Relocation service...

The consolidation of two national organizations of independent brokers Reliance Relocation Services Inc. and RELO¨/Inter-City Relocation Services Inc. is bringing two local real estate companies together as part of the nation's largest Realtor relocation network, according to a Sept. 1 news release from RELO.

Jones & Company, Realtors, and Murney Associates, Realtors, are the local firms that are now participating in the combined organization.

The combined network, which will operate under the 35-year-old RELO name, represents 1,100 real estate firms with nearly 4,000 offices and more than 93,000 associates producing $170 billion in annual residential sales volume and serving more than 15,000 communities, the release said.

As members of RELO, Jones & Company and Murney Associates can assist individuals relocating to virtually any community in the United States or abroad with services including home selling, home buying and information about any area of the country, plus household goods moving services, Real Facts cost-of-living analyses, School Facts reports on school systems and a variety of corporate relocation services for transferring employees, the release stated.

Leadership of the new RELO includes Allen Tate, chairman of the board; Pamela J. O'Connor, president and chief executive officer; and Ruth Ann Pepple, executive vice president and chief operating officer. The headquarters of the combined operation is located in Chicago.