Broker Adding 100 NY Jobs

MEM Financial Solutions sealed a deal to purchase a building in Schenectady, N.Y., that will serve as its new headquarters, according to a recent announcement.

“We are very excited to be moving into downtown Schenectady,” MEM President Mark McLeod said in the statement. “The new office space will allow MEM Financial Solutions to follow through with our expansion plans for 2006.“

The broker’s current headquarters in Halfmoon houses about 25 employees and its Glens Falls office 15, MEM Vice President Michael Angelo told MortgageDaily.com. The new base location will enable it to boost its total staff by 150 percent.

MEM is expected to create 100 new jobs over the next 18 months. The jobs will consist of loan origination and telemarketing positions, Angelo said.

Mortgage market conditions that have led to recent layoffs at companies, including American Mortgage Network, MortgageIT and ECC Capital Corp., haven’t impacted MEM “in any way,” Angelo said, noting all of its numbers have remained steady.

“We do our own sourcing and marketing,” he explained. “Referrals make up 60 to 70 percent of our business.”

MEM boosted residential mortgage volume to $52 million in 2004 from the previous year’s $42 million, the executive said. Numbers for 2005 were not yet available.

The residential and commercial loan broker decided to expand in Schenectady because properties were more cost-friendly than in than the area it is currently in, Angelo indicated.

MEM will purchase the building and finance renovations on its own, but will receive a $54,000 grant by the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority to help offset the cost of leasing parking spaces for company employees, the announcement said.

The recent purchase adds to MEM’s expansion announcement last July of its acquisition of title company Land Research Solutions Inc., also based in New York.