"Premier Mortgage Group recently won Commerce Lexington's annual award for Minority Business of the Year. Founded by D. McGinnis Mitchell and John Shackelford, Premier is the largest and oldest minority-owned mortgage company in Kentucky. Since launching as a two-man business in 1998, Premier's staff has grown from Mitchell and Shackelford to 16 full-time employees. Mitchell also is a founder of National Diversity Solutions, Inc., a company formed to prepare small minority contractors to meet the expectations and needs of large corporate clients. Tom Martin's conversation with D. Mitchell has been edited to accommodate space. The entire interview can be heard online at ww.bizlex.com (click on "BizCasts"). An additional article about NDS by Erik Carlson appears on page 9.
TM: Let's go back nine years, to the very beginning, and tell us how Premier came about.
DM:: Well, Premier is an interesting story. I was actually a loan officer at another company, Commonwealth Mortgage. Commonwealth Mortgage was having some difficulty, and they came to me and started asking me, because I had been a pretty hot producer there, how they could do some things to be better. And I'm thinking, "Well, the owners are asking me how to be better; that means there must be something in me, that can possibly do this on his own." So we started. My partner at the time was John Shackleford, and we felt that we could do a pretty good job in our own regards and decided to start the company. It (started with) a relationship with a banker that I had by the name of Jeff Ball, who's a tremendous support for us and a very good friend. I just went to him with my vision and he supported that vision, and that bank has continued to support my visions as far as entrepreneurism. So it's been a terrific story, and we enjoy what has taken place from that initial start of Premier.
TM: When you accepted your award, you alluded to some recent difficult times and it's no secret to anybody that these have been difficult times in the housing market and in the mortgage industry. How has the sub prime situation affected Premier?
DM: Well, I'll be honest with you — I think that is one of our strengths, as we are very forward thinking. We saw this coming probably two to three years ago. So we made the transition to become a majority government-focused lender. So, we do a lot of government loans now. And I think government is safe, secure products that will always be there. I mean, that's perfect for us because we do a lot of first-time home buyers, low- to moderate-income families, a lot of minority families. And those loans are just very good, solid loans, and that's what we focus on, and I think we saw this coming. And also a big part of that was our commitment to doing the best job we could for our customers. I don't think, in most cases, the "B," "C" (credit ratings) for low- to moderate-income and first-time home buyers is the best loan, because some of those loans can be pretty tricky. And you have to have a lot of financial wherewithal to understand what you are getting involved with, and we felt like that really wasn't the direction we really wanted to go in.
TM: What did you see on the radar screen about three years ago that tipped you that something was coming?
DM: I think the biggest part was a lot of people inquiring about interest-only and things like that. And obvious to me, coming from humble beginnings and having a pretty tough childhood, and really looking at that and saying these people really don't really understand what they are getting involved in here. And so it just triggered something in me and in our team to say, "Okay, we have to go in a different direction here." Because if we are trying to truly help this demographic then we want to do the best job we can to help them and not put them in situations were they cannot be successful. And that's what I think we are seeing all across the country now with all the foreclosures — people being put in loans (with which) there was not a chance for them to succeed.
TM: I want to switch gears now — and congratulations again on that award. Who knows? What we're going to talk about now may garner another award in the future
DM: I would like to hope so.
TM: and that's something called NDS, can you tell us what that is?
DM: Right. NDS stands for National Diversity Solutions. And basically what it is is a company trying to fill a gap and fulfill a need of corporate America and also of smaller minority and women-owned businesses that are trying to gain that access to get involved with some of the larger-scale opportunities going on, not just in Central Kentucky, but all across America. And we decided to bring together a consortium of business professionals that all had their own individual support of initiatives like inclusion and diversity and things of that nature and that had pretty good business acumen and that had a lot of success in business. (We) brought them together to say "Okay, how can we address this situation, and how can we try to make sure that more people get involved?" But even more so, not only is it good for the minorities to get involved, but it's also good for the corporate customers to have a strong sense that these people are going to be qualified to participate in what they're asking them to do. In so many cases, you see these opportunities and you want to go after them, but you don't understand the requirements and you don't understand what it's going to really going to take to get involved. You can't take a $3,000 company and get involved in a $20 million opportunity. It doesn't happen that way. There is a transition that needs to take place, and we plan to be the company that helps with that transition ...
TM: You can burn a lot of midnight candles trying to meet that kind of challenge and never really get there. Does NDS help that small company bring themselves up to speed so they can make an attractive presentation?
DM: Absolutely. One of our core values is to give the same knowledge and understanding that we have, most of us as entrepreneurs and business professionals, to give that same expertise to these companies to help them understand how important it is to have a good package and a good presentation. And also (we share) the importance of quality and the importance of performance and making sure that you do what you tell people you're going to do. I think that's extremely important. And that's a big part of what stops a lot of smaller minority companies from getting involved with larger opportunities, because they really don't understand how they need to make that presentation.
TM: How can this type of company be beneficial to Lexington?
DM: I think it's going to be tremendously beneficial for a number of reasons, one being that we're trying to be a national company. We actually have two contracts on the table now that are national contracts, but I can't speak of it because they aren't done yet. They are not solidified, but they are on the table and being discussed. And to bring national contracts to Central Kentucky and to bring more minority professionals to Central Kentucky I think will be a tremendous asset and help us build a better community. I think most progressive communities understand that diversity and inclusion is an extremely beneficial thing to the community and it really helps to develop and benefit the community.
TM: Looking at the roster of founding investors, founding partners, (it) is pretty impressive. How did you bring that group together?
DM: Just a lot of strategic thinking and strategic planning. I tell you, it started with a one-page overview of what I wanted to accomplish, and Les Kimbrough was the first one. Les and I have some other business interests together, and he and I were just sitting and talking. We were talking about all the opportunities that are coming up and all the things going on with the Equestrian Games and redevelopment and everything else going on in Central Kentucky. And (we were) just looking around and saying, "Where are the minority participants that are going to be able to be a part of this?" And we didn't see a lot. And so I kind of said we need to do something about this, because of Les being a majority and me being a minority and us being able to forge such a great relationship. And we're saying, "Well, why can't we take this, the relationship that he and I have, and make it bigger? And get more people to understand how important it is that we engage one another and we give everybody that we possibly can opportunities? And in that thinking, we started looking at other people in the community and tried to figure out who would be best suited to be a part of what are were trying to accomplish, and that's kind of how it started.
TM: You know you just mentioned the equation majority/minority, and it took me back to something that Ed Holmes said in presenting the award to you at the Commerce Lexington dinner. That was his expression of hope that some day there would be no such thing as a minority or majority distinction, and it would seem to me that that is ultimately the aim of this company.
DM: Absolutely. That's absolutely the aim. I think so many of us just don't understand each other and don't spend enough time with each other to try to figure out why things are like they are, why our attitudes or differences are what they are. But I think if we engage other people and we try to understand the differences and embrace those differences, then you create more diversity of thought and you create more progressive thinking and more innovation, which is what helps everybody. So you are exactly right.
TM: How is it going so far? Is NDS a money-making venture, or are you not quite there yet?
DM: Not a money-making venture yet, but it's going terrific. I think we have four or five pretty substantial contracts on the table, all being negotiated through. Thomas and King is done, so that's a great contract for us. The Messer relationship is done, which is another great opportunity for NDS.
TM: We've talked with Pete Strange, the CEO of Messer, and I came away from that conversation with the impression that here's a good example of walking the walk and talking the talk.
DM: They're just a perfect fit for us, because they have a very strong inclusion program in their own right. And they looked at our group and the opportunity that we brought to them and said this will only help to strengthen something that (they) already have in place. And for us, it's obvious why we would like to partner with one of largest, most successful construction companies in the country. It helps to give us a mentor When we go to present, obviously being a new company and you're talking about building $5 to $40 million projects, you know, most people are going to look at you and say, "Well how are you going to do that? That's a very complex situation; how are you going to deal with that?' Well, when you can bring a big brother like Messer to the table and say this is our partner, this is a joint venture and we are going to do it together and we are going to build capacity and have more diverse leadership and more economic inclusion and we are going to do it with the expertise of this construction giant, then it gives a peace of mind and a true understanding of how you get it done.
TM: We look forward to keeping track of how things are going, and I hope you will keep in touch.
DM: Yes, sir. Thank you.
TM: Thank you, D.