When they helped start Newman Financial Services, Inc. in 1979, Scot Barker, David Smith, and Brad James envisioned a small entrepreneurial, niche financial services company.

Ironic, then, that the firm is now one of the largest real estate investment banking firms in the U.S.

Headquartered in Denver, Newman has branch offices around the country, and has managed more than $50 billion in securities financing for clients located in 48 states. Their clients include developers, owners and mortgage holders, small and middle-market companies, and financial institutions.

The friends at Colorado College never imagined that they would found and manage for 24 years a successful investment-banking firm. Barker and Smith met each other when serving as resident assistants at Slocum Hall. They met James their junior year.

“I don’t think I even knew what investment banking was back then,” said Barker. “It was serendipity. We all stayed in close touch after college and grad school and eventually came together to work on something we saw as a great opportunity.”

The three friends had begun to develop expertise in financing affordable housing projects via debt securitizations in the mid-1970s, and felt that the niche could be both a foundation for starting a company and deliver significant social benefits. All three of them wanted to combine this niche focus with a corporate culture that would stress collegiality, integrity, client service, and an entrepreneurial, work-hard, play-hard environment.

Today, Newman Financial Services, Inc. provides every year well over a billion dollars of debt and tax credit equity financing for affordable multifamily properties nationwide. The company also funds other real estate and asset-backed financing using its broker- dealer capabilities to raise funds not only in the U.S. but also in Asia and Europe. In July 1998, Newman Financial Services became a wholly owned subsidiary of GMAC Commercial Holding Corp., the largest commercial mortgage banking firm in the world.

Their CC education was integral to the success of the firm, said Barker, Smith, and James.

“The liberal arts education teaches you to embrace lifelong learning,” Barker said. “When we were first building the company, we were learning as we went, and we still are.”

“My math major was very helpful in this numbers-intensive field,” Smith said. “But I think the collegiality at CC has led most directly to our success. Maybe it’s the small class size, or the active participation in athletic teams, or late-night discussions over coffee, or the small size of the college overall, but at CC you learn to work well with other people. People at CC tend to form strong bonds that last a long time, as we can all attest. This has been a great 35-year relationship.”