I'm the Regional Vice President of Cherry Creek Mortgage. I am so grateful to the fact that I work at such a great company. I have been blessed in the fact that I have signed on about 10+ branches in my short tenure as Vice President. Just last week, I was fortunate enough to sign on a stellar branch in Saint Louis, Missouri.
As for Cherry Creek Mortgage, Here's the deal....
1) First, and what I feel is most important. The culture IN CHERRY CREEK MORTGAGE COMPANY is the best BAR NONE!!!!! Our culture is such that people don't leave our company. We're a privately held company. Needless to say, we're owned by a few great leaders, but priomarily by ex- U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong. What makes us unique in culture is our PURPOSE....
Our Purpose is to build and become a great company. In this process we aspire to positively impact the lives of those individuals who come into contact with our organization, and to honor God in all that we do.
I'm not sure how many people have that as a vision statement or purpose, but I like what it feels like. I like what seeps out from our core leaders. Just good stuff. No litmus test. No one cares who you are or what you believe in. What is important is that our leaders believe in only doing the right thing. You need to do the right thing always. That means that an awesome mortgage company needs to:
a) Serve People -
i) Serve our clients -
ii) Serve our originators and branch managers - that really means bring out the best that you can in those who work for us.
b) Raise up those who work for our company. Truthfully - Raise them up! Me???? I'm black and white different from the day that I set foot inside Cherry Creek Mortgage 8 years ago. The investment is made in bringing out the best in people from the inside out. That means that I am have changed beyond words internally as a person, husband, father and leader.
c) Pay Agressively. That means that we've created a company that pays more than twice as much as the top banks nationally. Yes, we are a bank. We fund all loans in our own name, but we have the ability to broker. But let's be honest...we do little brokering. Most of what we do is banking.
I'm pleased to say that I just signed on a great mortgage company in Iowa and Saint Louis, Missouri recently. We're close to signing on branches in Chicago, the suburbs, and southern Wisconsin....all of which do over $100,000,000 of annual production. They just sent their papers in this past weekend. I just had one of the largest mortgage companies in the State of Wisconsin sign on board. We're signing on one of the most influential mortgage bank leaders in the State of Illinois.
We picked up 25% market share in 2008 when the rest of the mortgage lending world was drying up. We don't act wreckless like a lot of big banks. In this environment, I'm proud, just so proud to say that we're not a publicly held compamny. Just so important in this fickle environment. Wall Street never seemed to know main street. We are responsible and moral lending. We are where lending meets main street.
So why this post? No other reason than the fact that I need other great people. I want super people in Minnesota. I'm picky, snobby and discriminatory when it comes to who we let in our culture. It's kind of like the Hotel California...you can check in, but you can never leave. Needless to say, it takes a while for some people to make the move. I really don't care. I'm looking for a relationship....someone I can run with. Someone I can hang with. Someone I can teach. Someone who can teach me and make me a better person. I really am excited about the prospects of growing in Wisconsin. If you're interested in starting a relationship, please call me or e-mail me at lbettag@ccmclending.com or yell. EVEN IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE GREAT who I need to be talking to, I'd be forever grateful for any great referrals so that I may have the ability to know other truly great people within our industry.
Larry Bettag
Vice-President
Cherry Creek Mortgage
630-417-7172
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