 |
 |
RP FUNDING TEAMS UP WITH SPECIAL OLYMPICS FLORIDA
Now, they’re teaming up to “take the plunge” and provide life-changing opportunities for Special Olympics Florida. Watch enough TV, and you’re sure to see the face — that cherub-like smile from a dark-haired young man in front of an RP Funding logo. That’s Robert Palmer, the 33-year-old whose Orlando-based startup company has, virtually overnight, become a local leader in the mortgage-lending industry. Quite an accomplishment for a guy who dropped out of UCF as a freshman. With his vast advertising campaign and “Saving Thousands” TV and radio programs, Palmer’s brand has exploded over the past year. RP Funding has grown to 85 employees and nearly $300 million in annual sales, earning an impressive new title for its owner — Orlando Business Journal’s 2012 Outstanding Small Business Executive of the Year. With such rapid success, Palmer felt called to sponsor a charitable outreach. In September 2011, despite knowing very little about the organization, he and his company became involved with Special Olympics Florida. A short time later, he met Kristin, a 26-year-old with Down syndrome from Altamonte Springs. “She’s such an amazing person,” Palmer says about his new friend. “We formed such a bond.”
“What makes Robert so special to Kristin is that he is a genuinely kind, caring and down-to-earth guy,” said Kristin’s mother, Barbara Costanzo, a retired exceptional education teacher with Orange County Public Schools. “The first time you meet him, he makes you feel comfortable and at ease. Kristin can be shy and has difficulty warming up to people. That was never the case with Robert. He just has this way about him — you meet him and instantly feel like you've known him forever.” It’s that kind of return on investment that makes Palmer one of the biggest supporters of Special Olympics Florida, donating about $100,000 over the past 16 months.
About Robert Palmer
“If I had to work late or go on a road trip,” she said, “he would go with me. But he wouldn’t be playing a video game or something; he’d be watching and listening.” Her son showed a passion for combining service with a strong work ethic — like when he played guitar as an 11-year-old for his mother’s Sunday school class, or when he led a campaign against drunken driving while in student government at Lakeland High School. In his teens, Palmer became skilled in the art of TV production and computers, earning a scholarship to UCF. But in his second semester, his mother’s diabetes made it increasingly difficult to run her new business, Bankers Mortgage Connection Corp. So Palmer dropped out of college, moved back to Lakeland and took over the company, helping his mom transition into a new career: personal training. Fifteen years later — through the boom, the bust, various companies, recession and recovery — Palmer, who now lives in Seminole County, stands on the cusp of disruptive innovation. His “no-fees” business model provides wholesale mortgage rates by cutting out the middleman, a concept that strikes at the heart of how the industry operates. While currently servicing primarily the Central Florida market, RP Funding’s expansion plans include Tampa, South Florida and other areas across the state. From there, Palmer envisions growth that could put his company on the map nationally. As for how his business success relates to the lives of Special Olympics athletes, Palmer emphasizes the word “accomplishments.” “Everyone needs to feel like they have accomplishments,” he said. “As humans, that’s what we’re built on. That’s who we are. For people who normally don’t get to have accomplishments, for them to suddenly have them is life-changing.” At first, Palmer didn’t understand the full scope of Special Olympics. He thought it was just about giving the intecllectually challenged an opportunity to play sports. Now, he sees it’s so much more. “Once we got involved and met the athletes,” he said, “I realized how it helps people with social interaction. What touches me the most is, we’re seeing this program make a difference in people’s lives.”
Before RP Funding’s involvement, Barbara Costanzo, who runs the program, said a lack of volunteers meant some children were turned away. Not anymore. “He and his team are like family to us now,” said Costanzo. “He cares about people with special needs and wants to do whatever he can to help SOFL provide the best programs possible.” In addition to signing on to be a Year-Round Sponsor for Special Olympics Florida, RP Funding is the title sponsor of two other major events held in Feburary: Orlando Chili Cook-Off and Special Olympics ROCKS, a gala night filled with entertainment, gourmet cuisine, auction items and live music -- where the true rock stars are Special Olympics athletes.
About RP Funding RP Funding is a licensed Florida Mortgage Lender with offices in Maitland, Florida. As a direct lender, RP Funding underwrites, closes and funds its own loans in order to offer customers the best rates and highest level of service. Unlike banks and mortgage brokers, RP Funding offers “wholesale” mortgage rates directly to consumers to save them money. The only fee that RP Funding customers pay is when they choose to buy down to a lower interest rate through a rate discount cost. For more information, please visit www.rpfunding.com.
|
The story of Robert Palmer starts in Lakeland, the only child of a single mother who was a trailblazer among women in Florida’s banking and mortgage industry. Lynn Palmer recalls how her son, at a young age, developed a prodigy-like interest in the minutiae of her business.
