NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year
Professional Services
Finalist
Alan Jaffa
CEO
Safeguard Properties Management, LLC
Alan Jaffa has been CEO at Safeguard Properties Management, LLC, since 2010. Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held mortgage field services company in the country.
Jaffa learned the business by moving through the ranks of Safeguard, experiencing first-hand virtually every department in the company. He joined the company in 1995 when it was a small start-up with few employees. As a result of a great work ethic and innovation, Jaffa moved up quickly, becoming COO in 2002.
By the time he became CEO in 2010, Safeguard had grown its employee base significantly. Under his leadership, Safeguard completed the acquisition of Bank of America’s field service department. Jaffa took this bold step to protect the company’s leadership position and expand its footprint into the south and west regions of the country where large concentrations of the company’s clients are located.
Under Jaffa’s watch the company has almost doubled its revenue, and he has helped fully integrate the acquired entity with Safeguard within six months after the acquisition.
Aside from a focus on growth, Jaffa ensures that he is a visible leader at Safeguard. He spends at least one day per week at each Safeguard location, maintains an open door policy and hosts monthly “Java with Jaffa” sessions around the company to hear ideas from employees at all levels.
Jaffa also meets weekly with his executive team, monthly with the entire senior management team of directors, and hosts quarterly two-day off-site meetings with the executive and management teams to encourage collaboration, address challenges together, build on best practices and identify new initiatives to maintain a competitive advantage.
These efforts help Safeguard deliver greater efficiencies, track and improve quality, recruit and retain diverse and qualified employees and vendors, forecast trends, and anticipate client needs for new and varied services.
How to reach: Safeguard Properties Management, LLC, www.safeguardproperties.com
