Meet the mortgage leadership team
Primis Mortgage All‑Stars
We champion growth…in our communities, our professions and as a company, elevating the lives of our customers and our team. We’re not here to win the mortgage game but to take it to the next level.
The Mortgage Leadership Team
We’re cultivating a communal culture dedicated to customer obsession, high trust, unwavering integrity, personal & professional growth, and burn-in-the-belly passion to realize success and innovation in home lending.
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John Owens
CEO – Primis Mortgage
John is a master of many trades. He has the uncanny ability to blend his “your family is my family” philosophy and passion for growing communal corporate cultures with more than three decades of experience leading some of the mortgage industry’s most successful and innovative organizations. As a husband, father of three and companion to dogs, Lulu and Tebow, free time is a rare commodity. Yet he successfully founded and served as CEO at one of the largest collegiate baseball preparatory academies in the country, Showcase Baseball Academy, and added “author” to his resume, publishing the business book “Corporate Cure.” After graduating from University of North Carolina at Charlotte, John founded and operated as CEO of the Ameritrust companies, which became one of the largest privately held mortgage companies in the country. He successfully sold Ameritrust in 2015 and later embarked on a new mortgage venture from the ground up […]
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Margaret Kronmueller
Primis Mortgage COO
We’re pretty sure that Margaret came out of the womb crunching numbers. She also brings to Primis Mortgage a palpable passion for achieving aggressive production goals and engineering inefficiency out of processes. While Margaret could easily evaluate data and analytics in her sleep, we’re glad […]
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Greg Richardson
EVP – Capital Markets
If its 4:30 AM you can be sure Greg is already up and moving, eyeing the markets for opportunities to boost revenue and reduce risk through a variety of hedging and loan sale strategies. Greg is an expert leader in the secondary markets community and […]
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Chris Blevins
National Sales Director
Chris is the all-around family man, even managing to corral his two daughters to work in the business. Surely this was their choice, but with Chris’ apparent dedication to the mortgage industry we can see what drew them in. Chris joined Primis Mortgage as National […]
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Brad Erwin
Primis Mortgage – SVP of Operations
As a former D1 baseball player for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Brad consistently knocks it out of the park in his role at Primis Mortgage. Don’t let his down-to-earth vibe fool you, Brad’s underwriting and operations management intuition is fierce. After college, […]
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Michelle Maccagnano
Primis Mortgage – Chief Compliance Officer
Michelle is truly an ace in our back pocket, and some might say a bit of a unicorn. While she can laugh with the best of them, she is also a force to be reckoned with, having worked for the FBI during law school and […]
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Michael Abate
Primis Mortgage – Director of IT
If he wasn’t Primis Mortgage’s director of IT, we’re pretty sure Michael would spend all his time reviving original models of SUVs. When he’s not under the hood, Michael leverages over 20 years of industry experience to oversee the company’s network and tech operations. Michael […]
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Belinda Arender
SVP and Tennessee Senior Market Leader
As far as Belinda is concerned, there’s no such thing as a corporate ceiling, let alone a glass one. As SVP and Tennessee Senior Market Leader for Primis Mortgage, her impressive success in leadership and loan production inspires others to achieve their own personal and […]
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Robert O’Bday
Regional Market Leader
Robert is our resident beast. Not really, but kind of. Having completed over 13 Spartan Sprints, Supers and Beast races, this Regional Market Leader is not afraid of a challenge in any terrain, including the mortgage world. Robert’s proven expertise in leading and motivating sales […]
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Kristin Martin
Regional Market Leader
You might not guess it on your first introduction, but Kristin balances her full-time efforts as a Primis Mortgage Regional Manager with her moonlight “weekend gig” homesteading on her 10-acre ranch. On the clock, Kristin expands sales production across vertical markets and creates and maintains […]
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Ritchie Love
Regional Market Leader
If it wasn’t for a childhood hunting accident, Ritchie may have never left his first love of baseball, for what became his lifelong passion for home lending. As a Regional Market Leader for the Carolinas at Primis Mortgage, Ritchie and his team work hard to […]
You’ll appreciate the confidence, care, and expertise that our Board of Directors brings to the table.
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W. Rand Cook
Chairman of the Board of Directors
What happens when you combine the steady tempo and easy-going attitude of a bluegrass musician, the no nonsense pragmatism of a banker, and the sharp wit of an attorney? Well… you get William Rand Cook (or “Randy” as we call him). An enigma-or perhaps just […]
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Dennis J. Zember, Jr.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Primis Financial Corp.
Dennis doesn’t fit the typical banker stereotype. He thinks—and acts—way outside the suit-and-tie-wearing baseline, and his gregarious charm and good humor feel more down home than multibillion dollar banker. As a child, his mom incessantly reminded him he could be anything he wanted, but that […]
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John Biagas
Board of Directors
From an early age, John F. Biagas knew he wanted to be a CEO. While other kids were dreaming about elite sports, he saw himself at the head of an elite executive table and started training to be an electrician by the time he stepped […]
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Robert Clagett
Board of Directors
Robert has been practicing law for nearly 55 years and was the former president and CEO of a community bank for over 30 years. His passion for law began when his father, who was a practicing attorney, took him to the law library at the […]
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Deborah Diaz
Board of Directors
If most people had nine lives, they still wouldn’t have the impressive roster of titles and accolades that follow Deborah Diaz around. Her glowing resume includes Chief Technology Officer at NASA and Chief Information Officer for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security— […]
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John Eggemeyer
Board of Directors
John M. Eggemeyer isn’t just a proponent of community banks, he has literally invested his career in them. As Founder and Managing Principal of Castle Creek® Capital, LLC he enables community banks across the country to thrive, having invested over a billion dollars in their […]
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Fred “Skipper” Garrett III
Board of Directors
Affectionately dubbed “Skipper” by his friends and family, Fred L. Garrett III is a marina owner and fifth generation oyster planter who has spent his entire life learning about the landscape surrounding his native Rappahannock River in Essex County, VA. An avid boater and salt […]
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Eric Johnson
Board of Directors
Board members not only lend broad experience and strategic thinking to Primis, they are also able to step back and see the forest through the trees. Eric Alan Johnson is no exception. For over 45 years, he’s been in the real estate business, most recently […]
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Dr. Allen Jones, Jr.
Board of Directors
Dr. Jones is described by his team members as ambitious and full of energy—and one would need to simply ooze these attributes in order to soar at his level of accomplishment. Not only is he a renowned physical therapist, a successful business owner, and a […]
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Charles Kabbash
Board of Directors
Charles Kabbash, or “Charlie” as we call him, has devoted the last 50 years of his life to real estate. He’s seen and done it all: from buying and selling, to financing, to renting and land lording; and has helped everyday people realize their dreams […]
Our mission & vision
Our mission is to create a culture of relentless customer obsession–always putting the needs and satisfaction of our clients first. We do this by fostering an environment of high trust with unwavering integrity. We approach our work with passion and enthusiasm to pursue excellence in everything we do. We support our team members’ personal and professional growth, enabling us to seek our full potential.
Our vision is to innovate and transform the mortgage industry by leveraging cutting-edge technology to offer personalized mortgage solutions for a simpler, faster, and more convenient customer experience.
Join our team
Customer obsessed and ready to grow?
We’re always looking to add awesome people to our team. If you’re passionate about home lending and want to take your career to the next level, let’s talk.
At Primis, we strive to create a workplace and a banking community that welcomes people of all ages, races, ethnicities, abilities, family or marital status, gender identities and expressions, languages, national origins, political affiliations, religions, sexual orientations, socio-economic status and veteran status. These varied characteristics make our collective humanity powerful and unique.
Primis’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy is intended to enhance our ongoing commitment to foster diversity at all levels.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against based on their race, gender, disability, veteran status, or other protected classification.