In my attempt to follow up with the careers of various now-displaced former New Century executives, a press release earlier today highlighted that former New Century Mortgage COO Robin Cook-Auerbach has started up a new firm called Agire Mortgage Corporation, along with some other industry heavy hitters. Cook-Auerbach left New Century in February 2006 and founded Agire in October of last year; troubles at her former employer surfaced roughly one year later, in February 2007. Agire is based in Orange, Calif., and the company’s Web site says the company plans to be operating on a nationwide basis by 2008. The company offers three lending programs: subprime, second liens, and Alt-A. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Cook-Auerbach was forming another New Century. But, per the press release put out today, the company’s business model and key differentiator revolves around embracing that ubiquitous industry term “SOA”:

Agire Mortgage built its origination process around the utilization of new and existing technologies designed to deliver a more efficient and cost-effective experience. Agire’s Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) technology platform delivers increased flexibility and allows them to maneuver quickly in an ever-changing and dynamic marketplace. The SOA platform, combined with streamlined approval processes, allows Agire to quickly evaluate each application, render a decision, and effectively execute the loan on behalf of the broker and the consumer. In an origination market currently experiencing a dislocation and reevaluation of guidelines, Agire believes the timing is just right for a company taking full advantage of the latest technologies and processes to enter the marketplace.

The firm’s senior management has some familiar names as well:

In addition to Cook-Auerbach (President & CEO), the firm’s Executive Management Team includes Tony Vigna (SVP, CIO), Ron Harrison (EVP, National Sales) and Doug Speaker (SVP, Vendor Relations) — a group with extensive mortgage banking experience gained from working at some of the industry’s largest firms.

If my memory is correct, I believe that Harrison used to be at GMAC-RFC, and Vigna is a Countrywide expat.