John G. Stevens
35, Vice President, National Association of Mortgage Professionals
Pleasant Grove, Utah
His official job title is Utah area manager for Bank of England, which Stevens says is all about taking care of people. He applies the same philosophy to his volunteer work with numerous civic organizations as well as the Utah County Planning Commission and Utah Association of Mortgage Professionals. He was the youngest president of the latter organization at 30 and serves on the board of directors and as PAC chair, and recently was voted in as vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Bankers. “When I first got involved in the association, I was hesitant, “ he says. “You are meeting in a group with these people who want to take your business. But I had an attitude shift. I realized they were not my competitors, they were my peers.” During the economic meltdown, mortgage banking suffered, but NAMB turned losses into profits and increased attendance by looking outside its typical sponsors to anyone who wanted association members’ business. They turned to AT&T, Toyota, Verizon and Internet providers, and tripled their membership by providing significant discounts on sponsor services to members. “People saw we cared about them,” says Stevens. “It became about the member, not the association.”
