The State of the OMBA – August, 2026

OMBA President Dawn Carpenter & Executive Director Rich Swerbinsky provide an overview of the current and exciting future state of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association. 


Originally aired live on August 4, 2026. 

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Good afternoon everyone. Rich Sworbinski with the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association. We just went live and we're gonna give everybody just another 20, 30 seconds, and then we'll go ahead and get started. Dawn, how are you doing this afternoon?

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Doing great.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

Looking forward to it as well. And uh yeah, good to see you after the planning retreat was awesome. Thanks again for uh we had uh we had a great our full board planning retreat a couple days, uh a couple weeks ago. Um, just a really great event to get everybody together and so many good ideas that came out of it, my God.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So so excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

All right, all right, all right. All right, let's go ahead and get into it. My name is Rich Swarbinski, I'm the executive director with the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association. This is the state of the OMBA. This is a uh session that we do every other month with myself and our president and our new president. Congrats again, our new president, Don Carpenter, Kemba Financial Credit Union. Don, congrats again. And uh, how's your first? It's been over a month now, hasn't it? It goes by fast.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

It has, it has, yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

I told you, I tell everybody, like the year goes by so quick, right? Like, you know, the next thing you know, we'll be planning the next June conference, and you'll be passing the Gavel. But uh, it's been fast and furious already, and I can't wait to get into uh more of it with Dawn here on today's uh episode. And uh we're coming off to just uh what what a conference that we had a little over a month ago when we passed the Gavel in the presidency to Dawn. Uh over 240 registered attendees. Uh the biggest OMBA conference ever, and we 3X last year, so a lot of fun momentum coming out of it. And uh yeah, looking forward to discussing all that with Don. So, Don, speaking of momentum, um, we've been we've seen a nice little uptick in our membership, and uh uh we spent some time obviously talking about that at uh our board retreat a couple weeks ago, uh, as well as a bunch of other fun calendar item initiatives. So if you could maybe take the members through some of the some of the latest and greatest things going on at LMBA. Yeah, thank you, Rich.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Uh, and good afternoon again to everyone. Excited to be here, my first podcast as president. And as Rich said, we just came up off of an amazing retreat. Um, the year is short and we wanted to get to work immediately preparing for all the wonderful things that we have in store for our community this coming year. So membership, yes, being one of those things that was a highlight during the retreat. Um, you know, OMBA, as Rich stated, we're at a multi-year high and we're continuing to see growth from both our lending and industry partners. And that tells us that that what we're doing matters and that there's value in having a strong voice, strong relationships, and strong advocacy on behalf of our industry. And so, as president, one of the first charges that I made of the board was that each board member had to bring at least one new member to the OMBA. We all know that great organizations grow through relationships, and we want every Ohio company and organization to have a seat at the table. So if you're listening today and you're not sure if your company is currently a member, just reach out to us. We're happy to answer your questions. Our team will get back to you within the same day and talk to you about all the resources that we have to offer you as an OMBA member. Um but whether it's like through advocacy, um, education, networking, uh, leadership development, professional growth, we have it all. And we're excited to bring that all to you in this coming programming year. And so that takes right into the calendar, really rich. It's a good segue. Um Rich has just been providing some ideas and opportunities for us to continue to grow the organization. With that, we have some of our flagship events that are going to be coming up. So I wanted to talk to you a little bit about those, and those are going to be coming forth in 2027, and then we'll circle back around to what we still have remaining yet this year, uh, much to be excited about. But we'll start off next year with the Future Leaders program and our State House visit. And that's when we help the next generation of our industry to really connect with one another, to network and to see how it's done, to talk with the policymakers. And then in March, with an area that's near and dear to my heart, we'll have our first-time homebuyer summit. And that's designed to support financial literacy and education and to expand homeownership options for all Ohioans and beyond. Um, and then our next annual conference in June, Rich just finished talking about how wonderful it was this past year. We don't want you to miss another year. We are planning bigger and better things for 2027. So we'll get that information rolling to you as soon as we get through a couple of these end-of-year programs. But wow, I'm already excited about the momentum that we've built and can't wait to offer up another great conference for you all next June. But concluding next year, got a couple great events coming up, as I stated. Uh, first up will be our annual golf conference or golf tournament, rather. Um, that's going to be just coming up here in September. There are sponsorship opportunities and there are opportunities to participate. Um, so if you have not registered for that one, head out onto our site and do so, please. Or if you're interested in sponsorship opportunities, please feel free to get with Rich or one of our team members, and we'll get back with you on what those opportunities are for you to get out there and join us. And then we also have an upcoming event with the Columbus Clippers coming up that we'll offer in partnership, hopefully, with the Columbus Mortgage Bankers Association. Really excited about that event, and details are going to be coming really soon on that as well. Um, and then last but certainly not least, for this year, we're gonna talk to you a little bit about our home for the holidays event. This event you want to be in the room for. We already have a great slate of speakers lined up, great venue. I'm gonna let Rich take the take the mic again a bit to um share that with you. But can't be more excited about that new flagship event, and we're excited to present it to you all.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Love it. Thanks, Don. That's uh yeah, quite the menu of events that uh we put together. And yeah, it's something fun. I think we have six kind of flagship events now that you know we're looking at for 2026. Uh, and quite frankly, I would love to do the six months that we don't have a flagship event. We do like we're doing at the Clippers game. You know, we just we get together, some kind of fun in-person networking event, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, Dayton, Akron, Toledo, trying to get around the state. So uh get ready for a lot of a lot of fun stuff coming in 2026 and uh yeah, in 2027. And as Don noted, we we still have you know some great events still coming this year, the the aforementioned Clippers game. That's gonna be September 15th. We just literally finalized it. And uh look for more info in your email. Um, the golf outing that Don mentioned, and then a new event that we're bringing this year called Home for the Holidays. And um, I am just about to sign, I I can't quite say the venue just because I haven't inked the contract yet or got it to the board to look at, but we're close. We have a finished contract, it is an elite property in the Columbus area that people are gonna love to come to. Um, and man, we have really put together a big time list of speakers already, already confirmed and many months out. Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork, White Castle CEO Lisa Ingram. Um, and then in just a uh who's who of big names from the mortgage industry. We just got Stan Middleman of Freedom Mortgage, one of the biggest mortgage companies in America. He owns like 40% of the Philadelphia Phillies as well baseball team. He's agreed to come in and just a litany of big nine, big name mortgage industry, uh, leaders, thought leaders. Um, so it's gonna be a great event. You can find all the information at ohiomba.org. You'll see prominently there on the homepage our drop-downs, uh, the home for the holidays page. And we've got sponsorship packages up already. So we're really, really looking forward to it. That is gonna be December 6th through 8. I mean, the the primary days are Monday, December 7th and December, Tuesday, December 8th. Um, but uh we are gonna be doing a little opening reception for people that come in Sunday night. So good stuff and more to come on home for the holidays as well, including what I hope will be one of the biggest and best Christmas parties in mortgage industry history, which we are dubbing the mother of all Christmas parties. And we're gonna literally decorate it like uh like a pop-up Christmas bar. Like we're gonna bring it outside professionals to just, I mean, like Christmas throw up all over, uh, you know, a really beautiful uh party venue. So uh hopefully we'll see a lot of you there at that event. So good stuff. Um, absolutely. And uh uh just some other updates on the advocacy front before I pass it back over to Don to talk about some of the great work being done in our committees, our desire for great new committee members, uh, and then some of the stuff uh that we're doing with our local chapters and uh the five great local chapters that support OMBA. But I wanted to just touch on some advocacy updates. You know, at the end of the day, it is who we are, right? We are fighting for you on your behalf. Uh, you know, we have incredible lobbyists uh that we deploy down at the Ohio State House that keep us up to date on all the most critical initiatives for uh uh our members and uh homeowners and prospective homeowners. So um, you know, the advocacy side of things right now, um, of course, Ohio, uh last December, the governor signed four property tax bills, and they hit the 2026 tax bills that your borrowers are literally opening right now. Um, estimated relief in the state north of three billion dollars in tax relief for homeowners in the state. That is legitimately uh gonna start impacting families here very soon this year and throughout 2026 as tax bills come due. Um, you know, and the part that nobody's really connecting, though. I mean, let's think about it, right? Property, lower property taxes mean lower escrow. Lower escrow means lower principal interest payments. Lower principal interest means better debt to income, better affordability. So it really is a big win, um, you know, in in a time where affordability is really challenged. So a couple things to watch, uh, just on the advocacy front as we get into the fall session, which is of course going into a massive uh, you know, election in Ohio here, where there is all kinds of stuff on the ballot. So a lot to historically, a lot of stuff doesn't get done in in election years between like the summer and early fall, but we're hoping that's not the case this year. Some things we're watching, escrow analysis is getting a little bit more messy just because of some of the changes to tax bills. Um, you know, there have been there there are now multiple um, you know, pieces of legislation at the Ohio State House that call for abolishing property taxes completely. Uh, I don't know how realistic that is, um, but we're certainly keeping tabs on everything going on with that. And uh we'll keep you posted, but just wanted to give everybody a couple of advocacy updates, uh, things that are going on down at the Ohio State House that OMBA is uh keeping tabs on for the members. So, and Don, at our uh the part I love most, I think, about our strategic planning uh retreat was just that last day where we just really got into committee work. Uh OMBA's got six committees. One of them is an ethics committee that is really just chaired by the past president and and keeping tabs on all those issues. But uh five committees that uh growing in size and growing in scope of uh responsibilities, it's an exciting thing to see because these state organizations, the magic happens at the committee level. And Dadon would love it if you could just, yeah, take the members through one, how they can be a part of it if they want to. And then two, yeah, some of the good things going on at the committee level at OMBA.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Yeah, I mean, you said it it was, you know, one of the best ways to get value from the OMBA is to participate and to become actively involved. And as you stated, we have six committees, six different ways that you can become engaged. Um, the energy and excitement from our retreat, um, no doubt there's going to be so much great work done through those, and we'll be able to offer additional program offerings as we really dig into some of that work. Our staff, Rich has an amazing team, and they have regular meetings with committee heads just to ensure that each committee is producing meaningful content for all of our members. Um, so there is help there. Um, our education committee is already working on some CE opportunities, and they're working on new ways to gather member feedback on the types of programming and the types of events that you want to see moving forward. Um, we have the formation of a new Cleveland chapter upcoming, um, and we have a planning meeting scheduled for that yet this fall. We're really excited to continue to expand our local presence and to partner with our local MBAs. Um, as Rich and I talked about the Clippers activity that's coming up, their event rather that's coming up later this fall with Columbus. We'd like to get something like that on the calendar with each chapter and really just to continue working to support and grow memberships with our individual local and with the state organization so that we can have a greater impact. Um, one thing that's important for you all to know is that to be a member of a committee, you do not have to be on the board. So every member has an opportunity to participate, to contribute ideas, and to help shape our direction moving forward. Um, if you're interested, all you have to do is just reply really to any of our communications. And Rich will ensure that either he contacts you back or a member of his team does, or I will. We're happy to get back with you right away and to help you find the committee that might be the best fit.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

And real quick, though, it's a great point because you don't have to be an OMBA board member to be on a committee. And you know, and it's that's how I got involved with OMBA. I was on the board of OMBA for six years from 2013 to 2018. And I think I joined the membership committee in like 2012. And then so if you're thinking about like in today's day and age, I just think a big trend in business and in our industry is like just professional improvement. I'm biased because I am also a coach, but in general, I that's part of why I became a career coach, is part of what I do, is because you know, I do feel like people are just, you know, being more cognizant of things that they could do that can help improve their profession professional profile, serving on the board of a state organization. That's something that looks great on your LinkedIn, on your resume. And so if you're thinking about maybe like me, maybe one day I'd love to serve on the OMB board. Great way to get a little a little taste is yeah, just just join a committee. They meet roughly like once a month on. And we're we're trying to make the committees big enough where like you know, everybody just has like one kind of core thing to own, you know, and and you don't have too few people doing too much. So, but sorry, I just wanted to interject on that real quick, Don.

SPEAKER_01 15:35

No, I love that. Good point. I mean, myself, similar to you, Rich, I joined the OMBA by joining the Affordable Housing Committee. I was not a board member. Um, I also shifted from that committee onto the board and am now sitting in the president seat, which you know wasn't exactly on the on the mind at the time. Uh, but it's exciting to get engaged and to see how the organization can really be impactful uh and just to follow follow the chain um through service if you desire. Um but great exposure, great networking opportunities. And uh, we just really encourage you to become engaged to get involved. Um, we just recently out the women's committee, that's a new committee for us this year.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Yes, I'm very excited about that. Uh Heidi, um uh one of Rich's team members, amazing idea, and really champion this idea of continuing the work we were doing with women. If you attended our conference, uh you saw the Ohio's own this past year celebrating women and leadership, and we just wanted to keep that going. Um, so you know, please look for information. It's out there on our website, or again, message any of us if you're interested in becoming engaged and getting involved. Um, so many different types of committees where you can really, you know, find where your expertise might might lend itself to helping us again to further our expert, our efforts, rather.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Love it. And as we wind things down, I want to remind all if everybody has any questions, comments, anything you would like Don or I to answer about LMBA, yeah, go ahead and drop it in the chat. We've got 20, 25 people on live. And this is where I remind all of you listening to the podcast. Uh, we do these live. Um, and it's a good chance to put faces with names, maybe get in the chat. So all of our podcasts we do do live on Zoom. So just go to ohiomba.org and you can sign up for the live version of any of these. And those of you on live, a reminder about the podcast, which is another great way to to consume uh what we're doing here if if you miss if you missed the live. So um, but I'll wait a couple of minutes for some questions to come in as I kind of wrap up. Yeah, just a few things. Um, Don mentioned next June's conference. We're getting close to, you know, basically there's the this thing is getting big enough to where there's not a ton of properties that we can go to in Columbus, but there are some amazing ones I think that are now in play for us with a maybe a little bit bigger group. So I'm hoping like next week to be able to present to the board final analysis of uh a couple pretty special properties for next June. Um and as I noted, um, we'll have the venue reveal maybe tonight. Uh maybe tonight on my LinkedIn uh for home from the holidays. Just uh, you know, need to get the final details secured, but um it's gonna be another great event in any of these events, anything that we are doing uh with OMBA. You can go to OhioMBA.org uh to get signed up, to get registered, and uh yeah, and uh to to get down for the action. It's we're really, really looking forward to next year. We uh, you know, as Don noted, just came out of the strategic planning meeting a couple weeks ago with just a ton of energy. Uh the organization's got a lot of momentum. We wanted to seize upon that with this December event, which has got an incredible reception early. Um, so yeah, I think we like this as maybe like an annual thing that we would do in December for the members and bring in some great speakers and throw a fun little holiday party. So um, but all of this has been shaped by you. I mean, it has been, you know, really feedback from the member base, from our board of directors has driven everything this past year. So uh we're gonna continue to reach out to you guys in a number of different ways to solicit your thoughts on things we can do to bring even more value to the members here in Ohio. And uh yeah, we're gonna keep we're gonna keep getting after it. So with that, I'll uh pass it back to Don for some final closing thoughts, and uh we'll we'll take you home with this episode.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Yeah, thanks. Um, you know, you just said it again, the momentum that we're growing that we had at the retreat and just the momentum that the organization has going in general, I think is greater than it's been at any point in the history of the organization. Uh, exciting time to be a part of it. We're growing our membership, we're expanding our programs, strengthening advocacy, um, just with new leadership within the board, et cetera. We're working really hard just to create new pathways and to create more opportunities for our members. We're really excited about everything that we already accomplished in 26, but it's about what we're building from here. Um, so I just want to say, like on behalf of our board, you know, we want to thank you all for your engagement, those of you who are here today and beyond, your support and your investment in Ohio and in our industry. And we just really want to encourage you to stay involved. We need you to Rich's point. We need to know what's important to our members so that we can continue to bring you uh what's needed to move forward personally and within your respective organizations. Um, you know, an association is only as strong as its members. And we're seeing so much engagement right now and so much energy. Um, and we see more collaboration than we've seen ever before. So please consider joining us, um, joining a committee, getting engaged. And otherwise, we just want to thank you for being a part of the OMBA.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Love it. Great closing message. And uh thank you, our friend Tom Walker at OFA, Liz Facemeyer at MBA. Liz, block off those dates. I'm getting you on that stage. It's somehow, uh, the seven or seven eighths. So um, and uh yeah, just want to uh thank you all as well on behalf of Don, on behalf of the board, on behalf of OMBA. Thank you guys all for supporting what we're doing. And uh we'll see you on the next one. Have a great afternoon, everyone. Take care. Thank you. Thanks, Don. Thanks, Rich.