CMI Financial Group Founder and CEO Bryan Jaskolka named Entrepreneur of the Year at the 2021 CanadianSME National Business Awards
TORONTO, May 9, 2022 /CNW/ - CMI Financial Group (CMI), Canada's premier private mortgage lender, today announced its founder and CEO Bryan Jaskolka has been named the 2021 CanadianSME National Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year.
The CanadianSME National Business Awards celebrate the crucial role small businesses play in powering Canada's economy. The Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes entrepreneurs who have built successful, sustainable businesses and driven exceptional growth through inspired leadership, strategic business planning and innovation. Mr. Jaskolka was also a finalist for Inspirational Leader of the Year, while CMI was a finalist for Best Team of the Year. CMI was previously recognized as the Fastest Growing Company at the 2020 awards ceremony.
On his recognition for Entrepreneur of the Year, Mr. Jaskolka said, "I am extremely humbled to receive this prestigious honour." He continued, "Like so many entrepreneurs, my path has not been conventional. This award is proof that there are many roads to success and sometimes you just have to pave your own."
A serial entrepreneur, Mr. Jaskolka started his first business, a web design company, at the age of 16 with seed money won from a national contest for young entrepreneurs. While other successful ventures followed, were it not for an accident that nearly ended his life he may never have conceived the idea that formed the basis for CMI.
Unable to attend business school classes while in recovery, Mr. Jaskolka shifted gears from education to innovation. Seeing an opportunity to leverage his tech background with his knowledge of the lending industry, Mr. Jaskolka founded CMI in 2005 as a digitally focused mortgage brokerage. A few years later, anticipating the need for high-quality private financing solutions in the wake of the 2009 financial crisis, he reinvented CMI as a lender.
"None of this would have been possible without the strength and dedication of the team behind me," noted Mr. Jaskolka. "I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to our broker and investor partners, and to our dedicated CMI family, who are the lifeblood of our business. This is a true team achievement."
With a goal of modernizing lending and making private financing more accessible and transparent for disadvantaged borrowers, Mr. Jaskolka developed proprietary software to simplify and streamline the approval and funding process. Since then, CMI has become a driving force in legitimizing private lending, transforming it from a place of last resort for borrowers to a viable and competitive financing solution for a growing segment of Canadians.
"Bryan has charted a unique path in the sector," said Kevin Fettig, President of CMI Financial Group. "His integrity, unorthodox thinking, natural business savvy and willingness to take calculated risks have made CMI a true Canadian success story, one we hope will be an inspiration to other aspiring entrepreneurs."
Mr. Jaskolka's leadership has attracted mortgage funding through CMI's investment arm, providing over $1 billion in mortgages to Canadian homeowners, many of whom have been turned away by conventional lenders. This milestone didn't require the raising of any outside capital to finance the company's operations or growth. Mr. Jaskolka personally boot-strapped the expansion of CMI, achieving growth loan-by-loan by structuring mortgages that fit the needs of borrowers and providing strong risk-adjusted returns for investors.
Today, CMI Financial Group consists of four business units working together to originate, underwrite, fund and service private mortgages for brokers and investors.
About CMI Financial Group (CMI)
Founded in 2005 as a family-owned mortgage brokerage, CMI Financial Group (CMI) has grown to become a multi-faceted award-winning leader in the Canadian non-bank financial services market. CMI comprises four interrelated companies: CMI Canadian Mortgages Inc., CMI Mortgage Investments, CMI MIC Funds and CMI Mortgage Servicing. These four companies work collectively to originate, underwrite, fund and service private mortgages end-to-end for brokers and investors. CMI is one of the fastest growing companies in Canada, having been named to the Canadian Business Growth List in 2019 and 2020, and to the Report on Business ranking of Canada's Top Growing Companies for three consecutive years. A premier private lender with over $1.2 billion in funded mortgages, CMI is also one of Canada's largest private mortgage investment providers with over $600 million in assets under management in 2022.
SOURCE Canadian Mortgages Inc.
David Armitage, Manager, Communications, 1-888-465-1432 x7024, [email protected]
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