Ritch
grew up in Brevard County and attended Holland Elementary, DeLaura
Jr. High, and Satellite High School. While still a senior in high
school, Ritch joined the Army Reserves. “The war in the Persian Gulf
was becoming a reality and I wanted to do my part.” Ritch said.
After
graduating from Satellite High School, Ritch spent eight weeks in
Army Basic Training in
Fort Jackson, South Carolina before returning
to Brevard to start college at
Brevard Community College. Ritch
recalls, “My parents wanted me to pay my own way through college, so
I spent a couple years in community college working and saving
money.” With the assistance of the
GI Bill and full time jobs at
McDonalds and Hardees, Ritch went on to achieve his childhood dream
by earning his Bachelors Degree from
Appalachian State University in
1995.
While attending ASU Ritch was accepted into the North Carolina
Military Academy. A year later, he graduated as a second lieutenant
in the
North Carolina National Guard.
After graduating from ASU, Ritch immediately returned to Brevard to
join the newly formed family business,
Workman Mortgage Company. In
true “Workman Style” Ritch’s parents put him to work at the
reception desk and allowed him the opportunity to work his way up
the ladder. Soon Ritch earned an ownership percentage and along with
his parents and his brother, Robb, he began to grow the business.
Workman
Mortgage Company was honored as Small Business of the Year in 2004
and as the Innovative Business of the year in 2006. Ritch explained,
“Robb and I are very proud of our family business and we hope we
have created a place for our children to work some day, as
receptionists first, of course.”
In
his efforts to improve the family business, Ritch joined many local
and national industry associations and committees. At a meeting of
the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers Ritch met his future
wife, Tiffanie, who soon became an employee of Workman Mortgage. In
1997 Ritch and Tiffanie were married and in 2001, they welcomed
their first baby, Bailey Richard.
With
a young family and a thriving business Ritch also became active with
many local campaigns. He soon went from volunteering on campaigns to
running his own. In 2003 Ritch campaigned for the Florida House,
District 30. His campaign was cut short by his activation in the
Florida Army National Guard in support of
Operation Noble Eagle. Ritch learned of his deployment just days before Election Day and
was off with his unit a few days after.
After
3 months in training in El Paso, Texas and waiting for orders taking
him and his unit overseas, Ritch's unit was ordered back to Florida
instead. Within three months of his return, his unit was activated
once again. This time it was a homeland security mission in
Washington DC. The unit’s mission was to be the last line of defense
against another 9-11 type aerial attack against our nation’s
capitol. During this time, Ritch was promoted to Captain and served
as both an Air Defense Fire Control Officer and Battery Commander.
When he returned from this mission in December of 2004, Ritch
rejoined Workman Mortgage. By that time, his parents were ready to
retire so Ritch and his brother Robb took the reins. After 14 years
of National Guard service, Ritch hung up his Captain Bars in May of
2005. “This was among the toughest decisions of my life,” Ritch
explained. “I loved the Guard and my soldiers, I simply had to
re-dedicate my life to our family business if we were going to allow
my folks to retire; the business deserved my full attention.”
In
January of 2006, Ritch and Tiffanie welcomed their baby girl, Sofia
Grace, into the world and in 2007, Ritch was elected President of
the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. He worked to preserve
ethical and honest mortgage lending in a time wrecked with the
fallout of the real estate boom/bust. As President, Ritch has had
many successes, including the implementation of the
Lending
Integrity Seal of Approval in Florida and the passage of major
mortgage fraud prevention laws. Also, Governor Charlie Crist
appointed Ritch to the
Home Ownership Promotes the Economy (H.O.P.E)
Task Force. This Task Force was an effort by the Governor to create
proposals to assist Floridians currently in foreclosure and to
ensure Florida never repeats the mistakes made during the recent
real estate boom/bust.
The entire life of Ritch Workman
seems to point to leadership and hard work. Everything from serving
on the Satellite baseball team as everything from bull-pen catcher
to being a volunteer coach for the JV squad, to his time as a squad
leader in Basic Training, to Officer Candidate School, to paying his
way through college at his dream school and working with his family
to build a legacy for his children.
After
being elected to the Florida House in 2008, Representative Workman
was immediately tasked with moving legislation that would provide
sweeping reforms in Florida's lending industry. During the
first session of his Freshmen term, Ritch quickly became the expert
House member on lending and finance issues. As a result of
Ritch's banking knowledge, he was driving force in the passage of
Florida's S.A.F.E. Act.
In short, the S.A.F.E. Act:
Requires licensure of mortgage loan originators;
Imposes national education and testing standards;
Bans persons who have committed felonies involving
fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering
from being eligible for licensure and imposes
disqualification periods for other crimes;
Requires annual criminal background and credit checks of
licensees;
Directs Florida's participation in a national licensing
registry, which will allow consumer access to a
licensee's employment history and any disciplinary or
enforcement actions that have been taken against the
licensee by regulators
In
addition to the enactment of the S.A.F.E. legislation, Ritch
fought for Florida's End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients
by passing the
Alonzo Mourning Access to Care Act. Prior to
House Bill 675 becoming law, Floridians with ESRD, and
subsequently Medicare eligible, could not buy a supplemental
policy. That is, they were excluded from purchasing a
"Medigap" policy. The passage of
Alonzo Mourning Access to Care Act ended that
exclusion.
After
graduating from Satellite High School, Ritch spent eight weeks in
Army Basic Training in
Workman
Mortgage Company was honored as Small Business of the Year in 2004
and as the Innovative Business of the year in 2006. Ritch explained,
“Robb and I are very proud of our family business and we hope we
have created a place for our children to work some day, as
receptionists first, of course.”
With
a young family and a thriving business Ritch also became active with
many local campaigns. He soon went from volunteering on campaigns to
running his own. In 2003 Ritch campaigned for the Florida House,
District 30. His campaign was cut short by his activation in the
After
3 months in training in El Paso, Texas and waiting for orders taking
him and his unit overseas, Ritch's unit was ordered back to Florida
instead. Within three months of his return, his unit was activated
once again. This time it was a homeland security mission in
Washington DC. The unit’s mission was to be the last line of defense
against another 9-11 type aerial attack against our nation’s
capitol. During this time, Ritch was promoted to Captain and served
as both an Air Defense Fire Control Officer and Battery Commander.
In
January of 2006, Ritch and Tiffanie welcomed their baby girl, Sofia
Grace, into the world and in 2007, Ritch was elected President of
the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. He worked to preserve
ethical and honest mortgage lending in a time wrecked with the
fallout of the real estate boom/bust. As President, Ritch has had
many successes, including the implementation of the
After
being elected to the Florida House in 2008, Representative Workman
was immediately tasked with moving legislation that would provide
sweeping reforms in Florida's lending industry. During the
first session of his Freshmen term, Ritch quickly became the expert
House member on lending and finance issues. As a result of
Ritch's banking knowledge, he was driving force in the passage of
Florida's S.A.F.E. Act.