FIRST COMMUNITY MORTGAGE EARNS NATIONAL MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION 2017 RESIDENTIAL DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION LEADERSHIP AWARD
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (10/27/17) – First Community Mortgage (FCM) has earned the 2017 Residential Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award for Market Outreach Strategies from the national Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The award for companies with less than 1,000 employees was presented to FCM’s EVP, Andy Voyles, at the annual MBA convention on Sunday. The award recognizes FCM’s corporate diversity and multicultural lending initiative (MCLI).
“This national recognition for something we are so passionate about is humbling and greatly appreciated,” said FCM’s CEO, Keith Canter. “It highlights a strategic initiative that FCM is dedicated to as part of our culture. It is based on several outreach activities we are doing, and will continue doing, that represent leadership in our profession. More importantly, it represents our desire and commitment to understand all segments of our market and find ways to provide real homeownership opportunity that will reach the underserved parts of our community.”
“This award celebrates one of the best diversity and inclusion initiatives in our industry. Congratulations to FCM for their excellent work in this area,” said Dave Motley, CMB, MBA Chairman and President of Colonial Savings, F.A – and previous Chairman of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. “Their efforts demonstrate tangible progress and serve as model for our industry as we continue to improve in this important area for the future.”
Miguel Vega, Vice President of Multicultural Lending at FCM stated, “At FCM, we recognize the importance of the rapidly growing diverse population in our region and understand their unique and unfulfilled housing needs. We have taken the initiative to develop a strategic approach to satisfy those needs by providing educational and financial resources specifically targeted to this segment of our market, in a culturally relevant manner.”
The FCM initiative is based on three core elements, including:
- Multi-cultural Lending Initiative (MCLI), and Corporate Diversity and Multicultural Awareness Program.
- Strategic Partnerships and Community Outreach Activities.
- Multicultural Marketing Plan.
Examples of the elements and accomplishments of this initiative include:
- Founding board members of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals/Nashville Chapter.
- Active members of the Nashville Association of Real Estate Brokers/Nashville Chapter.
- Homebuyer education classes in Spanish and English.
- Corporate members of Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce.
- Developed fully bi-lingual website.
- First-time homebuyer’s guide and workbook in Spanish.
- Spanish resource center and mortgage checklist.
- Dedicated Spanish customer service and information line (844-HUMANOS).
- Multicultural education and community outreach office in Nashville, Tennessee.
- Corporate multicultural training materials and operations resource guide.
- Corporate partnership with Goodwill Middle Tennessee to create a pathway to homeownership.
- Hispanic real estate professional engagement program.
About the Awards
Company Diversity and Inclusion initiatives were scored by two groups of judges consisting of members of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and MBA staff. The companies were scored based on the quality of their overall submission, identification of a target audience and annual goals, demonstration of a tangible benefit to participants and the overall enterprise, replicability of the program, innovative program approaches, and program success in broadening the culture of the organization through the values of diversity and inclusion.
About First Community Mortgage
Founded in 2002, First Community Mortgage is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Community Bank of Tennessee with operations centers in Murfreesboro, Columbus, and Kansas City. First Community Mortgage is a FNMA, FHLMC and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. With mortgage volume of $2.1 billion in 2016, First Community Mortgage was ranked the #1 lender for new construction homes in the Nashville MSA for the past 5 years as published by Metrostudy.
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