Hearing a live band playing that old James Brown favorite,
”
I Feel Good,
”
in the parking lot recently on First Street in front of the new
Washington Mutual Bank Home Loan Center, I discovered an
Octoberfest party in full swing replete with free food, wine and
beer. It turned out to be a ribbon cutting ceremony officiated by
members of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce.
Hearing a live band playing that old James Brown favorite, “I Feel Good,” in the parking lot recently on First Street in front of the new Washington Mutual Bank Home Loan Center, I discovered an Octoberfest party in full swing replete with free food, wine and beer. It turned out to be a ribbon cutting ceremony officiated by members of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. As I enjoyed my complimentary giant beer stein, I toured the new center with Robert (Skip) Bradbury and his wife of 32 years, Julie.
Skip has finally found work he is passionate about right here in Gilroy. Skip has had an interesting career which includes selling software to the Royal Bank of Trinidad in the Caribbean, where he was sent to set up that nation’s first state run pension plan. He says his team was literally given the royal treatment: they were served food and drinks on a silver platter at the bank. When he went across the street to order a Diet Coke, the guy behind the counter looked at him as if he were nuts and said, “Diet Coke? Ain’t nobody on a diet in Trinidad!”
Skip is an unusually savvy financial advisor when it comes to the home loan business. In his years of experience, he has processed loans in all fifty states. Not only does he have a California Real Estate Broker’s license and certification as an Accredited Residential Originator, but he is quite a unique resource to the Gilroy community. He is one of only 600 people in the entire United States who has earned the title of “Certified Mortgage Banker.” He flew to Washington D.C. to complete his final exam just before 9/11 occurred. He is the only person in the South Valley area to hold this Ph.D. in mortgages.
However, what people most admire about Skip is the way he applies his talents as a loan consultant to serve the community he has come to love. He has chosen to work for this particular center because it has been created with the specific purpose of providing the surrounding community with funding for home loans. This means he won’t sell the loans to some outside company for processing the way most loan consultants do – he keeps everything right here in our own community.
Unlike many large businesses carving up the Gilroy pie, Skip is happy to work for a company that pumps so much back into the local economy and supports local schools and teachers through a variety of programs and grants. “I think word’s got to get out there,” Skip says, “This is a real community resource.” Skip works with those who find it almost impossible these days to afford a home, such as teachers. He takes great satisfaction in being able to offer an exclusive home loan discount for teachers instructing grades K-12.
Skip is on a mission to enhance his community by making it possible for more people to own their own homes. “When you become a homeowner, you strengthen your ties to your own neighborhood, which in turn strengthens the whole community,” he describes. “My goal is to help my friends and neighbors. It means a lot to me to be a community resource.”
