Rose City Mortgage Specialists wins best small-business employer amidst real estate woes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (February 28, 2008)
Oregon Business Magazine has deemed Rose City Mortgage Specialists the best Oregon small-business employer for 2008. Rose City employees ranked the company at the top of their satisfaction scale in 22 of 50 categories, and near the top in 47 of 50 categories.
Company employees were honored at a Thursday, Feb. 26, Oregon Convention Center dinner that named Oregon's top 50 small-, medium- and large-business employers. "It took this last year [with all the turmoil in the mortgage and real estate industries] to understand that our employees are not just our best asset, they are our company," RCMS Owner Renee Spears said when she and her employees accepted the award.
The mortgage firm has been knocking at the door of the top honors over the last three years. In 2006, Rose City ranked 14th out of 50 small firms of 250 or fewer employees; it climbed 10 spots in 2007 to a number four ranking.
Rose City Mortgage Specialists, located in Southwest Portland, currently has 13 employees. On a scale of 100, Rose City staff ranked their work environment at 99.6, decision making and trust at 99, performance management at 97.8, benefits and compensation at 94.8 percent and career development and learning at 93.2 percent.
Two-year Rose City Mortgage Specialists employee and loan officer Jake Planton says, for him, the firm's best attribute is allowing employees to help make decisions for the company. "If something isn't working, an employee brings it up and we all decide right there how to deal with it." He also says the freedom and trust that Rose City Mortgage Specialists employees enjoy is unparalleled. "The owner encouraged me to start my own networking. She pushed me to go outside my comfort box, and now our happy hour networking group for gays, lesbians and straights is thriving. These days I can go to any networking group and jump right in."
Loan officer Lorie Clements agrees. She has been with Rose City for 3-1/2 years and especially appreciates the collaboration throughout the company. When she was on maternity leave, other employees jumped in to cover all her customers without compensation. After maternity leave, she brought her son to work until he was 8 months old. "We're all real people here; we don't pretend otherwise."
Rose City Mortgage Specialists has received several honors in recent years for its employee- and community-friendly business practices, including the 2005 Oregon and Southwest Washington Small Business of the Year Award from the Better Business Bureau.
A record number -- almost 30,000 employees -- nominated 372 Oregon companies of all sizes for the top 100 awards. Rose City ranked first of 50 small businesses in work environment, decision making and trust and performance management; Rose City ranked second of 50 in career development and learning, and benefits and compensation.
"The collapse of the real estate industry has not stopped how this company's feel about where they work," said Robin Doussard, editor of Oregon Business Magazine, when she announced the award.
Media Contact Information:
Renee Spears
President and CEO
Rose City Mortgage Specialists
10737 SW Inverness Court,
Portland, OR 97219
Phone 503-768-4248
Fax 503-768-410
renee@rosecitymtg.com
Macy Guppy, PhD APR
Principal
GoodWorks Public Relations
7425 S.W. 27th Avenue
Portland, OR 97219
Phone 503-892-3178
Fax 503-293-2372
macy@goodworkspr.com