Fairway Surpasses 10K Employees, Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation now employs more than 10,000 team members, including almost 3,000 producers in over 800 branches nationwide. Last week, the company celebrated 25 years since it was founded by CEO Steve Jacobson.

In 2020, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation funded over $65.8 billion, a record year for the company. The company ranked number three in purchase loan originations in the U.S. in 2020. Also, as of mid-April, locks were up 37% over the same time period in 2020. In addition, 2021 volume stands at $22.7 billion year-to-date compared to $12.19 billion in the same time period in 2020, an increase of 86%.

“We started Fairway 25 years ago as a broker,” Jacobson said. “As our needs grew, the company evolved also. Helping families and our own teammates has always been our main focus. We are grateful for the opportunities and people we have met over those 25 years.”

“In 2013, Fairway made a decision to really ramp up its business,” said Julie Fry, chief human resources officer. “We put our foot on the gas pedal that year and added approximately 70 new branches,” said Fry.  “From 2013, when Fairway employed 1,300 team members, to 2018, the company added roughly 1,000 employees a year,” Fry noted. “As business expanded, we stepped up the pace of hiring, particularly in 2020. In the past year, from April 2020 to today, we’ve added 2,500 employees and now have 10,054 staff members.”

“The hires in the past year have been across the board and throughout the country, and include loan officers, corporate professionals and operations staff, including underwriters, processors and closers,” said Fry. “As we add more loan officers, we take into consideration the operations staff needed to support sales so we can continue to deliver superior customer service and quick closing times to our borrowers.”