Dear Members & Friends,

Hope you all had a great holiday and enjoyed the Super Bowl. Wanted to take this time to thank our members, sponsors, officers, and directors for a remarkable year. It is through their dedication & support that ESMBA as an organization was able to accomplish all their goals set forth for the 2017 year.

One of our top priorities last year was to increase membership by at least 100 members and I am proud to announce that we surpassed that figure.We believe that the power is in numbers and we certainly proved that.

The ESMBA held our first fundraiser event last year in support of Autism Speaks. Our "bowling for charity" event was a sell out and huge success thanks to our members and sponsors. The support was overwhelming to say the least. As a direct result we were able to make a great contribution to the Autism Speaks foundation. It was a fun night with terrific feedback. Clearly we will again in 2018 choose another charity to support and have another bowling night. Watch for the email announcement coming soon.

Our goal on the legislative front was to meet with the Deputy Commissioner and her staff and clarify for our members on the new regulations that would pertain to the audits, loan originator compensation and the ability to get our loan officers licensed more rapidly. I’m proud to say that working with the department we have clarity on the cyber security issue as well as loan compensation. We are also seeing faster turnarounds with loan officer and branch approvals.

Our education commitment last year was a success in the roll-out of our 2-Day LO University class sponsored by Genworth with much to gain from industry newcomers and seasoned loan officers and professionals.

Our legal hot line for our members was also a huge success. Our members benefit greatly from this recently added member benefit.

We established our first newsletter this past year. Our newsletter is a successful communication tool to keep our members abreast of regulatory updates, industry news, and upcoming events. It is a great way for our volunteers to communicate directly with all our members and supporters within the mortgage banking industry.

Finally we concluded our year with our annual Holiday Party and ended the season with a bang superseding attendance in over a decade. Due to the generous support of our members, sponsors, and attendees we were able to collect an enormous amount of toys in support of the US Marine's and Blue Star Mom's "Toys for Tots" program. In addition the atmosphere was incredible and our members rocked the dance floor.

My time as President has come to a conclusion and I want to take this time to thank my dedicated team who always understood that failure was not an option and the mandate to pursue excellence was achieved. You all did amazing work and I am grateful and honored to have served along side you.

It is with great pride and respect that I present to you Kathy Lovece as your 2018 ESMBA President. Kathy has served this past year as an officer of the board as your Secretary and our events co-chair. Kathy is an incredible woman with high energy and a positive attitude and knows what it takes to get the mission accomplished. I know she will continue to build the ESMBA with honesty and integrity and I look forward to working with her in any capacity under her leadership.

I wish all our members a great year and with one final request to reach out and continue to support the ESMBA and tell your business associates to join. For a full list of our 2018 Officers & Directors click here .

Thank you for letting me be your President. I look forward to a great year.

Regards,

Marc Stone

ESMBA's Immediate Past President