People in the News, Sept. 15, 2026
(Blake Priest, courtesy of Click n’ Close)
Click n’ Close Selects Blake Priest as Director of Whole Loan Trading
Click n’ Close, Addison, Texas, announced Blake Priest has joined as director of whole loan trading.
He will lead the company’s scratch and dent purchasing, and oversee lead sourcing and pricing assessments, monitor hedging performance and participate in secondary distribution to support continued growth across the correspondent division.
Priest was previously a residential mortgage lender at Pinnacle Bank, and he has also worked at Open Mortgage and NFTN Inc.
Dark Matter Welcomes Salvatore Piccola, Gil Valera
Dark Matter Technologies, Jacksonville, Fla., has added Salvatore Piccola as senior vice president of product strategy and Gil Valera as vice president of professional services.
Piccola will lead product strategy, direction and long-term evolution across the Empower Loan Origination Solution, the built-in Point of Sale experience in Empower and the Exchange Partner Marketplace. He spent nearly 24 years with PNC.
Valera will lead Dark Matter’s professional services and consulting organization, with responsibility for helping customers implement, adopt and realize value from the company’s technology. Velera brings more than 20 years of professional services leadership, including 13 years with ICE Mortgage Technology.
ServiceLink Expands Origination Sales Team With Four Industry Leaders
ServiceLink, Moon Township, Pa., has hired Mike Barker, Cheryl McKenzie, Sara Nakae and Rick Trew as national sales executives within its origination division. They will be responsible for driving client growth strategy and forging new lender partnerships.
Barker brings more than 15 years of experience spanning strategic planning, sales and operations management, process improvement and relationship development. His most recent work includes serving as a customer care manager at Third Federal Savings and Loan and formerly as vice president, home lending manager at JPMorgan Chase.
McKenzie brings more than a decade of results-driven sales and business development experience to ServiceLink. Her most recent roles included working as a business analyst and senior sales consultant at Sagent and as a learning consultant at Citizens.
Nakae brings more than 15 years’ experience in fintech and financial services, having previously served as vice president of enterprise sales at FirstClose and senior vice president of sales and marketing at Candor Technology.
Trew brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience driving growth, market expansion and operational excellence across the mortgage and financial services industries. His background includes senior leadership roles at Acra Lending, Arc Loans and WesBanco Bank.
