Greater Midwest Lenders Association

What Greater Midwest Lenders Association does

The Greater Midwest Lenders Association, operating under the legal name Illinois Mortgage Professionals Association (ILMPA) and the brand ILMPA, is a nonprofit professional trade association founded in 1987 and headquartered in Illinois. It serves independent Illinois mortgage brokers, non-delegated mortgage bankers, and affiliated professionals such as title professionals, account executives, and compliance leaders. The organization is led by Executive Director Bob Perry, who has held the role since its founding, and operates with a small staff of 1-10 employees.

ILMPA's core offering is a membership-based service package that bundles three functional pillars: (1) Illinois-specific regulatory compliance support covering APLD, IDFPR rules, TRID, advertising rules, licensing, and remote-work requirements, delivered through editable policies, checklists, templates, and live guidance; (2) legislative advocacy in Springfield, including active involvement in APLD reform and CRA improvement initiatives; and (3) professional development, anchored by the proprietary MasterMLO™ Advanced Certification, lending courses, and advertising compliance modules, supplemented by monthly virtual meetings and an annual TopGolf networking event. The technology footprint is minimal: there is no proprietary platform, app, API, or SDK, and content is distributed primarily through the website (ilmpa.org), an email newsletter, and a blog.

ILMPA generates revenue through recurring membership dues from individual professionals and small mortgage operations across Illinois. Distribution is community-led, combining a self-serve website enrollment flow with direct member engagement by the executive director and staff. The go-to-market relies heavily on peer referrals within the Illinois mortgage ecosystem, and growth — to the extent it occurs — is driven by adding individual members and deepening engagement through events, training, and advocacy wins, rather than by geographic or vertical expansion.

Name

Greater Midwest Lenders Association

Legal name

Illinois Mortgage Professionals Association

Website

https://gmlaonline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Greater Midwest Lenders Association, operating as the Illinois Mortgage Professionals Association (ILMPA), is a nonprofit statewide trade association founded in 1987 that provides Illinois mortgage brokers, non-delegated bankers, and affiliated professionals with regulatory compliance support, legislative advocacy in Springfield, professional certification, and networking events, funded by recurring membership dues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Trade Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Mortgage and Nonmortgage Loan Brokers (522310)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

Mortgage & Loan Introducers (Residential & Commercial) (FSAEAMAA)

Keywords

• Mortgage professional association
• Illinois mortgage compliance
• Legislative advocacy services
• Professional certification programs
• Mortgage industry networking

Headquarters

HQ city

Elwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: ILMPA generates revenue through membership dues from Illinois mortgage brokers, non-delegated mortgage bankers, and affiliated professionals. The association uses these funds to provide compliance support, legislative advocacy, professional training, certification programs, and networking events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Greater Midwest Lenders Association operates as a statewide, membership-based professional trade association serving Illinois mortgage brokers, non-delegated mortgage bankers, and affiliated professionals. Its core offering is an annual membership that bundles Illinois-specific compliance tools, legislative advocacy in Springfield, professional training and certification programs, and ongoing networking events. The association generates revenue primarily through recurring membership dues and functions as a community and advocacy hub rather than as a product vendor.

Product overview

The Illinois Mortgage Professionals Association (ILMPA) offers a membership-based professional association service for Illinois mortgage brokers, non-delegated mortgage bankers, and related professionals. The single unified offering includes advocacy representation, education and certification programs, compliance support tools, and networking events. Key components include the MasterMLO™ Advanced Certification, Illinois-specific compliance resources, legislative advocacy, and community networking events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ILMPA Membership
• MasterMLO™ Advanced Certification
• Illinois-Specific Compliance Resource Library

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• New York Association of Mortgage Brokers: Statewide trade association for New York mortgage brokers providing advocacy, education, and compliance tools — paralleling ILMPA's structure and member services in another key Northeast market.
• Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA): A trade body focused on community and independent mortgage lenders, sharing ILMPA's broker/lender-focused advocacy stance and member-driven policy engagement.
• Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association: A Midwest neighbor and direct analog: state-level association supporting Ohio mortgage bankers and brokers through education, advocacy, and networking.
• Texas Mortgage Bankers Association: A state-level trade association serving Texas mortgage bankers and brokers via advocacy, education, and networking — directly comparable to ILMPA in structure, revenue model, and member services, but operating in a different state.
• National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB): The national trade association for mortgage brokers in the United States, with the same membership-association model and broker-focused advocacy remit as ILMPA, just at the federal level rather than state level.
• California Mortgage Bankers Association: California's statewide trade association for mortgage lenders and brokers, offering advocacy, compliance, and education services; structurally analogous to ILMPA with state-level scope and a similar member-driven model.
• Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals: State-level association representing Florida mortgage professionals with advocacy and compliance support, functionally identical to ILMPA's playbook in a different state market.

Broad incumbents

• Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA): The largest national trade association for the real estate finance industry, serving lenders, servicers, and brokers. Operates in the same space as ILMPA but at much broader scale and with a wider portfolio of programs.
• National Association of REALTORS (NAR): The dominant U.S. real estate trade association — adjacent industry but the canonical example of a large-scale membership association model that brokers and bankers engage with on parallel issues.

Emerging players

• American Land Title Association (ALTA): National trade association for the title insurance and settlement industry; not a direct competitor but operates a parallel membership-association model serving title professionals who frequently participate in ILMPA's ecosystem events.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/greater-midwest-lenders-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Greater Midwest Lenders Association