For the seventh year, October Research, LLC, presented its annual awards for leadership, innovation and philanthropy, with some of the brightest stars in the title industry recognized for their efforts.
CEO and Publisher Erica Meyer presented the awards Thursday at the 14th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Detroit. Monte Reinert, CEO of Transnation Title Agency of Michigan, was presented the leadership award. Dominic Iannitti, president and CEO of DocMagic, was presented the innovation award. And Joyce Weiland, president of SoftPro, was presented the philanthropy award.
“The October Research Awards are given to those nominated by their colleagues for excellence in leadership, innovation and philanthropy,” Meyer said. “Over the seven years we have been presenting these awards, the industry has continued to evolve and grow, and there are so many talented individuals who deserve recognition.”
2018 Leadership Award
Reinert has spent more than four decades managing state and local title offices, including the past decade as the CEO at Transation Title. The agency was a division of Land America until 2007, and when the company went through its transition, Reinert expanded in the foreclosure capital of the country at the time, Michigan.
He bought six offices – saving 60 jobs at the time – and worked to turn Transnation Title into an employee-owned company. Over the past decade, the agency has grown to 30 offices and 260 employees. In 2014 the company was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top Build 100 Companies in the country.
2018 Innovation Award
Iannitti founded DocMagic nearly three decades ago and has turned the company into an industry leader ever since. The company has been fully paperless since 2008, when DocMagic rolled out its eSign capability. He then offered the standardized eSign technology for free to third parties and employees who used it, beginning in 2011, to jump-start the adoption of eSign technology in the mortgage industry.
When the new TRID mortgage disclosures came along, Iannitti helped lead the development of SmartCLOSE, the company’s closing portal for lenders and settlement services providers, then shifted attention to the firm’s Total eClose solution to facilitate a completely paperless digital closing. In January the company pushed its total of mortgage eSignings to 300 million.
2018 Philanthropy Award
Weiland has been in the title industry for nearly 25 years, with the past 19 as president of SoftPro. In her off time, Weiland volunteers for Habitat for Humanity and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She carried that philanthropic spirit with her to the office, where she launched a Fun Fridays program at SoftPro in 2010.
Every Friday from Memorial Day through Labor Day, a different team within SoftPro gets to designate the philanthropy of its choice to be supported. Then, employees make donations for the chance to wear shorts and flip flops to the office that Friday, as well as participating in other fundraising games and activities. Last year SoftPro raised $28,000 for charitable organizations, pushing its overall donations to more than $125,000 since Weiland began the program.
Other efforts include partnering with a local elementary school for back-to-school supply drives and participating in the annual Operation Christmas Child, which supplies boxes of toys and treats to children in need.
Previous OR Award winners were:
2017
Leadership: George Holler, Holler Law Firm LLC
Innovation: Paul Clifford, Simplifile
Philanthropy: Curt Szymanski, Windward Consulting
2016
Leadership: Mary Schuster, RamQuest
Innovation: Dan Sogorka, RealEC Technologies
Philanthropy: Tali Raphaely, Armour Settlement Services
2015
Leadership: Diane Evans, Land Title Guarantee Co.
Innovation: Dick Reass, RynohLive
Philanthropy: Kevin Tacher, Independence Title
2014
Leadership: John Hollenbeck, First American Title Insurance Co.
Innovation: Tim Armbruster, Woodfinn
Philanthropy: Kent Stewart, Reli Settlement Solutions
2013
Leadership: Joseph Drum, WFG National Title Insurance Co.
Innovation: Brian Coester, Coester VMS
Philanthropy: Dave Heine, Closemytimeshare.com
2012
Leadership: Robert Klein, Safeguard Properties
Innovation: Stewart Morris Jr., Stewart Information Services Corp.
Philanthropy: Chris Gulotta, The Gulotta Law Group, PLLC