The Ypsilanti Courier
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Partners in finance
Women make up local financial hub
By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: March 13, 2008
Candace Pinaud and Kaci Sicheneder met at an Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce breakfast in November of 2006. In January of this year, Sicheneder moved her business, Velocity Investment Partners, LLC into the office of Pinaud's Leave No Stone Mortgage Lending. Together, they are the financial hub of Depot Town.
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"We found we complement each other's business," Pinaud said. "We were giving referrals back and forth anyway, so this made sense."
"Our work styles are similar," Sicheneder agreed. "We both have high standards for integrity and professional ethics. We both also believe in service to our community."
Pinaud grew up in Toledo and studied accounting at the University of Toledo before moving to Ann Arbor in 1991. In 2002, she bought a home in the College Heights area of Ypsilanti and says she is determined never to leave Ypsilanti.
Pinaud, who has a Bachelor's of Business in finance from Eastern Michigan University, began in this area as a Realtor for Edward Surovell Realtors. She obtained her Broker's license in 2000 and set up her own company, Rite Real Estate. She maintains this license by completing yearly continuing education, although not currently acting as a broker. She has been a member of the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Board of Realtors since 1996.
Also in 2000, Pinaud switched over to the mortgage side of the business, beginning with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and moving over to Metro Lending in 2003. In February, 2007, she set up Leave No Stone Mortgage, which is affiliated with Ann Arbor Mortgage Company.
Besides home loans, Leave No Stone also works with commercial real estate and lending services for small businesses up to $2 million. "I find 'strategic partners,' good resources for my clients," she said.
Pinaud is actively involved in the Ypsilanti community. She is a member of the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce and is the marketing/public relations trustee of the Women's Council. She is co-chair of the College Heights Neighborhood Association, where she coordinated the CoPAC picnic last summer and has worked on various other neighborhood events. She also acts as bookkeeper for both the Depot Town Association and the Depot Town Community Development Corporation.
In addition, she is a member of the DTCDC oversight committee and was recently appointed to a seat on the city's Tax Board of Review.
Pinaud is planning a seminar on "How to Improve Your Credit," to be given locally in the future.
"I love Ypsi," she said. "I want to represent the Ypsi market - folks who are not in the perfect situation, who maybe have not-good credit, no money, no jobs, etc.
"I'm focusing on Ypsilanti. I can work in 11 different states, but I choose to work here."
Similarly, Sicheneder, who grew up in Wauseon, Ohio, fell in love with the area when she came here to attend EMU on an academic scholarship. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the university.
Sicheneder moved to the Silicon Valley area of California after EMU, where she decided she did not want to "spend eight years of 15-hour days to become a professor of social statistics" and abandoned her plans of having a PhD after her name.
After looking at her options, she found financial planning made the perfect mesh for her liking of people and numbers. She began working at The Capital Quorum, Inc. in Capitola, California, where she was part of a team that assisted the city of Capitola in underwriting a municipal bond offering and was active in community organizations.
In July 2006, Sicheneder and her husband, Don, whom she met at EMU, returned to the area to be closer to their families and find affordable housing. While looking for their house, they were filmed for the HGTV show "House Hunters," a program that had been looking for a couple wanting to buy in the Ann Arbor area.
Sicheneder, who is licensed by the state and under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to trade securities, has clients from all over Washtenaw County, as well as Ohio, California and Iowa. Her company is affiliated with Money Source Financial Services in Ann Arbor, but is an independent financial planning firm.
Sicheneder is an expert in financial life planning, risk management, education funding, retirement, estate planning, business succession, insurance, legacy planning and socially responsible investing. She is a specialist in 1031 Exchange, a method of selling one property and acquiring another without having to pay capital gains tax on the first property.
In addition, she has written guest columns and gives seminars on such topics as real estate investment trusts, 1031 Exchange Tenant in Common programs, Teaching Your Kids about Money, Selling Your Small Business and Women, Wealth & Wisdom.
Sicheneder says she believes in open channels of communication, which are aided by her psychology background. She also believes in active participation in the community in which she works.
She currently serves on the board of the Women's Council as treasurer and is the representative of the council on the board of the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce. She is also the events coordinator of Think Local First and is the financial advisor for the Depot Town Community Development Corporation.
"You get all the advantages of a big-city culture, like museums and theaters and great restaurants and entertainment venues," she said about Ypsilanti, "but it still has that small-town feeling of neighborliness and being able to be involved and make a difference."
Both women are willing to go to their clients' homes or businesses for their convenience. Although the office at 22 E. Cross St. is usually open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., the best way to contact them is by telephone or email.
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