My employer owns numerous commercial properties around the San Angelo area and has been incredible at introducing me to many role players, but I was hoping to join either an investor group or monthly meetup in the area?

Once a property is selected, the realtor facilitates the offer and closing of the sale.Although some residential realtors sell properties that can become investments, the buyer does all the work.

There are numerous threads here on BP that could help you answer those questions. 

Otherwise, I would advise taking the easier path and letting GPs in numerous MF and commercial/industrial funds do the heavy lifting for you.

I have had numerous issues with the company that I won't get into detail here (mainly revolving around overhead and surprise fees), and I wanted to note that they are a part of NARPM. 

I've worked with numerous contractors on projects. 

Let others know you are looking for partners and get involved with the numerous Chicago meet-ups.

His advice and where I tend to sit is that using a HELOC against your primary residence is risky for numerous reasons.

BiggerPockets offers numerous resources so I would take advantage of it all. 

Be sure to check out the numerous resources here.