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At ORMS, we often get questions about our business model. Since our founding over a decade ago, we have made it our mission to advise our financial institution clients in the complex and ever-changing arena of risk management. We assess their needs, provide advice and counsel, and sub-contract with the best service providers in the market to get the job done. Our competitive advantage is based on three pillars: expertise, passion, and an unrelenting focus on that core mission of serving our clients’ unique needs.

This is a very different way of doing business in this industry. A lot of well-known firms have taken a generalist approach – offering a vast array of in-house services— from environmental pre-screens and RSRAs, to Phase Is and Phase II environmental site assessments, to proprietary technology platforms with flashy bells and whistles.

Admittedly, there is some merit in offering clients a one-stop shop. On the one hand, generalization does allow you to cast a wide net and increase the size of your pool of potential customers.

On the other hand, something is lost when you try to be all things to all people. When you offer such a wide range of complex services, attention to detail begins to wane. By specializing in just one area of practice and becoming truly expert in that area, you will have the opportunity to offer the absolute best service in the world. This is the path we have chosen.

At ORMS, we decided from the beginning to be our clients’ trusted risk advisor, business partner, and advocate, and to outsource most tasks to the best firms in the business – those that specialize in services like Phase Is and IIs, property appraisals, and technology platforms. This allows us to be more objective and recommend to our clients only the services they need, from world-class vendors that are the best at what they do.

In turn, we are able to focus on keeping our heads in the game, staying on top of the latest changes in industry regulations and best practices, and sharing that up-to-the-minute knowledge and expertise with our clients on an as-needed basis.

In this way, we have gained the trust and loyalty of our lender clients and maintained these partnerships for many years.

One of the favorite parts of my job is reading the notes we get from our clients. It always confirms for me that we are on the right path. For instance, Ron Hartsoch, SVP and Chief Appraiser at First Foundation Bank wrote:

“I value your opinion and I think that many consultants cannot see the big picture of risk; they get mired in the technical aspects of what they do and forget who the clients are and what they need. Appreciate our relationship.”

The Big Picture. That’s what I and the whole ORMS team are focused on, always. Our mission is to ensure our clients understand the importance of risk management and are making the right decisions to protect their institution from undue harm. For us, providing that expert advice in an efficient, cost-effective, timely, and courteous manner defines our success.

To all our clients – thank you for your trust. We will continue to do our best to earn it every single day.