Founded in 1987 by Maurice Pogoda, Pogoda Companies includes Pogoda Management Co. and The Pogoda Group, Inc. Both are based in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Pogoda Companies employs only the finest highly trained professionals in our suburban Detroit headquarters and on-site at management accounts throughout the Great Lakes.
Our success is based on the personal attention and care that we give every property sale or management assignment. We draw on our knowledge of marketing, human resource management, financial controls, property maintenance and market data to provide you the best possible service. While guided by extensive experience and foresight, we look beyond traditional approaches to satisfy our clients’ needs.
Maurice founded Pogoda Companies in 1987 and, as President, is responsible for overseeing Pogoda’s overall operations and for assembling its staff of professionals. Since its inception, Maurice has created a nationally known company that has brokered over 90 self-storage properties representing more than $325 million in sales; managed and/or owned 68 facilities with over 4,275,000 square feet of storage; and built or renovated 18 storage properties. Pogoda Companies consistently ranks among the top 35 management companies in the U.S.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Maurice is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received an MBA from the University of Michigan in marketing and finance.
John George took over the helm in 2010 and manages all aspects of operations for Pogoda Companies. His responsibilities include financial planning/forecasting along with analyzing data for expansions and new acquisitions. His team has produced industry leading revenue growth for multiple years. John ensures that Pogoda properties are the price leader in each market we compete while keeping a close eye on controlling costs, all while maintaining the critical balance between occupancy and revenue. We are fortunate that he has an unwavering focus on maximizing the investment value of each property we manage.
John began his self storage career in 1994 with Storage USA. He was instrumental in Storage USA’s growth from 100 properties to over 650 nationwide in seven short years. He was part of the management team during the sale to both GE and Extra Space Storage.
Adam joined the company at the beginning of 2018 to identify new avenues of growth both within and outside of the self-storage industry. He strategically seeks new opportunities to purchase existing self-storage facilities and to develop new ones. Prior to joining Pogoda Companies, Adam was a Vice President at East End Capital, a private equity real estate company based in New York City, and was responsible for finding and sourcing all New York acquisitions. Over his eight-year career at East End, Adam was an integral part of all acquisitions and asset management activities, facilitating East End in the purchasing of $1.5 billion of office, retail and multifamily properties. Adam’s background in both acquisitions and asset management affords him the ability to creatively structure deals, discover value-add potential within properties, and detect operating inefficiencies.
Pogoda Companies’ strong reputation and network within the industry has aided Adam in sourcing deals, while his experience assessing over 300 deals a year at East End Capital provides him with an incomparable ability to evaluate untapped potential. In addition to acquisitions, Adam collaborates with the entire Pogoda team to evaluate ways to continually modernize and streamline everyday operations of the existing portfolio.
Earlier in his career, Adam was an analyst at Ruben Companies, where he gained valuable hands-on experience with acquisitions, development, and operational oversight of the firm’s office and residential portfolio. He entered the world of institutional real estate at Prudential Mortgage Capital Company in San Francisco, where as an analyst, he underwrote approximately $1 billion in loans.
Adam has a B.S. in finance and real estate from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mark started with Pogoda Companies in 2011. He has facilitated the sale of over 65 storage properties with a value in excess of $250,000,000. Mark’s sole focus is the sale of self-storage properties, and he is a recognized sales valuation expert. He works tirelessly to be sure that every sale goes smoothly. Buyers rely on him to guide them through the due diligence process while Sellers expect sound financial analysis and property valuations so that their properties will be priced to sell but yield maximum value.
Mark began his commercial real estate career at Sperry Van Ness where he focused primarily on self-storage. In 2007, he was instrumental in the formation of the Self Storage Association of Michigan and served on its initial board of directors. He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Kinesiology. He is an avid sportsman, and lives in Royal Oak with his wife Sarah and two young sons.
Michael joined Pogoda Companies in January 2020 to strengthen the company’s aggressive national expansion campaign. Michael’s main responsibilities include acquisitions, asset management, and underwriting.
Prior to joining Pogoda, Michael led acquisitions for Gindi Capital, a privately held investment company specializing in the value-add, repositioning, and development of retail and mixed-use assets across the United States. Based in New York City, Michael was responsible for sourcing acquisitions nationwide. His most notable role was being actively involved in a $300 million dollar retail development project in Las Vegas and was integral to its acquisition and asset management strategy.
In previous roles Michael was a senior associate at Meridian Capital Group, one of the leading real estate investment sales’ companies in the United States. Over a 4 year period Michael underwrote $2+ billion in investments across all asset types and played a pivotal role throughout the entire transaction process. He also appraised 100+ properties worth over $700 million across the tri-state area with the Leitner Group, Inc., the largest independent appraiser in New York City.
Michael graduated with honors from the University of Michigan and is actively involved with the UJA-Federation, ADL, and multiple other charities. He enjoys playing basketball, tennis, traveling and eating sushi.
Mike started with Pogoda in March 2020. He leads the marketing efforts for Pogoda with particular attention on the website, digital marketing, analytics, PR, and managing our agency partners. He is the steady hand that makes Pogoda’s digital marketing accountable, powerful, responsible, integrated, scalable, optimized, and efficient.
In past lives, Mike was responsible for leading high profile digital marketing engagements and project lifecycles from initial concept to delivery including risk assessment, mitigation planning, documentation, change management, and performance marketing optimization for clients like: Steel Case, Chrysler Financial, GM, Hilton Worldwide, HAP, Benjamin Moore Paint, Hunter Douglas, and a large number of successful regional clients.
He has lived in over 25 cities across five states within two countries. After graduating from the University of Hawaii (UHM) with an English and French degree, he jumped into a Master’s program in Computational Linguistics in Paris, France where he learned about the foundational technologies that power digital communications and early AI. Mike has smoked a fine cigar on more than half of the world’s continents and watched the film “The Princess Bride” in four languages.
Chriss Michalopoulos is an experienced and results oriented management professional. He has been a Regional Manager with Pogoda since 2011. Graduating with a Bachelor of Finance Degree from the University of South Florida, he specializes in steering and directing all aspects of his region’s operations, administration and budgeting. Chriss has over twenty-one years experience successfully managing multiple hotel and self storage property portfolios across North America and Canada.
Chriss’ strengths include decisive leadership, the ability to seamlessly implement the latest industry innovations and knowledge in all aspects of accounting with a thorough comprehension of financial statements. He takes pride in his ability to feel the pulse of the market based on his detailed understanding of self storage.
Chriss is passionate about travel and has spent a great deal of time abroad. His work ethic, as well as his tennis game, has found an environment to flourish at Pogoda Companies.
Carrie Thompson brings 20 years of self-storage experience to the Pogoda management team.
She began her career with Storage USA in 1999, and most recently spent 16 years with an industry REIT. Carrie is both a performance- and a metrics-driven manager that specializes in improving operational efficiency, developing a high-performing team of managers, and designing and implementing strategies to raise occupancy. Carrie strives for superior results, and is able to identify and capitalize on store-specific strengths and opportunities to optimize revenue. She excels at providing service with a smile, and instills in her Property Sales Managers the knowledge of how to provide each customer with a meaningful and fulfilling service experience.
Carrie is Michigan born and raised, and was looking for a self-storage organization in which she could both advance her career and stay close to family. She found that opportunity at Pogoda. When she’s not working, Carrie enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 children, camping, visiting ballparks across the country, gardening, and reading.
Nicholas McDuff brings nearly a decade of self-storage experience to the Pogoda management team.
He is a seasoned professional with strong leadership skills and extensive budgeting, financial reporting, and contract management experience. Nick excels at coaching and mentoring others, and really enjoys fostering learning relationships with the managers with whom he works. He is passionate about business process improvement especially as it relates to increasing operational efficiency; he is always looking for ways to work smarter and not harder. He has a knack for quickly assessing situations and developing a plan of action to address customer concerns with integrity. His entrepreneurial spirit brings focus, creativity, and commitment to his work. Before his career in self-storage, Nick owned and operated a retail cellular phone business in Metro Detroit.
Nick is an avid sports fan with a love for football. He enjoys spending time with his wife, three children, and two dogs.
Pogoda’s Construction Manager, Jim Jakubus, brings over 40 years of industry experience to the project team.
Having successfully coordinated various projects on both the commercial and industrial levels, Jim has thorough knowledge of sitework, concrete, structural steel, interior finishes, and both mechanical and electrical systems. Some of his extensive experiences in both renovation projects and those from the ground up include: water treatment facilities, cogeneration power plants, automotive sites, petroleum projects, medical buildings, and multiple building projects at U of M,. He is well-versed with both the design-build and competitive-bid processes, and is adept at estimating their associated costs while adhering to a budget. Jim excels at coordinating the daily operations of subcontractors and vendors including both the development of project schedules and the updating of records.
Jim is a former owner/operator of a self-storage facility in Michigan, former state of Michigan residential business license holder, and former state of Arizona commercial license qualifying party.
Jim and his wife Lynn enjoy lake living, boating, and Detroit sports teams. Jim and Lynn have 5 children, and enjoys the monkeyshines of their soon-to-be 8th grandchildren!
As the controller for Pogoda Companies, Dave oversees all functions of the accounting department including receivables, payables, reconciliations, financial reporting, cash flow and budgeting.
Prior to joining Pogoda in 2011, Dave had worked in the hospitality industry for 14 years culminating in the position of corporate controller. His extensive accounting experience in that arena proved to be a seamless transition to the self storage industry.
Dave attended Western Michigan University where he earned a BBA in Accounting
Julie manages multiple projects ensuring timely and effective implementation and completion. She works closely with the Regional Managers and the EVP of Operations developing strategic plans, gathering and analyzing data, coordinating meetings, controlling and managing project plans throughout each project life cycle. Additionally, Julie oversees all aspects of Commercial Insurance, Tenant Insurance, Workers Compensation Insurance, insurance claims, vendor negotiation and pricing, as well as providing support to team members and field managers.
Julie has over 10 years work experience in property management. Before joining Pogoda in 2010 she worked for several years in the hotel industry working on well known national brands such as Marriott, Hilton Garden and several other major hotel flags.