For the sixth 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 13th annual National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in San Antonio. George Holler, managing partner at Holler Law Firm, LLC, was presented the leadership award. Curt Szymanski, president of Windward Consulting, was presented the philanthropy award. And Paul Clifford, president of Simplifile, was given the innovation award.
“The October Research Awards are given to those nominated by their colleagues for excellence in leadership, innovation and philanthropy,” Meyer said. “The industry has continued to evolve and grow in the six years since we began presenting these awards, and our industry is made up of many talented individuals who deserve recognition.”
2017 Leadership Award
Holler has been a fixture in the industry for more than a quarter-century, starting as a title searcher before becoming a closing attorney. He led Superior Closing Services as its president, boosting the agency from a small Connecticut firm into a $5 million annual revenue, 17-state agency in less than five years.
Since starting Holler Law Firm, Holler has focused on employee development. His weekly staff meeting focuses heavily on employee-driven conversation about ways to improve the company. The focus extends to a full work/life balance, with Holler getting employees together off-site for escape room outings, team-building exercises and minute to win it challenges.
2017 Innovation Award
The president and founder of Simplifile, Paul Clifford has helped revolutionize the industry through Simplifile’s eRecording service that today connects more than 17,000 settlement agents and 1,500 counties across the country.
The company was founded in 2000, at the infancy of electronic transactions, while the ability today to scan and submit land records to county recorders offices seems like a foregone conclusion. Last year Simplifile users transmitted nearly 12 million land record documents, an average of nearly 46,000 a day.
As the industry moved into the new mortgage transactions using the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure forms, Simplifile joined the movement to streamline electronic transmission of data in the real estate transaction by creating the Simplifile Collaboration technology – a hub which connects lenders, settlement agents and county recorders.
The innovation hasn’t stopped for Clifford. Simplifile’s network covers more than 75 percent of the U.S. population, and in working to educate users and potential clients, Clifford and the Simplifile team attended 237 industry conferences in 2016 – spreading the message of eRecording’s benefits.
2017 Philanthropy Award
Giving back has been a staple in Szymanski’s life in the more than a decade he has led Windward Consulting. Doing something positive to help others’ lives is a core value of the company, and each of Szymanski’s newsletters include reflections of his commitment of time and talent to help others.
His most-visible work has appeared at the National Settlement Services Summit (NS3), where he has sponsored the Make a Child Smile bike building event since 2012. His charitable contributions also include sponsoring the Food for Kidz and Waunakee Feed the Need programs annually since 2010 – programs which provide meals to needy families and local food pantries in Wisconsin – along with sponsoring the Caribbean Youth Network, a nonprofit mission group based in Pittsburgh that benefits the Caribbean islands.
But it’s more than simply the sponsorship that sets Szymanski apart. It is the donation of his time and his work, more than money, that is on display at events each year. Stop by the Make a Child Smile bike building room any year and you’re as likely to see Szymanski on the floor with tools in hand as you are anywhere else.