2013 Most Influential Women Honoree: Marita Thomas

Marita Thomas has her pulse on the residential real estate market.

When homebuilders start putting more sticks in the ground, she knows. Her team at Empire Bank very well could have closed on the development loans.

As a senior vice president for Empire Bank and head of its residential real estate division, Thomas leads a staff of 16 mortgage professionals, who last year managed $115.4 million in mortgage volume, ranking Empire Bank the seventh largest mortgage company in the Springfield market. According to Springfield Business Journal research, the group closed 800 loans last year, up from 500 the year earlier, when volumes were $69.6 million.

She has become an expert source in residential finance for area journalists, and her real estate and real estate financing columns have been published in SBJ, Springfield News-Leader and 417 Magazine.

Amid the numbers growth, Thomas emphasizes personal development and coaching in her management style.

“At my current employment, I can think of at least five people who I have coached and counseled who have been chosen for promotions,” she says.

A little-known fact about Thomas’ career: She started and ran a specialty restaurant, called Maine Round House, in Longmont, Colo., before moving to Springfield.

“After five successful years of operation, I sold the business in 1990,” she says. “I am happy to say that the restaurant is still an operating entity today.”

While living in Colorado, Thomas graduated from the University of Colorado’s Graduate School of Banking.

In Springfield, Thomas enrolled at Missouri State University well into her career. While studying finance, she worked part-time at Signature Bank and Empire Bank, and she earned a bachelor’s in 2002.

Thomas’ first banking job was for TeamBank in Kansas, where she moved up the ranks to serve as vice president of commercial lending. In 2003, Thomas reconnected with Empire Bank. She’s worked as a credit analyst and branch manager, before taking on her current real estate department manager position.

In her civic work, Thomas founded the Ralph K. Manley Endowment for Parkview, a foundation honoring the former home developer, city councilman and war veteran. “I was able to bring together a group of more than 100 residents consisting of civic and community leaders, organizations, friends and family, at which then-Mayor Tom Carlson proclaimed the day as Ralph K. Manley Day,” she says.

Thomas currently serves as construction division chairwoman for United Way’s annual campaign; co-chair for American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign; and a 40-year member of the American Legion Auxiliary.[[In-content Ad]]