MortgageBanker OUR MISSION Mortgage Banker magazine is dedicated to providing quality informational/educational content that betters the mortgage process at every step. The content is oriented to help professionals progress their understanding of the residential mortgage banking business and develop their skills at improving the efficiency and profitability at all levels. VINCENT VALVO, CEO, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief vvalvo@ambizmedia.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Beverly Bolnick bbolnick@ambizmedia.com FOUNDING PUBLISHER Ben Slayton BSlayton@ambizmedia.com STAFF WRITER Katie Jensen kjensen@ambizmedia.com SENIOR EDITOR Jill Emerson Jill@ambizmedia.com ADVERTISING David Hoierman David@ambizmedia.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Stacy Murray smurray@ambizmedia.com HEAD OF ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH Andrew Berman andrew@ambizmedia.com INTERACTIVE DESIGN DIRECTOR Alison Valvo avalvo@ambizmedia.com ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTOR Navindra Persaud npersaud@ambizmedia.com USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNER Billy Valvo bvalvo@ambizmedia.com MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE Melissa Pianin mpianin@ambizmedia.com www.ambizmedia.com
© 2021 American Business Media LLC All rights reserved. Mortgage Banker magazine is a trademark of American Business Media LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Advertising, editorial and production inquiries should be directed to: American Business Media LLC 345 North Main St., Suite 313, West Hartford, CT 06117 Phone: (860) 719-1991 | info@ambizmedia.com
4 MORTGAGE BANKER | JUNE 2021
L ET T ER FR O M T H E PU B L I S H ER
Open Opportunity
J
ust a few weeks ago, our company ran a new live conference in Memphis, the Mid-South Mortgage Expo. Shortly after, we were in San Antonio, for the spring edition of the Texas Mortgage Roundup. And we’re getting ready for similar events in Chicago and Portland, Oregon during June. But first we’re heading to the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut for the New England Mortgage Expo. This is a whopper of an event – the largest regional mortgage conference in the nation, with attendance regularly between 2,000 and 2,500 mortgage pros. Coming out of a pandemic, and in a June berth instead of its usual January date, the show still boasts nearly 1,500 who’ve signed up this year. This is an astounding roar of support, a clarion call that this industry wants to come together in person, and that there is general acceptance that the time of fear and concern is falling behind. It doesn’t mean that caution isn’t still warranted. But we’re cautious about many things – not stepping off the curb without looking both ways, not sticking sharp objects into whirring lawnmowers. Being cautious doesn’t equate with being shut down. As the nation’s Covid rates plummet, some areas are recovering faster than others. But all of the U.S. is showing improvement. And that means there is more businesses recovering. More entrepreneurs expanding. More consumers borrowing. The opening of the nation is the opening of opportunity, particularly in the mortgage industry. How companies adapt, how they add to their product lineup, how they revamp their marketing approaches, will all factor in how likely they are to be here after the next great wave of industry M&A shakes out. Clear-eyed leadership – like we see in the case study of RCN Capital in this month’s cover story – will be critical. As will open mindedness. Because that’s where opportunity most likes to come calling.
V IN C E N T M . VALVO
CEO, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
