| Lender Plans 100 New MN Jobs
Charter West proposes mortgage servicing center in Cohasset January 6, 2006 By PATRICK CROWLEY |
| The operator of a Colorado mortgage company wants to expand into the Minnesota town where he was raised.Charter West Mortgage Co., which is based in Boulder, Colo., has proposed building a $2.1 million mortgage servicing center in Cohasset, Minn., that would employ 36 people in 2006 and up to nearly 100 in 2007, according to city documents.
The Cohasset City Council is considering assisting the company by applying for a $1.05 million federal grant that could be used to help pay for the construction of a 16,000-square-foot building to house the service center. The grant could be used for economic development because Itasca County, where Cohasset is located, is considered a “distressed area” by federal standards, according to the city. “Current unemployment is 6.85 percent (higher than the national average), per capita income is consistently below 80 percent of the national average and there have been economic dislocations,” according to city documents. Charter West founder and principal Chris Boelter told Cohasset city officials that the company wants to build a center where workers would handle financing for customers of factory built housing dealers, according to minutes of the Cohasset City Council. Boelter, a Cohasset native, explained to council how the center would operate. “Companies … will put a loan officer on site that will take applications for potential customers,” Boelter said, according to the city council minutes. “The applications will be submitted back to the service center.” The center will be staffed with “loan officers and processors to facilitate the loan for the originator on the site,” he said. Charter West will service 14 states from the proposed center, Boelter said. Brad Gallop, who would manage the center for Charter West, told council that there is a “big gap” in the in-house construction loan market in the country. “There are many banks, both national and local, that are comfortable with the mortgage once the house is set,” Gallop said, according to the council minutes. “However, it’s been a diverse market as to what can be done from start up to completion. Charter West Mortgage brings a unique product that is specific to those dealers and to that process.” Gallop said 50 to 60 percent of the employees will be paid from $30,000 to $35,000; 25 percent will be paid $70,000 or more; and remainder of the employees will be paid $40,000 to $45,000. Benefits, including 401(k) retirement accounts, will also be provided to employees, he said. The Itasca Development Corp., an economic development recruitment agency in the region, is assisting Charter West with the project. Charter West employs about 150 people in 18 states, Boelter said. |
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Patrick Crowley is a MortgageDaily.com feature journalist and blogger, and a reporter, blogger and columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. e-mail Patrick at: PatCrowley@MortgageDaily.com |
