MOSES LAKE - Guild Mortgage recently added a new position to help make the mortgage lending process easier for customers.

The company brought on Moses Lake resident Kelly Shannon as a loan officer assistant earlier this year. Her father, Larry Shannon, is the location's branch manager, and sister, Anne Fisher, is the sales manager.

Kelly Shannon said she works closely with the company's two loan officers.

"I'm sort of the right hand for the loan officers," she said. "I get the program set up, get the customers in and then finish what need to be done before I hand it in to our loan processors."

She said she tries to identify and correct anything that could slow down processing of a loan.

"I help make that whole process go a little smoother," Shannon said.

Shannon said she is also licensed, which means she is able to take loan applications.

"The loan officers are really busy, sometimes they're caught up with different customers or dealing with something else," she said. "So I'm also somebody a customer can talk to." Before joining the Guild Mortgage team Shannon worked for Simplot in Othello and more recently at SVZ USA, also in Othello. Her job at SVZ, a food ingredient manufacturer, required her to travel a lot, she said.

Shannon, who grew up in Moses Lake, said she realized she wanted something that would keep her a little more local.

"I started looking and was hired here," she said.

Although the mortgage lending industry is much different than the food processing industry, Shannon said she likes where she ended up.

"It was a good move, I'm really happy I did it," she said.

Shannon said the company has a team of knowledgeable loan specialists to help Basin residents with home loans and re-finances.

For more information, call 509-766-7788. Guild Mortgage is located at 506 Hill St. in Moses Lake.