Hanby Enjoying Independence, Success at City Title & Closing

When it came time to break out and be his own man, Blake Hanby didn’t hesitate.

In 2011, after a bit of soul searching, Hanby left Waco Title Co., where he held the lofty position of president and CEO, and with Jimmy Plumlee formed City Title & Closing LLC in Fayetteville.

At 43, the time had come to either chase the dream of self-employment or continue on at Waco Title.

“My wife Beth said ‘Either do it or stop talking about it,’” he said. “I enjoyed being part of a larger corporation, but that’s not what I wanted to do long term. I wanted to work for myself, so that’s what I did.”

Hanby didn’t have to look too hard to find colleagues who would join him. At least four staffers from Waco came over to City Title, and when he shook the trees looking for business, he did so with a deep Rolodex at his disposal.

“We knew we could make it,” he said, of opening a real-estate-related business when the market was still sluggish.

But once on his own, Hanby could again focus on what he loved about title work.

“I wanted to get back into dealing with clients and actually closing the deal myself,” he said. “I really like the transactional end of it.”

In November 2012, a second City Title office was opened at the World Trade Center Arkansas building in Rogers, a necessity due to the amount of business generated in the Benton County market.

The company now employs 23 people, including Hanby and Plumlee, and is firmly planted as a boutique firm in the region’s bustling real estate industry.

“We’re not trying to be everybody’s closing agent,” the 46 year old said. “We’re not looking for volume so much as quality.”

Hanby was a member of the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 40 Under Forty class of 2000, when he was operations supervisor at Washington County Abstract and Title Co. in Springdale. Arvest Bank bought the company, which became Waco Title, that same year and retained Hanby, who had originally planned to buy the company himself. He remained there for another decade, before he finally gave into the lure of independence.

And now that it’s all said and done, Hanby is all smiles.

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” he said.

It comes as no surprise that Hanby has flourished since opening City Title, said lifelong friend Mike Luttrell, a vice president at Walker Brothers Insurance.

“One thing about Blake, then and now, is that he always worked hard and is very thorough,” Luttrell said. “He had good relationships with key folks in Northwest Arkansas and they knew him as the kind of guy who could get things done.”

While City Title is an obvious focus of much of Hanby’s energy and experience, he is also a family man. Daughter Payton is a freshman chemistry and Spanish major at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and 15-year-old son Jake is a source of inspiration for Hanby’s philanthropic side.

When Hanby wanted to do something nice for his son, who has a developmental disability, he wound up doing that and much more. The result was the Miracle League and its two baseball diamonds at Randall Tyson Recreational Complex in Springdale.

Made of a cushioned, rubberized playing surface so children with developmental and physical disabilities can play baseball without the fear of harming themselves in the event of a fall, the diamonds were the first of their kind in this region.

Serving as chair of the Springdale Rotary Club in 2010, Hanby was well-positioned to support the cause, and in so doing, to enlist the support of the community, including Gerald and Vicki Harp. In total, about $650,000 in cash and in-kind donations were raised to build the Miracle League fields.

And as it turned out, Jake has had plenty of company.

“The ballparks are packed,” Hanby said, referring to the regional demand. “Every parent wants to see their kids get out and do something. There’s been a great response.”

All are welcome from three years of age up to 18. The Miracle League has two seasons per year — eight weeks in the spring and eight weeks in the fall. There are even plans to open an adult league if and when it’s determined that a demand exists.

“We built it for Northwest Arkansas,” Hanby said.