By Betsy Avelar Staff Writer
Gilroy – Three years after starting his business, Robert Fernandez’s firm was singled out as one of the top companies in the United States. Atlas Mortgage Services was featured in Entrepreneur magazine’s hot 100 companies of the year in 2006, coming in at number 71 on the list. It was the only mortgage brokerage in the western United States in the top 100.
“That to me was a huge honor,” said the 36-year-old Hispanic business owner.
Fernandez started Atlas Mortgage services in 2003, after 14 years of co-owning a business in Salinas, so he took some of the many clients he had worked with in the past and sold his share of the business to start his own in Gilroy.
“In talking to some of the realtors, I really felt that we could do good business here, and do the community a good service,” he said.
In 2003 the company provided more than $33 million in loans. In 2004 that figure jumped to $110 million, and one year later it jumped to a quarter billion. This year, the company is on track to top the quarter billion mark.
Another part of his success comes from the support he receives from his family, although he has never been married and has no kids.
“The support that I received from my folks and from my sisters has been paramount to the success that I had,” he said
Fernandez maintains a life-long customer base by earning their trust; sincerity and knowledge, but the most important point in building a profitable company is hiring great people, especially those who have a connection with a community.
One of the company’s influential loan specialists is Steve Emick, who has been active in the Gilroy community for more than two decades. Emick owned an Italian restaurant, helped design restaurants at Bonfante Gardens, and ran Coldstone Creamery for 10 years. He believes that it is important to have long lasting relationships with the community in order to be effective and keep customers.
“I think this is the perfect career choice,” said Emick, who traded the food business for the mortgage loan business. “Our business is needed on a cyclical basis.”
The 51-year-old understands the opportunity in the mortgage business.
“You need guidance from someone who has walked the walk and not just talked the talk,” said Fernandez.
