A Traditional Start With an Eye Toward the Future

Nearly all software development companies follow the same model: Develop a program to satisfy an industry requirement; lease the software product to end users for a one-time fee; charge additional fees for each additional user seat; and charge additional license fees for incorporating new modules released by the company to enhance and expand the original functionality. Furthermore, technical support, implementation support, training and education are additional charges and important profit centers for the software provider.

Cornerstone Management Solutions (CMS) followed that model…initially. But several years after the successful introduction of their first title agent software system, Wintitle, CMS realized several things:

• Software for title agents represented only a small part of the total real estate transaction market. This market was characterized by complicated relationships, regulations, calculations and state and regional differentiations. More importantly, however, was the fact that while existing software systems addressed the individual parts of this market, no software system had attempted to integrate all of the disparate parts.

• Users would benefit from a system in which they paid for the services provided, as needed, rather than require a large up front investment.

• Savings from using the SnapClose products could offset the usage costs.

The SnapClose Family of Software Products

The introduction of three software products, SnapClose Pro, for title agents, SnapClose Lawyers, for real estate attorneys, and SnapVendor, for title and real estate research companies formed the foundation of the SnapClose Family of Software Products. As separate, but integrated systems, they laid the foundation for continued development in the Real Estate Transaction Management market.

Cornerstone Management Solutions Management Team

Art Parent, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

In 1998, Mr. Parent, along with several other investors, acquired the assets which led to the formation of Cornerstone Management Solutions, Inc.  Since that time Art has served as Chairman of the Board and beginning in 2000, the CEO of Cornerstone. 

Prior to this acquisition, Mr. Parent was the Chairman of the Board of Allsteel, Inc. of Aurora Illinois.  Under his direction company sales increased from $140 million to $220 million while profits more than doubled.  Art is the past chairman and president of NJT Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary, New Jersey Title Insurance Company.  Art has been an officer at a number of investment banking firms, most recently the 135 year-old firm of Dominick & Dominick.  He also held the position of vice president of U.S. Filter, a billion dollar diversified listed company.  Art is also president of Tripar Corporation, a privately held investment company. 

Art is a 1961 graduate of Ithaca College, a 1966 graduate of Seton Hall Law School and is a member of the New Jersey Bar.  He has been married to Leslie for over 40 years.  They have two grown children Alison and Arthur II and two grandchildren.

Kevin Tomlinson, President

Kevin Tomlinson is President of Cornerstone Management Solutions, Inc.  Mr. Tomlinson has extensive experience in both mortgage originations and mortgage operations as a licensed mortgage banker and industry professional.  He was vice president of mortgage operations with Mortgage Access, now known as Weichert Financial, the lender affiliate of Weichert Realtors, the nation’s largest independent realtor.

While at Mortgage Access, Kevin was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the mortgage company.  He managed the processing, underwriting and closing of over two billion dollars in residential mortgage loans on an annual basis.  Kevin also spent 10 years working with Weichert real estate agents as both sales manager and loan originator.  He brings this frontline experience to Cornerstone Management Solutions, Inc.  Kevin received his BA in Political Science from Trenton State College (The College of New Jersey) in 1979.

John Hall, Chief Information Officer

John joined Cornerstone Management Solutions, Inc. in January of 2004 as their Chief Technology Officer and has since transitioned into the role of Chief Information Officer.  Most recently, John served as Vice President of New Product Development in the International Private Client Group of Merrill Lynch.

In his eight years at Merrill Lynch, John led teams in the U.S. and International Private Client Groups on both the Marketing and Systems Development areas.  John’s largest project was a multi-million dollar re-development of Merrill’s US Private Client’s Financial Foundation platform. Other projects included:  a 529 Savings Plan Calculator, an IRA Savings and Distribution Calculator, Portfolio Optimization and Reporting Tools, a Refinance Calculator, an International Financial Planning Platform, and other miscellaneous projects associated with the Merrill Lynch Online and Trusted Global Advisor (TGA) initiatives.

John received his undergraduate degree in Business and International Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Masters of Business Administration from both the Columbia Graduate School of Business and the London Business School.

Michael Smigie, Sales Manager

Michael Smigie received his Bachelor of Arts from Bucknell University in 1992 where he was the captain of the golf team.  After graduating from Bucknell, Mike spent one year in Granada, Spain, doing post graduate work in Spanish and political science.  During his time as an assistant golf professional at DuPont Country Club, Everglades Club and Rumson Country Club, Mike also oversaw a very successful telemarketing campaign for The Golfer Magazine.

Prior to becoming the Sales Manager at Cornerstone Management Solutions, Inc., Michael Smigie was the outside sales representative who structured the geographic sales territories and strategic selling plan for the company.  Mike’s collaborative ability with Cornerstone’s research and development team has ensured strong attention to client requirements and details on all SnapClose products. 

Cornerstone Management Solutions Board of Directors

Francois de St. Phalle

Francois de Saint Phalle has been a private equity investor, financial advisor and investment banker for more than thirty-five years.  Most recently, he has been a consultant for Evercore Partners, an investment banking and corporate buyout firm in New York City.  From 1989 to 2000 he was Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of Dillon, Read & Co., Inc. before it was merged into UBS.  In this capacity he was responsible for managing some 700 employees and for the oversight of the firm’s capital commitments in debt and equity markets.  Previously, Mr. de Saint Phalle worked for twenty-one years at Lehman Brothers.  He was named a general partner of the firm in 1976 and at various points he managed the Corporate Syndicate Department, the Equity Division and co-headed the Corporate Finance Department.  From 1985 to 1989 he served as Chairman of Lehman International, with a primary responsibility for developing a coordinated international finance strategy with American Express which had acquired Lehman in 1984.  He was named to Lehman’s Operating and Compensation Committees in 1980.

Mr. de Saint Phalle is a member of the Board of Visitors of Columbia College.  He received his BA from Columbia, class of ’68 and is currently enrolled in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University pursuing a Master of Liberal Arts degree in American History.

He is married to Susan Webb de Saint Phalle, who is Chairman and CEO of Webb Corporation of Toledo, Ohio. 

Fred H. Rohm

Fred is a retired senior partner and member of the Management Committee of Deloitte and Touche.  He is also a general partner of the North American Venture Capital Funds.  In addition to being a founding shareholder and member of the Board of Directors of Cornerstone Management Solutions he also serves on the boards of Pratt-Read Corporation (Connecticut), The Brunetti Organization (Old Bridge, New Jersey), Moretrench American  Corporation (Rockaway, NJ) and The Newark Group, Inc. (Cranford, NJ).  Besides having served on a number of New Jersey State boards, he was past president of the New Jersey Board of Certified Public Accountants.  He is also the past Chairman of the New Jersey Historical Society, the former president of the Madison area YMCA and is the president of The Kucklinsky Foundation, in addition to being a trustee of a number of other non-profit organizations.

June, his wife, and he have been married for over fifty years and have four grown children.

Gregory E. Sacco

Mr. Gregory E. Sacco, Jr. joined Lehman Brothers in June of 1967.  He attended Georgetown University and The Stern Graduate School of Business, at New York University where he received his MBA in 1971.  Mr. Sacco retired from Lehman Brothers in January 2000 as Vice Chairman.  He ran the firms’ global equity capital markets for 22 years.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of Rumson Fair Haven Bank & Trust, in Fair Haven, New Jersey.  Mr. Sacco is a former Board of Directors member of Norcrown Bank, in Livingston, New Jersey and a retired Board of Trustees member of the Canterbury School of New Milford, Connecticut.