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FIRST COMMUNITY MORTGAGE NAMES NATHAN GRAHAM REGIONAL MANAGER AND VICE PRESIDENT OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

June 13, 2017

Murfreesboro, Tenn. (6/13/17) – Nathan Graham has been named the new Regional Manager and Vice President of Business Development for First Community Mortgage (FCM), according to an announcement by Keith Canter, CEO of FCM.

In his new position, Graham will continue to build on the increasing mortgage sales volume for FCM. His responsibilities will include coaching current FCM Loan Officers, recruiting and developing additional team members, coordinating sales, and representing FCM in area networking groups focused both on the community and the profession.

“Hiring Nate for this new position is a major step forward for First Community Mortgage,” said Canter. “In addition to having the right skills and experience to help us grow, Nate has the attitude, and represents the culture, of FCM. His enthusiastic support for the profession, and the unique way we operate, is confirmation that he will be a great addition to the FCM team. He understands our commitment to shareholders, clients, employees and the community, and we look forward to the results he will help us produce.”

Graham is a successful 15-year veteran of sales leadership in the mortgage profession in Middle Tennessee, specializing in sales, recruitment, and development. He was most recently with Movement Mortgage and was previously associated with First Residential Mortgage, and United Financial Mortgage. He is an active member of the Nashville Mortgage Bankers Association, and a graduate of Mississippi State University. Nate and his wife, Suzanne, have been married 9 years. They live in Brentwood with their two sons Gardner (8) and William (7).

“Joining FCM is more than a career choice. It is a life choice,” said Graham. “They have established the right foundation with both culture and expertise to continue their path to becoming the leading lender in all of Middle Tennessee. It will be a pleasure to add my experience and skill set to the professional team they currently have in place, and help develop and grow the success of FCM.”

About First Community Mortgage

Founded in 2002, First Community Mortgage is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Community Bank (TN) with operations centers in Murfreesboro, Columbus, and Kansas City. First Community Mortgage is a FNMA, FHLMC and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. With mortgage volume of $2.1 billion in 2016, First Community Mortgage was ranked the #1 lender for new construction homes for the past 5 years as published by Metrostudy and #6 for 2014 in the Nashville Business Journal’s Book of Lists.

Why First Community Mortgage Created the Andrew C. Rambo Scholarship

May 22, 2017

Why First Community Mortgage Created the Andrew C. Rambo Scholarship
Exploring the Adventures of Andy Rambo and His Impact on FCM.

No, he wasn’t the meaning behind Sylvester Stallone’s character in the movie Rambo, but he did play a big part, if not the biggest part, in supporting First Community Mortgage when we were just starting to think about becoming a mortgage company. His leadership helped us become a top lender in the Greater Nashville/Middle Tennessee area. And, he is now the namesake for a major scholarship at MTSU – more about that in a moment.

Here’s just a glimpse of the notable mentions for which Andrew C. Rambo is known:

Andy was a Shelbyville, TN native, who became the Chairman of the Board at First Community Bank, and a member of the board of directors at First Community Mortgage. His pathway lead him from Shelbyville to Memphis where he graduated from both Memphis State University and Memphis State Law School. He later received his MBA from Belmont University. Andy then practiced law for 42 years in his hometown of Shelbyville, where he also had the joy of being the Shelbyville Mayor from 1979 to 1983.  Andy was also City Attorney from 1983-1989 –  and shortly after became involved in what we now know as First Community Bank, and First Community Mortgage.

Along the way, Andy demonstrated that he knew how to have fun – and he cared about people. He was truly one-of-a kind. He enjoyed many types of adventure like traveling, hiking, and diving. He was even an Eagle Scout. FCM’s CEO, Keith Canter, was especially close to him. Andy supported Keith from the beginning of FCM, to the time he took his adventure home. Andy passed away in April of 2016 while doing what he loves – traveling.

This past year FCM started a non-profit organization called FCM Cares. That initiative was inspired, in part, by the leadership that Andy Rambo provided. As a result, FCM is able to help our local communities by giving back. It is stated well in FCM’s mission statement, “First Community Mortgage will be The Lender of Choice and Employer of Choice in every community we serve.” We want to serve people. We strive in helping families find their forever homes. We are simply humans helping humans, something we know Andy would be proud of because that is how he lived.

In the words of our very dedicated CEO, “We’ve been very blessed with the growth and success of FCM, but if there was one thing I noticed when coming under the First Community Bank umbrella, it was always about giving back to the community. Anything the community needed, the bank was always involved – and Andy was always supportive.”

Keith not only noticed Andy’s commitment, he picked up on it to the point that it is now one one of FCM’s key components as a company: “Always try to give back to the community and always try to support the community that supports us.” All of this ended up turning into FCM Cares.

Andy was passionate about education and proud of the MBA he received. Sometimes he would go off on one of his three week vacations to a place you’ve never heard of and come back with a book. He’d throw it on your desk and say, “Read that book and tell me what you think.” Andy was always learning and educating others, even using his vacations (adventures) as a learning experience. So what better way to honor him than to start a scholarship in memory of him?

The Andrew C. Rambo Memorial Scholarship is awarded to an MTSU MBA student in the accelerated cohort program of the Flex MBA. The scholarship is for a 12-month period, during which the recipient is expected to finish their MBA program. The fortunate recipient must be a Tennessee resident, have an undergraduate degree from MTSU, and be admitted into the MBA program.

Recently FCM leaders had the honor of presenting the inaugural Andrew C. Rambo Memorial Scholarship to MTSU student, Michelle Rathbun of Christiana, Tennessee. Michelle, a marketing major, will be graduating in August with a 4.0 GPA and a Bachelor’s Degree! She decided to take the next step in her educational career and complete her master’s degree.

FCM leaders were also in attendance at the MTSU Annual E.W. “Wink” Midgett Awards Reception, where Michelle was awarded with the scholarship. David Urban, Dean of MTSU’s Jennings A. Jones College of Business, was there for the presentation.

Soon after that event, FCM held its own reception in honor of Andy and Michelle. Andy’s friends and family were able to share in this celebration of his life and legacy. FCM leaders were able to honor and affirm Michelle as a worthy recipient of this fitting remembrance of Andy. We are grateful for the opportunity to do this, and appreciative of our employees who feel just as strongly about helping our local communities thrive and succeed.

We feel certain that Michelle felt the love in the room that night because if we know one thing about Andy Rambo, it’s that he surrounded his family and friends with a lot of love. It was an honor to have known him and we are incredibly thankful his legacy remains a huge part of FCM. We also couldn’t be happier that the company First Community Mortgage has become, is one that can give back by doing something like this.  We are humans helping humans, and grateful to have the opportunity.

If you would like to know more about how to support FCM Cares and/or the Andy Rambo Memorial Scholarship Fund, please contact FCM Cares at fcmcaresadmin@fcmpartners.com.

FIRST COMMUNITY MORTGAGE AND GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE HOMEOWNERSHIP

May 15, 2017

MURFREESBORO, TN, (May 12, 2017) — First Community Mortgage (FCM) and Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee have initiated a partnership to help potential homebuyers in
Middle Tennessee better understand and engage the home buying process, according to an announcement made jointly by Matthew Bourlakas, President of Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee and Keith Canter, CEO of FCM.

“These two organizations have a common goal of helping improve the lives of people living in Middle Tennessee communities. I’m confident that joining forces to educate and prepare families for the home buying process will be beneficial for our region,” said Bourlakas.

“This partnership with Goodwill is very significant. Working with their executive leadership to make this happen has been a joy,” said Andy Voyles, Executive VP and Director of Lending for First Community Mortgage. “Homeownership is accessible to many people who may be hesitant due to the perceived complication of the process. FCM’s Multi-Cultural Lending Initiative Team (MCLI) is fully engaged in this partnership. Their specific purpose is to provide outreach and education for underserved and bilingual markets that may not realize they can purchase a home.”

FCM launched its Multi-Cultural Lending Initiative (MCLI) in 2016 to expand its lending reach to underserved areas in Middle Tennessee. The MCLI team is focused on community outreach while leading homebuyer educational sessions for predominately minority based and bilingual markets. Local churches and metro school facilities have extended use of their locations, which has greatly helped the MCLI team’s initiatives. Many of these prospective applicants may be able to buy a home, but need a better understanding of what to do, and how to do it.

The partnership will include the following initiatives to help the local communities in Middle Tennessee:

  • Goodwill Industries and FCM will organize, promote, and hold free homebuyer preparation classes at Career Solution Centers in Middle Tennessee, directed toward the 2,000+ employees and customers of all Goodwill Middle Tennessee retail locations.
  • Personalized orientation on the home buying process will be provided to all Goodwill employees interested in learning about pre-eligibility for a home loan.
  • FCM will provide Goodwill Industries a dedicated team of professional Loan Originators to answer any questions the employees have about home buying, refinancing, and the application process.
  • All classes and counseling provided through this initiative will be provided in both Spanish and English.

Miguel Vega, VP of Multicultural Lending at First Community Mortgage, has been a major part of establishing and growing this partnership. “Bringing together two great companies for the purpose of helping others is powerful. It is something I am personally excited about. It shows how dedicated FCM and Goodwill Industries are to helping people understand the process of buying a home, which can be very confusing, especially for first-time homebuyers.”

“This partnership is an excellent expression of First Community Mortgage’s recently introduced ‘Human Mortgage’ branding,” Canter said, “Goodwill is a one-of-a-kind company with a great foundation that is always willing to help those in need. Because of our intense desire to truly help people with our human approach, partnering with Goodwill is something we are thrilled – and honored – to be able to do.”

About First Community Mortgage

Founded in 2002, First Community Mortgage is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Community Bank (TN) with operations centers in Murfreesboro, Louisville, Columbus, and Kansas City. First Community Mortgage is a FNMA, FHLMC, and GNMA seller/servicer and offers mortgage solutions to consumers and financial institutions. With mortgage volume of $2.1 billion in 2016, First Community Mortgage was ranked the #1 lender for new construction homes for the past five years as published by Metrostudy and #6 for 2014 in the Nashville Business Journal’s Book of Lists.

For more information about First Community Mortgage and its services go to www.humanmortgage.com. For information on our class schedule, call Ken Hampton at 615-299-6913. For Spanish language assistance call Miguel Vega at 626-590-4185. To register for any of our available homebuyer classes, go online to First-Time Homebuyer Class Registration.

About Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

For nearly 60 years Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee has provided job training and job placement free of charge to people with disabilities or other barriers to employment through the sale of donated items. In 2016, Goodwill served more than 44,000 people in Middle and West Tennessee and placed more than 18,000 people in jobs. More information about Goodwill’s Career Solutions, retail stores, and donation centers can be obtained online at www.giveit2goodwill.org or by calling 1-800-545-9231.