Business
Holly Shipley, head of marketing at Class Valuation, makes the 2026 HW Marketing Leader list
TROY, Mich., June 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Class Valuation, a leading real estate praisal management company (AMC), announced today that Holly Shipley, head of marketing, has been named a 2026 HW Marketing Leader by HousingWire. The HW Marketing Leaders award recognizes the people behind the strategies, campaigns and brand decisions shing housing finance. Shipley is one of 70 honorees named to the 2026 class.
Image ction: Holly Shipley of Class Valuation.
Shipley stepped into her role in early 2025 during a period of significant organizational change, including multiple acquisitions and internal team transitions, and quickly established structure, direction and strategic momentum for the marketing function. Over the past 12 months, she has rebuilt Class Valuation’s marketing cabilities with a focus on content, thought leadership and market engagement and unified messaging across acquired companies while honoring the regional expertise and specialty strengths each division brings.
One of her most consequential initiatives was leading Class Valuation’s UAD 3.6 readiness campaign, a multi-channel effort that included webinars, blog content, contributed articles and a centralized resource hub. The campaign positioned Class Valuation as a trusted guide for lenders navigating one of the most significant praisal data transitions in years and delivered measurable results: more than 3,500 page views, hundreds of webinar views and a significant volume of client and prospect consultation requests. Shipley also spearheaded internal adoption campaigns for next-gen praisal platform Class Marketplace, helping migrate 90% of clients to the platform, and pioneered a companywide AI initiative that aligned 13 cross-functional departments around a shared platform and dataset.
Externally, Shipley has elevated Class Valuation’s industry voice through integrated campaigns, strategic partnerships and contributed thought leadership that has expanded the company’s presence among lenders, praisers and housing finance professionals.
“Holly came into a demanding situation and immediately demonstrated the kind of leadership that makes organizations stronger,” said Jonathan Willen, chief revenue officer of Class Valuation. “She brought clarity to our messaging, cohesion to our teams and real strategic impact to our marketing function at exactly the moment we needed it. The results she has driven in a short time are a reflection of her talent and her commitment to this company.”
As market conditions, client expectations and business priorities continue to shift, this year’s honorees are helping their organizations adt, innovate and grow, said Clayton Collins, CEO of HousingWire. We’re proud to recognize the marketers driving meaningful impact across housing.
For a complete list of winners for 2026, visit the HousingWire website.
ABOUT CLASS VALUATION:
Class Valuation is a leading nationwide praisal management company (AMC) renowned for its commitment to fast turn times, exceptional quality and unparalleled client service. The company leverages a powerful combination of skilled professionals, innovative products, optimized processes and advanced technology to empower lenders in fulfilling homeownership dreams. Consistently recognized by top mortgage lenders for its outstanding performance, Class Valuation has also earned accolades as a top workplace and received numerous industry awards. Founded in 2009, Class Valuation is headquartered in Troy, Michigan. For more information, please visit
X: @ClassValuation #praisal #valuation #lending #HousingWire #HWAwards News To view the original post, visit:
This press release was issued by Send2Press® Newswire on behalf of the news source, who is solely responsible for its accuracy.
Business
Asian shares mostly slip as latest fighting undermines the US-Iran ceasefire
U.S. futures also fell.
Jan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% to finish at 66,734.24. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.2% to 8,772.08.
The Hang Seng gained 2.2% to 25,956.72, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 4,075.34.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed less than 0.1% to 8,724.40.
The S&P 500 added 0.3% to close at 7,599.96 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 51,078.88. The Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4% to 27,086.81.
In the bond market, the yield for the 10-year Treasury briefly proached 4.52% before regressing to 4.46%, up from 4.45% late Friday.
U.S. companies with big fuel bills were hurt by rising oil prices. United Airlines lost 2.6%, and Alaska Air Group fell 3.3% after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed in overnight trading.
In Asian trading Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 94 cents to $91.22 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped 90 cents to $94.08 a barrel. The levels are still well above the roughly $70 level they were at before the war.
Much hinges on whether the United States and Iran will reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing deliveries of oil to resume from the Persian Gulf and easing the upward pressure on inflation.
Jan, for instance, imports almost all its oil, although the effects on prices of gas and other products have been relatively contained by the release of the nation’s reserves so far.
“Crude shortages have already forced refiners across Asia and Europe to aggressively reduce runs,” said analyst Stephen Innes. “The result is that the squeeze is no longer confined to crude inventories. It is spreading into the fuels that actually power economies: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, and nhtha.”
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.72 Janese yen from 159.66 yen. The euro cost $1.1654, up from $1.1631.
___
Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
Business
Contests for California governor and LA mayor head toward primary election with no clear leaders
LOS ANGELES () — California spiraled toward a primary election Tuesday with its two marquee races defined by uncertainty and a pair of outsider candidates looking to crack open the state’s durable Democratic hierarchy.
“We can’t give up on LA,” Pratt told plauding supporters at a block party Sunday. “We’ve got to fight.”
Democrats once feared that the party’s large field of gubernatorial candidates could open a path for two Republicans to advance to November. But in the campaign’s closing days, Hilton warned the opposite could hpen — what he called a “doomsday scenario” in which only Democrats advance.
Hilton is pleading with his chief Republican rival, county Sheriff Chad Bianco, to pull out of the contest, fearing an all-Democratic ticket would dampen GOP turnout across the state and reorder races for Congress and the Legislature.
Becerra and Steyer locking out a Republican from the November ballot would be “a disaster for California, it means no change. It’s a disaster for everyone who’s running as a Republican up and down the ballot,” Hilton said on the social platform X.
Bianco said he wasn’t backing down.
“It’s clear that Steve Hilton supporters should unite and support me,” he posted late Sunday, adding that supporters of the Democratic candidates should vote for him too.
Mail voting began in early May, but just 15% of voters had returned their ballots as of Sunday. That’s left the candidates seeing room for a last-minute shake-up in the race’s closing days.
A vulnerable mayor looks for a second term in LA
“It’s gotten completely worse,” Escalante said, with a Pratt c perched on her head. The Democratic Party, she said, has “completely abandoned us.”
The LA race is officially nonpartisan, but Bass is a Democrat, as is Raman, who made a last-minute decision to challenge her one-time ally and is among the top group of contenders.
A University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times, found Bass tightly clustered with Raman and Pratt, with other candidates trailing. The poll of 1,351 likely voters conducted between May 19 and May 24 gave no candidate a statistically significant edge.
The city is at a difficult juncture.
Hollywood jobs have been decamping for years for cheer filming locations. A downtown renaissance was crushed by extended pandemic closures and many office buildings remain desperate for tenants. The city has long struggled to provide basic services, whether paving buckled streets and fixing sidewalks or keeping streetlights on.
A crowded governor’s race with no clear leader
The governor’s race has been the most wide open in a generation. More than 50 names are on the ballot.
Rebecca Katz, a strategist with Steyer’s campaign, said Sunday that they are “feeling pretty good” but emphasized how close the race was with a sporting reference, “It’s three candidates for two spots, every possession counts.”
Becerra has been stressing his experience in arguing he’s best prepared to lead the nation’s most populous state, having served as the Biden administration’s health secretary, a former U.S. House member and state attorney general.
He said when people talk about a plan, he responds with: “Show me how you’ve implemented it.”
“Because I can show you any number of budgets that I have managed and balanced that are bigger than the budgets of the state of California,” he said at a campaign event in Sacramento on Monday.
Stephanie Ocampo, a Fresno native and a legislative staffer for the Democratic caucus in Sacramento, is supporting Becerra in part because he and his wife have ties to the state’s farm-rich Central Valley.
“He has shown up for the Central Valley more than any other candidates running,” she said at the event.
Broadly, Republicans in the race are promising drastic change after years of Democratic governance — Democrats haven’t lost a statewide race in two decades and Republicans last elected a Los Angeles mayor in 1997. Democrats, though in charge for years, are promising to bring down costs and continue to fend off the Trump administration in its numerous conflicts with Democratic California.
___
Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
___
This story has been corrected to show California is the nation’s most populous state, not the second most populous.
Business
Melinda Harris of Down Payment Resource named a 2026 HW Marketing Leader
ATLANTA, Ga., June 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Down Payment Resource (DPR),the housing industry’s leading technology for connecting homebuyers with homeownership programs, today announced that Melinda Harris, vice president of marketing and communications, has been named a 2026 HW Marketing Leader by HousingWire. Each year, HousingWire’s HW Marketing Leaders program recognizes the executives shing how housing finance companies communicate, compete and grow. Harris is among 70 honorees selected.
Image ction: Melinda Harris of Down Payment Resource.
Harris has spent nearly two decades helping she how lenders, multiple listing services and housing professionals understand and use down payment programs. In that time, she built DPR’s marketing function from a one-person operation into a structured, scalable engine that today drives industry education, lead generation and platform adoption across a national network of lenders, MLSs and technology partners.
Over the past year, Harris led campaigns designed to correct persistent misconceptions around down payment assistance, including persona-based outreach and myth-busting initiatives that repositioned DPA as a viable strategy for a broader range of homebuyers, not just low-income or first-time buyers. Her data-driven campaigns, built around DPR’s proprietary Homeownership Program Index (HPI) and Declined Loan Analysis, have become a reliable source of market intelligence for journalists, policymakers and housing professionals alike.
Harris also implemented HubSpot to better align marketing and sales functions, improving lead visibility and conversion across the organization. Her work supporting events, partnerships and integrations with major industry platforms has helped DPR expand its reach and deepen its presence across the housing finance ecosystem.
Her contributions have coincided with a period of significant company growth. Down Payment Resource earned a spot on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing privately owned companies after achieving 130% revenue growth from 2021 to 2024, and has been named to the HousingWire Tech 100 for three consecutive years.
“Melinda has been instrumental in evolving how the industry thinks about down payment programs,” said Rob Chrane, chief executive officer of Down Payment Resource. “Her ability to translate complex data into clear, compelling narratives has helped us shift the conversation from niche to mainstream, and her commitment to accuracy and education reflects everything DPR stands for. This recognition is well deserved.”
[The 2026 Marketing Leaders] are raising the bar for what effective marketing looks like in housing, said Sarah Wheeler, editor-in-chief at HousingWire. They are combining creativity, strategy and data-driven execution to build stronger brands and deeper customer connections.
For a complete list of the 2026 winners, visit the HousingWire website.
ABOUT DOWN PAYMENT RESOURCE:
Down Payment Resource (DPR) is the housing industry authority on homebuyer assistance program data and solutions. With a database that tracks more than 2,600 programs and toolsets for mortgage lenders, multiple listing services (MLSs) and I users, DPR helps housing professionals connect homebuyers with the assistance they need. DPR frequently lends its expertise to nonprofits, housing finance agencies, policymakers, government-sponsored enterprises and trade organizations seeking to improve housing affordability. Its technology is used by seven of the top 25 mortgage lenders, two of the largest real estate listing websites and 600,000 real estate agents. For more information, visit
X: @DwnPmtResource #downpaymentassistance #downpayment #HousingWire #HWAwards News To view the original post, visit:
This press release was issued by Send2Press® Newswire on behalf of the news source, who is solely responsible for its accuracy.
Business
FirstClose VP of marketing David Bolin named 2026 HousingWire Marketing Leader
AUSTIN, Texas, June 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — FirstClose™, a leading fintech provider of data and workflow solutions for mortgage and home equity lenders nationwide, announced today that David Bolin, vice president of marketing, has been named a 2026 HousingWire Marketing Leader, recognizing his strategic vision, measurable business impact and ability to translate complex lending technology into compelling market narratives.
Image ction: FirstClose VP of marketing David Bolin named 2026 HousingWire Marketing Leader.
Bolin was selected for his role in transforming FirstClose’s marketing function into a measurable growth engine, scaling the team from one to eight members and building the infrastructure needed to support demand generation, product marketing and brand at scale. Under his leadership, marketing now generates 65% of the company’s total pipeline, demonstrating a clear and sustained impact on company growth.
Being recognized as a HousingWire Marketing Leader is a reflection of what our entire team has built together, Bolin said. Our focus has always been on translating the real value of FirstClose’s platform into stories and strategies that resonate with lenders. When marketing drives meaningful pipeline and helps grow the business, that’s when you know you’ve built something that works.
Bolin joined FirstClose with 20 years of experience in fintech and mortgage technology, bringing a distinct ability to align brand, product positioning, public relations and communications under a single strategic vision. His tenure coincided with a period of heightened demand for home equity solutions, and he ensured the company was positioned to seize the opportunity, aligning marketing, product and sales to promote FirstClose’s advantages in speed, automation and borrower experience.
A key element of his leadership has been a focus on customer storytelling. Bolin led the development of a robust case study program that highlights measurable outcomes for lenders, including reductions in loan turnaround time of up to 65% and instances in which clients moved home equity from a secondary offering to their primary product. These narratives have helped differentiate FirstClose’s platform, which is used by more than 225 financial institutions and supports $129 billion in funded loans.
Bolin has also strengthened FirstClose’s positioning within the broader lending ecosystem, elevating messaging around strategic integrations and partnerships and reinforcing the company’s role in modern lending infrastructure.
David has done an exceptional job building a marketing function that is deeply connected to our business strategy and the real-world challenges our customers face, said Tedd Smith, chief executive officer of FirstClose. This recognition is well deserved and reflects his ability to connect product innovation, market demand and customer success into a story that sets FirstClose art.
About FirstClose
News
To view the original post, visit:
This press release was issued by Send2Press® Newswire on behalf of the news source, who is solely responsible for its accuracy.
Business
Dark Matter Technologies’ Wes Horbatuck named a 2026 HW Marketing Leader
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., June 1, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Dark Matter Technologies (Dark Matter®), an innovative leader in mortgage technology, today announced that Wes Horbatuck, senior vice president of marketing, has been named a 2026 HW Marketing Leader by HousingWire. The award recognizes marketing executives across the housing finance industry who have demonstrated measurable impact, strategic leadership and excellence in execution over the past 12 months.
Image ction: Dark Matter Technologies’ Wes Horbatuck.
Horbatuck, who was also recognized as a HousingWire Marketing Leader in 2024, has served as the architect of Dark Matter’s external positioning at a pivotal moment in the company’s evolution. Over the past year, he led go-to-market strategy for three major AI-driven product launches, directed the company’s third annual Horizon user conference and led go-to-market execution for 15 new partner integrations through the Exchange℠ Service Network, including messaging alignment, asset development and partner coordination.
Horizon 2026, held in ril in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, served as the launchpad for Ask Aiva®, a conversational AI embedded in the loan origination workflow; a Developer Platform expansion introducing model context protocol (MCP) connectivity, which enables lenders and partners to build integrations on top of the Empower® loan origination system through a published I layer; and the expansion of ElevateSM, the company’s loan servicing and recture solution. Horbatuck built the event narrative, led keynote and closing content, directed the stage experience and coordinated across product, engineering and executive leadership to position Dark Matter as an AI-first mortgage technology company with tangible solutions for the market.
Beyond the conference, Horbatuck built Dark Matter’s LinkedIn presence from the ground up, generating more than 67,000 impressions and over 3,700 new organic followers in under 90 days with no paid media spend. He also created and hosts the Spotlight podcast, extending Dark Matter’s voice directly to industry practitioners.
“People are kind enough to give me credit for being an ideas guy, but the truth is that ideas are the easy part. The hard part is turning them into reality, said Horbatuck. I have the privilege of working with people who execute at an incredibly high level and aren’t afraid to tell me when an idea needs work. Lyndsey Hearn, our director of growth marketing, Brenna Paquette, our creative director, and Tina Kisner, our events manager, are three of those people. I couldn’t do this without them.”
HousingWire’s Marketing Leaders represent the professionals shing how housing companies connect, compete and grow in a constantly evolving market, said HousingWire CEO Clayton Collins. We’re proud to recognize the marketers driving meaningful impact across housing.
For a complete list of the 70 winners for this year, visit the HousingWire website.
ABOUT DARK MATTER TECHNOLOGIES:
Operating with the nimble nature of a startup and the disciplined maturity of one of the industry’s leading providers, Dark Matter Technologies delivers powerful technology with unparalleled automation and relentless innovation to leading mortgage lenders, servicers and companies nationwide. For more information, visit
X: @dmattertech #fintech #mortgage #HousingWire #HWAwards News To view the original post, visit:
This press release was issued by Send2Press® Newswire on behalf of the news source, who is solely responsible for its accuracy.
‘Godzilla’ El Niño could be one of the strongest ever recorded | BBC News
A new phase of the natural El Niño weather pattern is "on our doorstep", according to UN scientists, boosting temperatures...
Monsoon likely to arrive in Kerala three days behind schedule around Jun 4: IMD
The monsoon is likely to arrive in Kerala around June 4, three days behind schedule, the India Meteorological Department (IMD)...
Asian shares mostly slip as latest fighting undermines the US-Iran ceasefire
U.S. futures also fell. Jan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% to finish at 66,734.24. South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.2% to...
Are self-driving cars safe? We got into a Waymo to find out | Terms of Service
Self-driving cars have hit the road. What does that mean for the future of driving? On a Waymo ride through...
Mexican authorities uncover secret tunnel at US border
Mexican authorities in an intelligence operation located a tunnel with an electronic sliding mechanism, allowing for hidden transit …
French Open 2026 results: Matteo Berrettini one of three Italians in quarter-finals
A beaming Matteo Berrettini said tennis is the “love of my life” after reaching a Grand Slam quarter-final for the...
SITA acquires Big Blue Analytics to expand AI-driven airline disruption management
SITA has acquired Big Blue , the company behind OCC Assistant Manager (OCCam), an AI-enabled disruption optimisation platform designed to...
Ukraine hit by large-scale Russian attacks
Russia launched a large-scale deadly attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv early Tuesday, damaging residential buildings, …
Caribbean Week in New York begins today
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) kicks off Caribbean Week in New York 2026 today, perfectly aligned with the start of...
Milli Vanilli’s Fab Morvan pulls out of Freedom 250 concert
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Laura Coates, Fab Morvan, the French singer from Milli Vanilli, explains why he's not...
-
Politics2 weeks agoTrump-critic Thomas Massie loses Kentucky primary to AIPAC-backed Gallrein
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago‘SNL’ Veteran Calls Out Elon Musk Over Lupita Nyong’o Remarks
-
Food2 weeks agoJuneteenth Foods: 23 Recipes for a Cookout Celebration
-
Entertainment2 weeks agoAdam Driver and Kenneth Lonergan Reunite For ‘Tomorrow Is a Drag’
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Picturehouse Entertainment acquires UK rights to A Town In Nova Scotia
-
Tech2 weeks ago
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, May 18
-
Politics6 days agoUN chief deeply concerned by Moscow plan for Kyiv strikes
-
HealthNews2 weeks ago
Max Healthcare plans to build 712-bed facility for Rs 1,400 cr in Lucknow. When announcing the company’s fourth-quarter, FY26 results, Max Healthcare said that “the board approved an expenditure of Rs 1,400 crore to construct a 712 bed greenfield hospital in Shaheed Path, Lucknow.” The facility is expected to be completed in FY30, and Max hopes to meet the increasing demand for healthcare in Uttar Pradesh. Max Healthcare, whose market capitalisation surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore last year, is expanding its operations into non-metro areas. As part of its growth strategy, the company will be focusing on both brownfield and greenfield projects to reach its target of 10,000 beds in FY2030.