Nick DelTorto thinks he knows how companies can retain and build trusting relationships with their employees. And it isn't by giving out a big paycheck or great retirement plan.

Companies that offer uncommon yet useful employee benefits like real estate services will have an edge over other employers, said DelTorto, President and CEO of Amerihome Mortgage Co., a Midwest mortgage banker.

"If you expect employees to be loyal and committed because you pay them a big salary, you're missing the boat," he said.

That was his thinking a little over a year ago when he launched Amerihome's Employee Benefit Advantage Program, a real estate and mortgage banking service that companies can add to their traditional employee benefits package for free.

Once a company adopts the program, Amerihome administers monthly "Lunch-and-Learn" programs, on-site seminars during the lunch hour, to teach employees how to put their home up for sale, buy a home or finance a mortgage, among other topics.

"We survey the employees," said Jeff Cummisford, Amerihome's Senior Vice President and part owner. "If we found that 30 people were interested in a topic, we would offer that topic for the month."

Sean Gaffney, a senior marketing engineer at Rockwell Automation's Mequon plant, attended a lunchtime seminar about buying a home earlier this year. Amerihome started the mortgage and real estate benefits program at Rockwell in 1997.

"I was kicking around the idea of buying a house for awhile," Gaffney said. "There was a lot of information at the seminar, and (buying a home) went very smooth after that."

Gaffney said a Loan Officer from Amerihome who was at the seminar preapproved him for a mortgage, and then referred him to a Reality Executives real estate broker, Jim Geracie, who works on an informal basis with Amerihome.

"Having the seminar over lunch was excellent," said Gaffney, who has worked more that nine years for Rockwell. "It meant I didn't have to go to a seminar at night or at a hotel."

Business Prospects

When some of the 11,000 employees at Rockwell Automation's Mequon plant were surveyed, Amerihome learned they were most interested in buying their first home. Next on the employees' list was debt consolidation, Cummisford said.

After the seminar, the employees can talk to Amerihome's mortgage bankers about their individual needs, Cummisford said. Usually, 20 to 50 employees attend the monthly Lunch-and-Learn sessions.

Amerihome generates new business through the seminars, but it doesn't profit from the program until after it finds a fitting mortgage for the host company's employee. As mortgage banker, Amerihome matches the employee with a mortgage from one of 50 lenders. The lender pays Amerihome a fee for finding them a qualified customer.

So far, several Rockwell employees have bought houses, and about 15 have closed loans through Amerihome.

Like Gaffney, Amerihome finds a mortgage for most employees looking to buy a home. Geracie, who is also host of the WISN radio show "Milwaukee's Talking Real Estate with Jim Geracie," acts as their broker and waives the closing cost.

"By making everything free, it gives the employees more of a reason to do business with us," Geracie said.

In the Milwaukee area, Rockwell is Amerihome's only corporate client, although DelTorto and Cummisford are talking with Kohl's Corp. and General Electric Co. The program also serves several companies out of Amerihome's two Chicago-area locations in Rosemont and South Chicago, Ill. The company employs 55 people, 15 of whom are based at its Brookfield headquarters.

"We're looking for ways to differentiate ourselves as the employer of choice in today's competitive job market," said Tom Funk, Human Resources Director for Rockwell, in a written statement. "Offering employees benefits like the Lunch-and-Learn program, where they can easily access information that helps them make important decisions, gives us an edge in attracting and retaining our talented work force."

Tough Sell

DelTorto said the hardest part of his job is marketing the program to companies' human resource managers like Funk.

"At fist they think, 'What the heck are you trying to sell me?'" he said. "It takes a while to convince them that I don't want to sell them anything, that this is something that would benefit them."

However, DelTorto is optimistic that more Milwaukee-area companies will join the program. Last week he attended a Society of Human Resources Managers convention in Madison, where he asked human resources managers what they thought of a program that offers employees real estate and mortgage services.

"They gave me good feedback overall," he said. "They said it would be a helpful benefit."

Amerihome isn't just looking to large corporations for business. DelTorto said small companies that don't have competitive employee benefit programs and labor unions could use this added benefit.

"It would make union dues justify you're getting more for your money," DelTorto said.

Neither DelTorto nor Cummisford knew of competitors for their programs, but Cummisford said programs like Amerihome's will become more popular with employers in the future, as companies offer more "lifestyle" benefits like real estate and legal services.

"In the 1980s, everything was touched by corporate downsizing, and it really betrayed the trust between employer and employee." DelTorto said. "When companies can help employees buy their first home, they really reach into people's lives and build a stronger bond."