Dominion Lending Centres President Gary Mauris has been named a Pacific finalist for Ernst & Young’s coveted entrepreneurial award -- an acknowledgement of the company’s growth strategy and his ability to activate it.
Dominion Lending Centres President Gary Mauris has been named a Pacific finalist for Ernst & Young’s coveted entrepreneurial award -- an acknowledgement of the company’s growth strategy and his ability to activate it.
“Entrepreneurs have the ability to transform ideas into great businesses. And not just any business – businesses that drive economic growth,” says Ron Voyer, Pacific Director of the E&Y Entrepreneur Of The Year. “Behind their success is an entrepreneurial mindset to innovate, create jobs, and invest in communities across the country.”
As the driving force behind DLC and its rapidly expanding network, Mauris is now on the shortlist of three corporate leaders in the Business-to-consumer products and services category. Attila Koronczay and Boldijarre Koronczay, owners of the Vancouver-based Éminence Organic Skin, have also been named finalists, along with insurance industry titan Kenneth Armstrong, also from the Lower Mainland.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards recognize “the spirit and contribution of entrepreneurs here and around the world” and is now in its 18th year. Mauris was selected, as were all finalists, based on his vision, leadership, financial success and social responsibility.
The DLC head is credited with helping advance the broker network model at the same time leveraging the marketing strength of Canadian hockey icon Don Cherry to grow DLC’s profile with consumers.
Since the company’s launch in 2006, Mauris has steered DLC into the fast lane, amassing a membership team of more than 2,000 mortgage professionals spanning the country. In the six months starting in December 2010, it added no less than 62 locations, expanding its brokerage network to 380 office locations, according to DLC’s latest numbers. Of the 2,065 mortgage professionals operating under its banner, 453 have come onboard since last December. As a group, they’ve brought an annualized mortgage volume of $2.3 billion, lifting the network’s overall volume to just under $11 billion, annually.
The expansion has attracted some push-back from competitors concerned about conversions from within their broker ranks. Conversions, in fact, fuelled 90 per cent of the company’s recent growth spurt.
Mauris denies that DLC is actively hunting the territory of other super brokers, attributing its success to the company’s very active communication with franchise owners, including its emphasis on professional development training, providing a comprehensive suite of Internet tools and ensuring ready access to head office support.
“Nobody owns their brokers,” he told MortgageBrokerNews.ca in May. “ I find it interesting that companies think that because a broker works for them, they own them. The broker owns the broker. You have to continually innovate, and create value for your network and if you do not, agents will exercise their free will and educate themselves on what’s available. If we lose an agent or broker, we don’t blame the competitors, we have a hard look in the mirror and try and figure out where we failed them.”
The Pacific awards will be handed out in Vancouver October 5, with national awards to follow in Toronto on November 23.
