Learning about the intricacies of business has been a lifelong pursuit for Collin Buzzelli. One of his earliest memories when he was six was opening a lemonade stand and when he realized that the lemonade wasn't selling, he expanded his product base to include gumballs and stickers.
Growing up in the Portland Metro area, Collin decided to move to Alabama in his early 20s; however, he realized where home really was and moved back to Oregon. Collin is a first-generation college student, and his education inspiration stems from his daughter. “She really is a huge driving force behind a lot of what I do. I want to give her a better life than what was given to me, and I felt though attending college was my way to do that,” he says.
Collin is a single parent working full-time. He started working as a hazardous materials shipper at Industrial Craters and Packers in 2020 and after a few years decided to make a career pivot. He invested in himself and enrolled at Portland Community College and later transferred to Portland State where he demonstrated a strong aptitude for real estate. Today he works for CRMG – a commercial and residential management group that offers property management services in Oregon and Washington – and is advancing quickly, now overseeing multiple properties.
After graduating with a B.S. in Business Management and Leadership with a Certificate in Real Estate Property Management, he plans on pursuing his education in the Master of Science in Real Estate program at PSU where he was awarded a Center for Real Estate Scholarship.
By studying business management he says that he could go on and on about things like resource dependency and environmental uncertainty, or how to change the hierarchical design of an organization to allow for more creative problem solving and free thinking amongst employees, but as he prepares for his grad program in the fall, Collin thinks what has helped prepare him the most for the future has been the amazing real estate courses he took while pursuing a certificate of property management. “I've learned how to create requests for proposals, letters of intent, thoroughly and accurately review a commercial property lease, and how to create an in-depth business plan for both commercial and multifamily properties,” Collin states
And his advice for future business students is to get involved by joining clubs, groups, and student government – and do what you can to build your network. He follows with, “PSU has a group for anyone and everyone. Get out there!”
Collin was nominated for a commencement profile by Micheal Havlik, Academic Director, Property Management, Micheal says, "Collin is a single parent working full-time. He had been working as a Hazardous Materials Shipper at Industrial Craters and Packers when he decided to make a career pivot. Collin invested himself in his classes and demonstrated a strong aptitude for real estate. He is now working for GRMG, and advancing quickly, now overseeing multiple properties. He was recently accepted into the Master of Science in Real Estate program. We are all very proud of Collin at the center -- he's positive, smart, hardworking -- a wonderful person who has overcome many challenges."