Since CAMS was founded in 1991, the company has grown from a one-man operation in the Wilmington area to its present-day status of operating in eight regions across the Carolinas. When I reflect on my early days in the business, I certainly never imagined that my small HOA company would see such expansion. And, as I’m sure any businessperson would say, growth and expansion are impossible without a commitment to providing high quality service, adhering to a set of core values, and forming invaluable relationships and partnerships along the way.
 
Investing in Technology

When I partnered with current Co-owner/CEO Dave Sweyer, we began building CAMS into the innovative industry leader that it is today. In the early days, HOA management was a much simpler business where one person could probably coordinate a board's needs and manage an association by themselves. However, fast forward to present day, and community association management has become a much more complex industry, one that takes many people with different skill sets to successfully manage communities.
 
As an industry innovator, CAMS is always seeking out ways to improve efficiencies in our systems and services given to our clients. CAMS was not satisfied with available software options in the industry, so we got involved in a software start-up which evolved into its own software company that CAMS now uses today. CAMS' investments in technology throughout the years have allowed us to navigate the increasing complexity of the industry by providing association members with conveniences such as our online portal. Through the online portal, our board members and homeowners can easily do everything from paying assessments and making maintenance requests to putting in ARC requests and setting communication and billing preferences.
 
Core Values

For any business to be successful, it must have a set of values and standards to which it holds itself. Not only must the company itself be accountable to these standards, but so must each member of the organization. Over the past years, CAMS has put an intense focus on homing in on a set of core values and ensuring that each member of our team truly understands, possesses, and exhibits these values each day. We feel that if we keep these four things at the forefront of each interaction not only with our clients, but also with each other, we will continue to be successful.
 

• We are here to serve – Our purpose is to serve the clients who have entrusted us with the management of their communities. Service can come in many forms both big and small, but our ultimate responsibility is to be of service to our valued clients as well as our teammates.
• We use good judgement – We all must make decisions every day and sometimes those decisions aren’t the easiest. Regardless of the ease or difficulty of a situation, we at CAMS strive to use good judgement. Our clients deserve that promise from us.
• We are here to learn and grow – CAMS is constantly pursuing educational and training opportunities for staff as well as learning from our management experiences. In every situation and interaction, there is a lesson to be learned.
• We take ownership – At CAMS, we don’t play the “blame game”. If there is an error or miscommunication, our clients can expect our team to take full ownership and make every effort to make the situation right. No one is perfect and you certainly won’t find anyone at CAMS espousing such. We are all human, but we can assure our clients that we will always do our best and, if we miss the mark, we will make it right.

 
Trusted Guidance

Over the years, CAMS has evolved to this idea of trusted guidance. Doing this means not only delivering on the terms of our contracts, but also guiding the boards we serve. We're here to make sure they’re following best practices and have created a learning management system to not only educate our board members but also our managers and other staff members. Currently, we offer our board members monthly "Ask the Experts" webinars presented by attorneys, Board 101 training sessions, a monthly "Scoop" newsletter, ongoing extensive Board Portal training sessions, an online board member toolbox, and many other educational seminars within our CAMS’ Academy.

Proven Processes

For those communities new to CAMS, we have developed The CAMS Way which includes building out Proven Processes for everything we do. This is beneficial in that communities can expect a seamless transition when they choose to partner with CAMS. Our onboarding process includes a dedicated team who collects all needed information to smoothly onboard new associations and educate board members and homeowners alike on everything from using the new software programs to best practices and Community Associations Institute (CAI) principles. We have one of the most highly skilled accounting departments in the industry that utilizes technology to provide full transparency to our boards. We also have a dedicated team of professionals within our community support department whose focus is to provide support and guidance to our boards 24/7. New clients can expect consistent delivery from CAMS and take comfort in the fact that they'll receive Trusted Guidance from day one.

The Next 30 Years

We at CAMS are excited about the future. As we practice our core values each day and continue to stay at the forefront of technological innovation, we remain committed to offering nothing but the best service and Trusted Guidance to our clients. The growth we've seen over the past three decades has been phenomenal and we expect to see even more over the next 30 years. CAMS couldn't have achieved so many years in the industry without our wonderful clients. We are incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to serve our clients each day and look forward to working with them for many years to come. 
 
Is your community getting the Trusted Guidance it deserves? If not, give the experts at CAMS a call at 888.798.2624 or reach out to us on our website.
 
 
Mike Stonestreet, CMCA, PCAM, AMS, is Founder/Co-Owner of CAMS (Community Association Management Services). CAMS began in 1991 with Stonestreet and a few employees in a small office in Wilmington but has since grown to over 300 employees serving eight regions across North and South Carolina.

His current role at CAMS focuses on mergers and acquisitions, culture alignment and high-level business relationships. Stonestreet is an active member of the NC Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) and has spent time on their board of directors, serving as the chapter President in 2019.