A Message From CAMB President B. Glenn BartholomewB. Glenn BartholomewPresident's Message,Colorado,CAMB
Half of the year has flown by. I would like to give you all an
update on everything the Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers
Board of Directors and committees have accomplished in the first
half of the year. I would first like to acknowledge and thank
Education Committee Chair Jim McCloskey and the members of his
committee. Not only are the Principles of Mortgage Financing
classes running smoothly, but Jim has also had the class certified
for continuing education with the Board of Realtors. Now, the class
provides 32 continuing education credit hours for real estate
professionals and has also been approved for higher education
credits with the state of Colorado.
Don Exley of Mortgage Training Institute (MTI) has joined CAMB
in its quest to provide quality continuing education classes online
for association members everywhere. MTI's classes are, without a
doubt, the highest-quality education classes available in the
United States. His classes are not only certified in many other
states, but also count as credits towards earning the Colorado
Certified Mortgage Broker (CCMB) designation.
Continuing Education Committee Chair Vern Morris and committee
member Tom Kennedy have brought in Tony Hernandez of Fannie Mae to
speak about understanding the trends in the housing market and
which loan products will assist homebuyers in getting approved for
the lowest cost loan that they qualify for.
Immediate Past President Cheryl Dingwell has been working all
year on ways to bring more integrity and prestige to the CCMB
designation. She started with this idea during her term as
president last year and has been working non-stop to see this
project through. There will be an announcement of the new
qualifications at the CAMB 2005 Annual Convention and Trade Show in
September.
The CAMB Board of Directors, through its efforts and those of
Secretary Wayne Martin, Treasurer Hugh Vallely and Board Member
Vern Morris, have signed up with the Denver-Boulder Better Business
Bureau as a partner in offering a resolution alternative to
Colorado consumers and CAMB members.
CAMB now offers its members direct leads through the Denver
Newspaper Agency Web site, thanks largely to the efforts of CAMB
President-Elect Shawn Turner. Some of our members have been
extremely happy with the success of this venture. If you havent
noticed, yet, Public Relations Committee Chair Belinda Spillman and
the members of her committee have been successful in getting the
association's name out there in the public eye. Her committee has
been doing an unbelievable job of keeping current information
published in The Colorado Mortgage Press.
By-Laws Committee Chair Wayne Martin and his committee have
prepared changes to our by-laws for approval at the general
membership meeting being held in conjunction with the CAMB 2005
Annual Convention and Trade Show on Friday, Sept. 9. With this
year's proposed changes, the CAMB Board of Directors hopes to have
association chapters available throughout Colorado. This board is
committed to reaching out to all mortgage brokers in the state of
Colorado and making the association's benefits and value more
available to them. We hope to have branches in Colorado
Springs/Pueblo, Dillon, Fort Collins/Greeley, Steamboat Springs and
Grand Junction.
Western Regional Mortgage Brokers Conference Committee Chair
Jason Berman has been working with the folks at the WRMBC to offer
room discounts as well as blocking airline seats to provide a
substantial discount to all CAMB members who want to attend the
conference in Las Vegas, Friday-Tuesday, Nov. 11-15.
If you have not attended any of the luncheons yet this year, you
have missed some great speakers and networking opportunities.
Monthly Luncheons Committee Chair Megan Rodrigues, despite her
short time in the mortgage industry, has brought in many new
speakers. We are currently working on a way to record the luncheon
speakers and provide video on our Web site for members in outlying
areas who are unable to attend the monthly luncheons. As soon as
more funds become available, we hope to move forward on this
project.
As he has for the past three and a half years, Benefits
Committee Chair Jay Gegenberg has been working hard trying to find
membership benefits that will bring savings and value to the small
businesses that form the core of our membership.
We have two members of the board of directors who do not reside
in the Denver area: Cheryl Dingwell and Dick Norman. Cheryl resides
in the Colorado Springs area and Dick resides in the Winter Park
region. They truly want CAMB to represent all mortgage brokers in
Colorado, not just those who live in Denver. It is with thanks to
them that CAMB will try to get chapters opened up in the northern
Colorado areas of Fort Collins and Greeley, in the mountain areas
of Dillon and Steamboat Springs, in the western slope area of Grand
Junction and the southern region of our state in the Colorado
Springs-Pueblo area. We will need 30 members in each area to make
this venture successful. If you live and work in any of these
areas, please make your presence known when CAMB comes to your
town.
Last, but far from least, our executive director needs to be
mentioned. Since joining CAMB and taking over the reigns of
executive director, Scott Meiklejohn has helped move CAMB forward
at speeds that we had been told could never be achieved. Scott has
been working hand in hand with everyone's information technology
people to get our Web site and online services up and running.
Scott has been trying to please every member and sponsor, and bring
everyone up to speed with current and helpful information from CAMB
on a weekly basis and even sometimes twice a week through e-blasts.
He has also been staffing the phones daily, while attending every
important mortgage industry event to ensure that the association's
presence is felt, in addition to bringing valuable information back
to the CAMB Board of Directors and the membership that we would not
otherwise know. In the short time that CAMB has had its own
executive director, Scott has brought more recognition, credibility
and respect to the association. Scott has helped take CAMB to the
next level and the new beginning that we had hoped for in the past.
That's the word we get back from the street. If you have not met
Scott, he's that person standing in front of the CAMB booth at
every function the association has sponsored or attended. Stop by
and tell him thanks.
Sincerely,
B. Glenn Bartholomew, CCMB, President
Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers
