What do you get when you merge the process orientation of an industrial engineer with the discipline and focus of a professional football player? You get Jon Volpe, the No. 1 mortgage loan originator in the U.S. for five years in a row, and Nova Home Loans, the largest privately held loan origination company in Arizona.
Let’s back up a little bit to understand how Nova got to its market leadership position. Jon grew up in Tucson. He began working at nine years old. He played running back in Amphitheater High School and attended Stanford University. At Stanford, Jon was a three-time All-Pac-10 Academic, First-Team Football All-Pac-10 and a Rhodes Scholar nominee.
Jon launched his professional career with the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions. He was honored as the CFL’s Rookie of the Year, breaking five CFL rushing records. The following year Jon was named the CFL’s Western Division’s MVP. After this stellar start to his football career, Jon moved to the NFL, signing as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers (his childhood dream).
Jon played a few months with the Steelers, and then migrated back to the CFL with the Las Vegas Posse, a new expansion team. His pro football dream came to an end with a career-ending injury.
Jon returned to Tucson and became re-connected with Ray Desmond, a family friend he knew from his youth. Desmond founded Nova Home Loans in 1980. At the time the pair reconnected in 1995, Nova Home Loans was a small business with 12 employees. Ray hired Jon as a “gopher,” doing pretty much whatever needed to be done to close loans and produce satisfied customers.
Jon understood that the mortgage industry is a complex process delivering dream fulfillment to families. For many home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, the financial side of the purchase process is stressful.
Jon saw tremendous opportunities with Nova, and began to apply the discipline of his football learnings with the process orientation of his industrial engineering education. What came out of this is the Nova Playbook and Training Program.
The program combines Jon’s perspective and expertise with almost 30 years of experience and employee input and feedback. Nova has a clear path to accomplish its goals and produce satisfied customers.
Their mission statement is a single word — Yes.
Their motto is to underpromise and over-deliver.
All employees live by the acronym DIRTF — Do It Right the First-time. When Nova says yes, customers can take it to the bank because of the training program.
Jon knew that Nova needed to establish and control the loan process from beginning to end. The company evolved from being a broker relying on banks and investors to approve loans to the wholly owned mortgage banker and brokerage house they are today.
In other words, Nova controls the entire mortgage process under one roof.
The loan process itself needed to be simple. Hence, streamlined manufacturing and industrial processes applied to the mortgage industry. This included time frames and quality control checks for each step in the mortgage loan process. Risk management policies that afforded multiple paths to completing a loan.
Jon’s football background enabled team training and development. One example is a simple index card. One of Jon’s coaches gave him an index card and instructed him on goal setting. Lay out his five-year plan on one index card, and review it annually.
This approach is part of the playbook and part of the training for branch managers and loan originators. As Jon shared with me, Nova not only helps customers realize their dreams. They also help employees realize their goals.
Jon’s personal journey took him from gopher in 1995 to managing partner to co-owner to owner and CEO in 2003. In 2022, Ryan Vondrak became Nova CEO, with Jon remaining as owner and chairman of the board. Under Jon’s tutelage, Nova has expanded to 19 states.
In 2002, the company founded Miracle En El Barrio, an annual event that provides toys for thousands of children during the holidays. Nova is the original sponsor of The Arizona Bowl, where 100% of the proceeds go to charities. This was a condition Jon wanted in order for Nova to sponsor the Bowl. Nova’s give-back efforts now include an investment of $10 million into a trust for non-profits throughout Tucson and Southern Arizona.
Jon summarized who Nova is in three simple statements that illuminate why the company is so successful: Provide the very best to customers and employees; promote from within; and give back.
