Lakewood, NJ – While many are struggling with the difficult economic climate, a young orthodox entrepreneur expects to close $3 billion in commercial loan closings in the upcoming year.
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Ira Zlotowitz, co-founder of Eastern Union Funding told commercial real estate news site GlobeSt.com that his company hopes to triple the volume of financing done in the 2012 calendar year.
According to Zlotowitz, commercial lending has strengthened over the past eighteen months and he expects the trend to continue. With $700 million in deals currently underway Eastern Union, which has offices in Flatbush, Howell, New Jersey and Bethesda, Maryland, is hoping to have a banner year.
The 37 year old Lakewood, NJ resident has been involved in the field of commercial finance for more than half his life, but the son of Artscroll Publications Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz has also invested his passion and his talents into perpetuating Torah study as well.
Zlotowitz founded the Masmid Govoha program in 1995 in order to motivate older elementary school students, who typically may have lost some of their youthful enthusiasm for extra-curricular learning programs.
The program, which began in Lakewood with forty seventh and eighth graders, offering students incentives for learning in their spare time, has grown exponentially and Zlotowitz told Real Estate Weekly that last year Masmid Govoha had 2,700 participants nationwide.
“The biggest motivation is recognition and positive reinforcement and every kid has the same exact chance to succeed,” said Zlotowitz. “Everyone wants to be recognized for their hard work.”
Zlotowitz is also the co-founder of Lomdei Hadaf, an organization founded in 2012 to help Daf Yomi learners with the often difficult task of continuing their daily studies, in order to reach their ultimate goal of completing the entire Shas. Lomdei Hadaf hopes to make that objective a reality by allowing Daf Yomi users to network with each other and by sharing often underutilized resources including shiurim, CDs, apps, seforim, emails, websites and other study aids.
Kol Hakovod to him. There is a future for the frum community if only they can emulate him and not others that have been in the news lately.
KOL HAKAVOD.
It should be Govoah (consonontal heh) not govoha.
Good to see people having dreams and pursuing them.
good for him
I wish him much hatzlocha.
I did a stint at Eastern Union about 6 or 7 years ago. Ira Z is a heart of gold that’s unmatched. His sole ambition to make money is so that he can be ‘marbeh kvod shomayim’ and he does it in so many ways. A very special and gifted individual. The RSO should continue to give him much hatzlocho.
So there may be some value to a secular education after all.
Is he a Touro Graduate?
Great, someone works, learns, and supports Torah institutions. This should not be big news, it should be the norm.
He is a great guy who does chessed in many ways.. There is a yeshiva in New Jersey who he is close to and goes out of his way time and time again to do what ever it takes to make the bochurim happy! Ira much hatzlacha! keep on doing your great work