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goodmortgage.com Creates the Ultimate Workplace Amidst Revitalization in Charlotte’s Southend

Submitted by: Jill Purdy on Aug 27, 2008 at 7:20 pm Tagged with: lending, mortgages, revitalization, workplace amenities Source: goodmortgage.com

Facility Design Strategy Enhances Professionalism
and Customer Service
August 27, 2008 - CHARLOTTE, N.C., – goodmortgage.com is re-defining the “necessities” of the workplace in its newly-refurbished home at 3325 South Tryon Street. As it approaches the decade mark as an Internet-based lender, goodmortgage.com continues its growth path in its 44,000 square foot facility that revitalizes a distribution warehouse and expands the parameters of revitalization along Charlotte’s new light rail corridor.
goodmortgage.com is a direct mortgage lender, not just a broker, a loan referral site or marketplace. goodmortgage.com offers customers purchase and refinance mortgage loans as an Internet-based lender. A nine-year resident of the Southend area, goodmortgage.com claims its new headquarters just a few blocks from its former space in the historic Atherton Mill. The new facility provides a progressive design that accommodates 280 employees – six times the capacity of the company’s previous space.
“Our Internet-based model is a key to our success because it enables more personal service and lower mortgage rates than traditional brick and mortar lenders. With our new facilities, we have all of the essentials to meet the demands of energetic and progressive employees and to drive a new level of growth,” said Keith Luedeman, CEO of goodmortgage.com. “The design objective is to create a vibrant, exciting work environment that allows our employees to enhance the quality of service for our borrowers and Real Estate Agent partners.”
goodmortgage.com’s move sets them apart from most area companies in several ways.
1) The move is strategic in that it purposely keeps the company in the Southend area where owner and founder, Keith Luedeman, has lived and worked since he moved to Charlotte. Luedeman and his company support the community and their fellow Southend business residents and look forward to continuing that support from the company’s new location.
2) The move keeps goodmortgage.com along the city’s transportation crown jewel – the light rail corridor – in an area that is on the verge of rebirth. Employees have the tremendous option to use the city’s newest form of public transportation to deliver them to and from their work location’s doorstep.
3) The move is unusual in today’s economic climate. goodmortgage.com has bucked the roller-coaster trends of the mortgage industry since its launch nine years ago with consistent growth and profitability across its entire lifetime. The company approaches today’s economy in growth mode with a six-fold capacity increase.
4) The move unveils a workplace design that is unmatched in the region for its purpose and functional advantages. With processing and communications technology, progressive individual and group workspace areas, health and fitness amenities and ergonomic furnishings, the design drives quality of environment for employees and quality of service for customers and partners.
“The entire facility has undergone a magnificent transformation and now houses state of the art communications technology that combines complete accessibility with full mobility for employees. Our proprietary, industry leading processing software automates and speeds the task-oriented elements within the loan process,” comments Luedeman. “We couldn’t imagine making all of the cosmetic improvements without implementing dramatic infrastructure improvements, as well.”
Luedeman adds, “The ability to break away – even if briefly – to immerse themselves in a book or in physical activity, gives employees renewed focus when they return to their work areas. The difference in attitude, performance and individual job satisfaction is tremendous.”
Integrated into the communications network is the goodmortgage.com website. The recently re-launched site provides innovations in direct access tools to link customers immediately with loan officers. The site also provides customers with a secure area to check loan status and milestone schedules at their convenience.
“goodmortgage.com is that rare breed of customer that understands technology can be a tremendous equalizer. The solution we have created with them will give them the ability to serve their rapidly expanding customer base in many unique ways, allowing them to differentiate the customer experience from their much larger, wealthier competitors in the mortgage industry,” comments Rick Hill, Account Manager for Cisco Systems, Inc. "goodmortgage.com is a great example of a small business thinking big and Cisco is honored to have been chosen to help them accomplish this tremendous milestone.”
goodmortgage.com’s workspace requirements included comfort, ergonomics, functionality, efficiency, durability and rehabbing with a sense of style that maintains an engaging atmosphere.
"Working with Keith to contribute furnishings that fit goodmortgage.com's high performance work environment has given us a great opportunity to think outside the box" said Clint Barlow, General Manager for Meadows Office Furniture's Charlotte Office. "The project team made up of owner, architect, builder and furniture partner worked cohesively together throughout the project to deliver a complete solution in tune with the needs of today's mainstream workforce. The client's desire to rehab an existing building fit well with our line up of sustainable products and services including using remanufactured systems products."
The high performance work environment is merely the tip of the iceberg in making employee work time more comfortable, healthy and productive. The new goodmortgage.com workspace provides call center areas, flex office spaces, huddle rooms and outdoor green space. The facility offers a basketball three-point court and workout facilities that include punching bags, weight and cardio-training machines, showers and locker rooms. These features distinguish goodmortgage.com’s new facility as one of a kind in the Charlotte region, according to McAllister, the project builder, and Nelson, the project architect firm.
“Keith is opening the gate for more growth by choosing a new office location that is close to the light rail line. He is converting a vacant distribution warehouse on the leading edge of Southend’s revitalization into a top-notch office space with design concepts around young, urban-minded millennial employees that are dead-on. This project defines goodmortgage.com as a leader in progressive workplaces,” said Gregg McAllister, President of McAllister.

“goodmortgage.com is spearheading workplace facilities in the Carolinas. It is unique to see a company place this much focus on providing a means for the employees to excel at their jobs by improving their individual health and well-being. They are setting a high bar for workplace amenities amongst not only their mortgage industry peers, but every other employer in the region,” comments Interior Designer, Stephanie Steele, with Nelson.

“Our customers want great rates, low fees, quick decisions and information throughout the mortgage process from pre-approvals through closings. With what we have in place today, we’ve eliminated almost every obstacle under our control for surpassing those demands,” adds Luedeman, “and that is our ultimate goal with every investment we make in our workplace.”

About goodmortgage.com

goodmortgage.com is a Charlotte, NC – based Internet mortgage lender providing mortgage loans that eliminate excessive fees and paperwork and are faster, less cumbersome and less stressful than typical, offline loan services. goodmortgage.com is a direct mortgage lender, not a loan referral website or loan market place that provides better, more personal mortgage services by being immediately accessible and responsive to customers. By utilizing the Internet and advanced technology processes, goodmortgage.com enables consumers to obtain purchase and refinance mortgage loans from the convenience of their own homes that are consistently lower than the national average. goodmortgage.com has been listed as one of 2008’s Top 25 Tech-Savvy Lenders by Mortgage Technology Magazine, ranked in the 2008 Inc. 5000 List, chosen by Deloitte as a Rising Star, ranked 8th as a North Carolina Technology Fast 50 company and 255th as a Fast 500 Growth Company in North America. Founded in 1999, goodmortgage.com provides residential mortgage lending in 16 states across the US. The company prides itself on assisting those in search of the best mortgage for all credit situations by providing education, self-service tools and personal support via knowledgeable Mortgage Professionals to answer questions, in addition to Mortgage Calculators, Mortgage School, Helps and Tips accessible at www.goodmortgage.com - WHERE LOANS CLICK.

Contact: Jill Purdy, 704.236.2501, jpurdy@itconscious.com