Work Hard

Erin Sundean started his commercial real estate firm, The Bedford Group, in 2002 to help local, national and international clients find business spaces.

While it has been a challenging period throughout the economic downtown, Sundean says he has noticed an uptick toward the end of 2012. The vacancy rate for office space remains high, he says, but retail vacancy rates were improving at the end of 2012.

Much of Sundean's work involves tracking down leads to find tenants for vacant spaces. That means a lot of time networking and maintaining business contacts.

Recent deals that Sundean helped complete include the former Coca-Cola building on Woburn Street, and signing tenants at several retail centers, including Meridian Village.

Play Hard

Although he spent time at an Air Force base in England as a child, Sundean didn't really get into soccer until he joined an over-30 recreation league in the mid-1990s. He has played in outdoor leagues, but has focused the past year on indoor soccer at Bellingham's Sportsplex.

Now in the over-40 league, Sundean likes that indoor games don't take too long. Counting time to warm up and to cool down, an indoor match lasts about 90 minutes, while an outdoor game lasts about an hour longer.

And because the indoor field is smaller and the walls help keep the ball from going out of bounds, it's a much quicker game, providing a strenuous workout in a short amount of time.

"With indoor, you are always involved in the action," Sundean says. "A defender can have a chance to be involved in the scoring."

Sundean also enjoys the camaraderie and friendship that comes with soccer, as well as the business connections.

"A lot of business people play soccer," he says, "so it's a great way to establish business contacts."

ABOUT ERIN SUNDEAN

Founder, The Bedford Group Inc.

360-647-2400

TheBedfordGroupInc.com

Reach Business Editor Dave Gallagher at 360-715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com. Read his business blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/business or follow him on Twitter at @bhamheraldbiz.