First Community Mortgage Again Recognized as a DEI Leader in Mortgage Industry

Murfreesboro-based national lender is the only two-time winner of Mortgage Bankers Association's Residential DEI Leadership Award for Market Outreach Strategies, vows to continue expanding commitment

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First Community Mortgage

Oct 20, 2021, 08:44 ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Mortgage Bankers Association's Annual Convention & Expo in San Diego this week, Murfreesboro-based First Community Mortgage learned it is the Winner of the 2021 Residential Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Leadership Award for Market Outreach Strategies.

Keith Canter, First Community Mortgage CEO & Co-founder

Miguel Vega, First Community Mortgage Chief Diversity Officer

"We are of course proud and grateful for this recognition," says Keith Canter, CEO of FCM and one of the company's founders. "Plus, this award has special significance for us as FCM is the only company in our industry to have received it for a second time. We take that 'double honor' seriously, as it validates our commitment to provide more families from diverse backgrounds with the opportunity to achieve the American Dream of homeownership."

In 2017, FCM also earned the MBA National Market Outreach Strategies award recognizing its efforts in this area, including a wide array of bilingual information and educational resources for Hispanic potential homebuyers. The annual award recognizes MBA members who have developed innovative ways to foster DEI efforts within their organizations, highlights leaders within the area of DEI in the real estate finance industry, inspires business strategies that reach diverse populations and raises awareness of the importance and value of being a diverse and inclusive industry.

"We are proud of our companywide initiatives to increase outreach, marketing and products to attract customers within the industry's fastest-growing diverse market segments," says Miguel Vega, FCM's EVP of Multicultural Business Development and the company's Chief Diversity Officer. "And even though the growth of our Multicultural Lending Initiative (MCLI) as well as our American Home Opportunity Fund were some of the main elements of our nomination, the award is really a recognition of the individual and collective commitment and intentionality of our incredible team. Our people each take our DEI efforts very seriously."

Vega notes that the MCLI of First Community Mortgage has grown tremendously since 2016. As part of the MCLI, he recruits bilingual Loan Originators and team members across the country. For instance, he recruited top talent leading to the opening of new MCLI locations, like the Houston, TX, branch in October 2020. Also in 2020, Vega says FCM created the new position of Vice President, Community Engagement, to launch its Community Development Initiative, expanding the MCLI to generate even more homeownership opportunities for underserved communities, especially within the Black community, while also fostering generational wealth.

Vega says over a thousand families have been served by MCLI since the first loan closed in February of 2017. In 2019, the MCLI division produced $57.9 million, $101 million in 2020, and is on track to produce $125 million by the end of 2021.

"Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is an ongoing journey," Canter says, "especially to continue being a leader in DEI, so we will keep listening, evolving best practices and investing the time, energy and other resources, further expanding home ownership information and access."

First Community Mortgage, Inc., which does business nationally, is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Community Bank of Tennessee, and includes Wholesale, Correspondent and Retail divisions. FCM is a FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. FCM funded over $3.5 billion in home loans in 2020. It was recently named one of the Best Places to Work 2021 by the Nashville Business Journal and one of the Top Work Places 2021 by the Tennessean newspaper. First Community Mortgage is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS ID 629700.

Media inquiries
B. Andrew (Drew) Plant
[email protected]
678-637-5532

First Community Mortgage
Megan Chastain, VP of Marketing
[email protected]
731-610-1504

SOURCE First Community Mortgage