they move into management.

"I had a really successful career in sales.

I also knew that I didn't want to be a selling manager," Lopiccolo says.

The answer?

"I've hired really good agents," she says.

"My best talent is hiring good people."

These days, 72 people work in the companies that Lopiccolo has created.

While she delegates direct supervision to a team of managers, Lopiccolo stays close to the employees.

She lugs her laptop from one of her companies' offices to another through the course of most days, often setting up shop in three locations during a workday that can stretch well into the evening hours.

And her employees aren't afraid to call her.

"I'm always available," Lopiccolo says.

As a result, she often works seven days a week and only recently has learned to vacation without listening for the ring of her cell phone.

Because Lopiccolo Construction, the business owned by her husband, Mark, is similarly demanding, the couple works carefully to schedule time with the family's six children.

The newest venture, Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier Brokers, is home to six agents including one devoted entirely to property management.

The company is intended to provide a full spectrum of commercial real estate services, including leases as well as sales brokerage.

"The growth in this area is phenomenal," Lopiccolo says.

"And a lot of the growth is being driven by commercial development.