AFFILIATE OF THE YEAR FOR 2008

This image award winner spent most of his childhood life in the rural village of Monroe, New York. When not in school, entertainment consisted of playing in the woods, building tree forts, and playing flashlight tag with neighborhood friends. From a young age, his entrepreneurial skills became apparent as he always worked hard to earn money by mowing lawns in the summer and shoveling snow in the winter.

At the age of 14, he moved from the dirt roads of Monroe to the suburban town of Ramsey, New Jersey where he finished his junior and senior year of high school. After he graduated in 1985, this recipient served three years in the army’s 1st infantry division (The Big Red One) stationed at Ft. Riley, Kansas. It was there that he learned and developed a strong sense of teamwork, discipline, and compassion for his fellow comrades.

This recipient returned home to New Jersey where he worked assembling water damping systems for the printing press industry. Working two years in a ‘9 to 5’ job, he knew the only way to fulfill his dream of financial freedom was to get into a career that could offer opportunity with no limits. In 1990, he attended the local real estate school and became a realtor with Murphy Realty-Better Homes and Gardens. Though it was a slow start in sales, Ed found that his real passion would lye in developing systems and marketing resources to help others in the industry achieve their goals. For the next two years, he learned and assisted in creating systems that would benefit agents in the New Jersey area for years to come.

After honing his communication and leadership skills, this homoree made a transition into the mortgage banking industry. In 1992, he joined RMC as a loan officer, a small family owned and operated mortgage lender. Moving quickly through the ranks, he went from selling loans to Senior Manager and then became a ‘hired gun’ for mortgage broker start-ups in the North Jersey region.

Feeling it was time for a change, this honoree relocated to North Myrtle Beach with an empty address book, a lot of passion, and the dream to be the most respected mortgage banker in the Grand Strand area. He joined a mortgage company as a senior mortgage advisor and later to hold the position of assistant Vice President/Market Manager for Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area, Ed started to dig his feet deeper into the sand.

Not asking for business would never seem to be the right formula for success in a 100% commission job. This honoree’s philosophy has always been, “Deliver great service, always be available, and always put the agents’ needs first as they are true clients.� With only three years in Myrtle Beach, word of mouth, incredible service, and his strong sense of commitment to the real estate community, local charities, his peers, colleagues, and family have brought him one step closer to his dreams.

This honoree is a gold sponsor of children's literacy by proudly donating to First Book, a national non-profit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. He is a major supporter in most of the Associations charitable organizations since he joined. This recipient is an eager player and provides considerable monies to most of these activities. We honor him today for these reasons and his stick-to-itiveness.

Please join me in congratulating Ed Bocchino, of Sun Trust Mortgage for his outstanding dedication and service, as we present him with this years AFFILIATE OF THE YEAR AWARD.