New Pitch Man

The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees isn’t the only state board that athletic director Frank Broyles has appeared in front of lately.

We hear Broyles went before the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System board last month to help pitch a $30 million investment in single-family mortgages. Broyles wasn’t the primary presenter but he did participate. Lead man on the pitch was Trevor Lavy, an executive with United-Bilt Homes in Springdale and Priority One Mortgage, the company proposing to sell the mortgages to the ATRS.

Bill Shirron, executive director of the ATRS, says Priority One offered to service and collect the mortgages and even to guarantee notes, a somewhat unusual offer from mortgage sellers.

But the ATRS has never invested in single-family mortgages before although it does buy notes backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. For that reason, Shirron says, he told Broyles and Lavy he wouldn’t consider a $30 million initial investment. Instead, the ATRS is now considering a $10 million purchase, but that’s dependent upon the due diligence findings.

We were curious as to whether Broyles had ever made a similar appearance before the ATRS. He couldn’t be reached for comment but Shirron says it was Broyles’ first appearance. Broyles had spoken with him on previous occasions about loans involving university buildings, Shirron says, but nothing ever came of those discussions.

Lavy’s banking connections include serving as a director for United Bank in Springdale. A couple of years ago, he and fellow board member William G. Reich purchased River Valley Savings Bank, an Ozark thrift, and formed Priority One Holding Co.

Since then, River Valley Savings has been renamed Priority Bank. Broyles serves on that thrift’s board.

Lavy’s name pops up fairly high among contributors to the Razorback Foundation Inc. His ticket priority is 90 on a list of 17,237 and his contributions total more than $116,000.