What Fairway is like
What is Fairway Home Mortgage?
Holly Mattson President of Recruiting, Fairway
Fairway Home Mortgage is the brand of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation (NMLS #2289), a full-service, employee-owned retail mortgage lender founded in Madison, Wisconsin in April 1996 by Steve Jacobson. Today it is the #2 retail mortgage lender in the United States, licensed in all 50 states, and a six-time consecutive USA TODAY Top Workplace.
Here is the company, in the order people usually want it.
The basics. Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, doing business as Fairway Home Mortgage. Corporate NMLS #2289. Founded April 1996. Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin and Carrollton, Texas. Licensed in all 50 states.
The founder. Steve Jacobson opened the doors in Madison with a name suggested by his childhood best friend, Randy Cross. He still runs the company, and in 2026 he received the Top Workplaces #1 Leadership Award for CEOs of companies with 2,500+ employees.
The scale. Fairway hit $1 billion in annual fundings within five years of opening and is now the #2 retail mortgage lender in America. See how big is Fairway.
The ownership. Fairway has been employee-owned through an ESOP since 2016, and the company is being sold back to the Fairway team. See is Fairway employee-owned.
The culture. Six consecutive USA TODAY Top Workplaces awards, judged entirely on confidential employee feedback. Ten core values written with employee input. Two nonprofits — the American Warrior Initiative and Fairway Cares. See what is the culture like.
The thesis. National strength, hometown service. The company grew to all 50 states without outgrowing the way a hometown lender treats people — and that is the part I spend most of my time explaining, because it is the part you cannot see from a logo.
Still have a version of this question that's specific to you? Ask it. Holly answers personally, confidentially, usually the same day.
People who asked this also asked