Providence Development reduced back office work while improving investor relations

About Providence Development

Based in Bozeman, Montana, Providence Development specializes in the development and management of high-quality commercial and residential projects in seven states across the Northwest and Mid-America.

The firm prides itself on its unwavering commitment to community upliftment and delivering strong returns for investors.

The challenges that Providence Development faced

Solutions that the company used prior to Agora were insufficient because they lacked flexibility and made it difficult to customize projects according to their unique structures.

As Nicole Warwood, Chief Financial Officer at Providence, puts it:

“Every project with a unique structure posed a challenge due to the system’s lack of customization options, forcing us to rely on too many workarounds. The system we had before Agora was good, but it wasn’t great. It just wasn’t flexible enough for our needs, as there was no way to build individual structures for each project.”

Additional issues arose with Providence’s previous solutions that affected their investor relations, such as inaccuracies and errors in reporting, which resulted in incorrect information being shared with investors.

Additionally, Providence felt like they were not getting the customer service they needed to use the software effectively.

“I never felt the customer service was adequate for my needs to navigate the system confidently, especially considering the amount of money we were spending.”

Providence Development realized they needed a more customizable and user-friendly platform that would provide them with the flexibility they needed to effectively handle different deal structures, as well as more personalized and close support to ensure they’re taking full advantage of the solution.

Agora helped Providence automate operations and improve investor relations

Agora’s intuitive investment management platform has significantly improved Providence Development’s daily operations by enabling them to efficiently manage their investors and investments without tedious manual work. Nicole describes what she considers the main benefit of Agora:

“When investors need something, they need it right away, and that’s where the platform helps a ton for us. It takes a lot off my plate in terms of investor reporting, and giving investors access to their investments without having to contact me.”

Nicole and the Providence team saw an immediate, drastic reduction in time spent on investor-related tasks, thanks to Agora’s automation. This effect was especially tangible during tax season:

“We have around sixteen entities with all separate K-1s, and you know that’s very time-sensitive for investors. They need it right away.  So what took me previously four days now takes one hour with Agora. The K-1 document distribution to investors is fully automated and secure, saving me significant time and ensuring investors can submit their K-1s on time. It’s a win-win for everyone.”

Nicole also points out that Agora’s intuitive and user-friendly interface makes working with it as simple as possible. Team members know how to use the software from day one, without minimal training.

Agora enabled Providence to grow and adapt to new business models

When Providence decided to change the way they structure their deals, they found that with Agora’s platform, they could make the transition immediately, with no friction. The broad support and operational flexibility of the software facilitated any type of business model they needed:

“Our structure is kind of unique. We have individual projects with individual investor groups, but we would like to move to more of a fund model, and Agora immediately solved that challenge because it had the capability of doing that right out of the gate.”

Providence found their long-term growth partner with Agora

With Agora’s software and customer-centric approach, Providence found the flexibility they needed to tailor the system around their unique needs, instead of having to settle and be bound by the software’s limitations:

“From the outset, I was very impressed with the flexibility that Agora offered. If I asked for something, it was never ‘we can’t do that’. The answer was always ‘Let me see what we can do’. And for me, that’s what sold me on Agora: there was someone who would listen to our challenges and figure out how to solve them, versus “our system isn’t capable of doing that’.”

Ultimately, Agora’s solution enabled Providence to grow much faster than it could before.

Providence Development was looking for a long-term partner that would help them grow, and they found this with Agora.

Agora’s customer-centric approach ensured Providence Development received the essential customer service needed to guarantee its success.