Leadership

President

As head of the Greater Nevada Mortgage team since March of 2015, James directs all aspects of home financing and servicing throughout Nevada and California. James’ background includes over 25 years of mortgage and home equity lending with experience in USDA, FHA, VA, Conventional, Jumbo, QM, Non-QM, Home Equity Loans and Lines of Credit programs, as well as Loss Mitigation, Loan Servicing, and Compliance.

Over the last 25 years, James has directed sales teams for various mortgage banking companies in California and Nevada. Before coming over to Greater Nevada, James oversaw credit union lending within local mortgage banks. He oversaw all mortgage, home equity lending and loss mitigation for Golden 1 Credit Union for seven years through 2012. Prior to that, James created a full mortgage lending division for KeyPoint Credit Union in California in May 2000, and he has been part of the credit union movement ever since.

James is also very involved in his community donating his time to various causes. This includes overseeing GNM’s Keys to Greater program which works with local organizations offering support to help end homelessness in Nevada through monetary donations to support nonprofits tackling this issue, as well as donations of time by the whole GNM team. Outside of work, James enjoys time with his wife, teenage boys and their dog Stella being outside exploring all northern Nevada has to offer.

Vice President of Mortgage Sales

Art Williams began his career in the mortgage industry after leaving the U.S. Army as an Infantry Officer and working in business development and operations. His background naturally lent itself to a career shift into sales and with an interest in the mortgage space, he began originating loans. With over two decades of experience in real estate lending, Art has refined skills in mortgage sales training, organizational analysis and optimization, team building, and leadership. He has also developed a talent and passion for helping mortgage professionals navigate their career journeys and reach new heights.

Art tailors his leadership style to each team member, as every individual has different needs and concerns. Whether they want to pursue revenue growth, reach professional milestones, or improve their work-life balance, Art strives to ensure their aspirations are tangible and achievable. He works alongside mortgage professionals to create road maps that will help them reach their goals, and then partners with them in that pursuit — supporting them through communication that informs and explains the “why.”

As Vice President of Mortgage Sales of Greater Nevada Mortgage, Art primarily oversees leadership of the mortgage sales teams across multiple regions. He also supports the delivery of exceptional mortgage sales experiences by helping develop and direct the implementation of strategies relative to mortgage sales efforts.

When Art isn’t working to develop his team, he enjoys spending time hiking, skiing, biking, surfing, and open water swimming. He’s an outdoor enthusiast who loves travel and adventure. Art is proud to call Reno home, is passionate about the local community, and volunteers with various charitable organizations in the area.

Vice President of Mortgage Operations 

Jeff Newbury’s career in the mortgage industry spans over 20 years and encompasses nearly every aspect of mortgage loan production. He kickstarted his career by learning the basics of mortgages as a mortgage trainee and enhanced his skill set in various loan production roles before moving into his first management position supervising frontline loan coordinators. Since then, he’s advanced to executive leadership roles at Primary Capital Mortgage, Stearns Lending, AmWest Funding Corp., MAXEX, and Rushmore Correspondent Loan Services. Throughout his journey, he has purposefully sought out new opportunities and different challenges to expand his knowledge of the vast lending landscape. Impressively, Jeff has participated in the execution of more than $60 billion in mortgage loans. 

As Vice President of Mortgage Operations for Greater Nevada Mortgage, Jeff is primarily responsible for overseeing leadership of mortgage operations and processing. He also plans, organizes, directs, and evaluates operational initiatives and performance to enhance the GNM operational experience for both borrowers and staff. Jeff is passionate about the employee experience and truly believes in the amazing abilities and outcomes of a dedicated and well-trained team. Therefore, he strives to make the day-to-day work experience positive and enjoyable so that team members can provide the very best service to clients, partners, and one another. 

On top of his career in home lending, Jeff feels privileged to have participated in several working groups as a beta tester reviewing emerging processes and technologies in various industries, including business analytics, machine intelligence, and optical character recognition (OCR). He is also proud of his 25-year stint coaching competitive youth soccer in his home state of Georgia. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys hiking, mountain biking, running, and finding ways to make his wife laugh. Since relocating to Reno, he’s been actively exploring new activities and passions in northern Nevada.