"Happy Holidays to all Leasing News Readers, thanks for your support!

"Thank You Rick Jones for serving as Happy Holiday editor as well as webmaster. Also Ralph Mango,
who proofs all editions and contribrutes suggestions."
    - Kit Menkin

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New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Haley (Velasquez) Backus was promoted to VIce President of Internal Operations, Onset Financial, South Jordan, Utah.  She is located West Valley City, Utah. Started at Onset May, 2013, Senior Documentation Specialist, promoted AVP of Documentation (February, 2022 -
December, 2025).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-backus-76216a117/

Brian Getz was hired as Regional Sales Manager, Trans Lease, working remote from Greater Sacramento, California. Previously, he was Vice President of Pape Truck Leasing and
Alternate Fuel Vehicles (November, 2022 - September, 2025); Head of After Sales Americas, Hyzon Motors (August, 2022 - October, 2022); Dobbs Petteril, Fleet Sales (August, 2021 – August, 2022 . Full Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgetz/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bgetz/

Aaron Payne was hired as Application Support Analyst, LTi Technology Solutions, Omaha, Nebraska. He is located in Bellevue, Nebraska. Previously, he was Application Support Analyst, Q2, (October, 2021 - December, 2025); Client Technical Support Representative, Fiserv (June, 2019 -  October, 2021). Previously, he was at Cornhusker Bank,  starting December, 2015, Bank Teller, promoted Universal Banker (December, 2017 - June 2019).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-payne-522517a9/

Bob Rose was hired as Senior Vice President of Sales, Transportation, North Americza, Armada Credit Group, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where is is also located. Previously, he was Managing Director, Chain Bridge Capital Group, LLC (August, 2023 - December, 2025); Senior Vice President/Senior  Business Development Manager, Customers Commercial Finance LLC (August, 2020 - May, 2023); President of Transportation and Construction Group, Harbour Capital Corporation (March, 2008 - February, 2020); Vice President, Dealer Finance Group, Equilease Financial Services (2006 - 2008). Full Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-rose-18b91813/details/experience/https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-rose-18b91813/

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2026 New Story Credit Financing
Leases, Business Loans, SBA, Working Capital

Those listed are responsible for updating; many have not. This is open to funder and non-funders, as well as the footnotes that explain their capabilities The full listing then will be available on the
main site listing and they are published once a month in Leasing News.

In this edition, the link to the listing and full notes follow. Starting in February, the full listing will only be in the site index. The list will be available that goes to the footnote. The new updates will be listed only by the link to the information in the Leasing News Monthly Edition.

To update your listing, address Rick Jones (rick@leasingnews.org.)

Ameris Bank Equipment Finance Bankers Capital Black Rock Capital Investment BSB Leasing, Inc Calfund, LLC

Dakota Financial Financial Pacific Leasing Forum Financial Services, Inc. Gonor Funding Maxim Commercial Capital, LLC

North Mill Equipment Finance P&L Capital Corporation Quality Leasing Co. Inc. SLIM Capital, LLC TEAM Funding Solutions

Full listing: https://leasingnews.org/Story_Credit/Story_Credit.htm

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Help Wanted Ad
    Ameris Bank Equipment Finance

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The 1% Rule: Small Daily Wins that
Make You Unrecognizable in a Year
By Ken Lubin, Managing Director, ZRG Partners

New year, new goals, big declarations. But every athlete knows the truth: real change doesn’t happen in leaps. It happens in tiny, consistent, almost boring daily wins. The 1% improvements that stack quietly and compound until one day you look in the mirror and barely recognize who you used to be.

Athletes live by this. They don’t try to PR every day, and they don’t burn themselves out with hero workouts. They commit to incremental progress—slightly better pace, slightly cleaner technique, slightly more intensity. Over time, those micro-habits rewrite their identity. Suddenly, they are the person who trains daily, recovers intentionally, and executes without excuses.

Executives as Well as other capacities, including sales, can learn a lot from that mindset. In business, most people swing too hard, flame out, and then wonder why they can’t sustain momentum. They operate in bursts instead of systems. Meanwhile, elite leaders pick small, controllable habits that strengthen their performance every single day: reading 10 minutes, sending five meaningful outreach messages, reviewing their pipeline, tightening their schedule, or simply sleeping an extra hour. The habits look small, but the effect is massive.

The magic of the 1% rule is that it removes pressure.

You no longer need to overhaul your life. You just need to win the day in tiny, measurable ways. And once you stack enough days like that, your standards rise. Your identity shifts. You become someone who delivers—consistently, calmly, and confidently.

Ken Lubin
Managing Director
ZRG Partners, LLC
Americas I EMEA I Asia Pacific
klubin@zrgpartners.com
C: 508-733-4789
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klubin 

2026 Major Finance/Leasing Conference
Coverage and Other Information Updated

Fontainebleau, Miami, Florida

February 12, DeBanked
Biggest Show – You won’t want to miss!
    Fontainebleau, Miami, Florida
https://www.debankedmiami.com/page/5137529/registration

March 4, National Vehicle Leasing Association
    Nashville, Tennessee
https://www.nvla.org/page/2026Conference
Early Bird Registration Available
Attorney Sloan Schickler, Schickler & Schickler will cover the conference for Leasing News, as well as a spear at the conference.
   
March 4-6, Funders Forum/Broker Expo
    Hollywood Florida. Tee Off Funders Forum 2026
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/---Networking-Starts-Here---Kick-Off-Funders-Forum-at-the-RBFC-Golf-Tournament-.html?soid=1133130637774&aid=jJMUS1-TyJY

March 30-April 1, NEFA Spring Conference
    Huntington
 https://www.nefassociation.org/event/2026-spring-conference/ Beach, California
Don Cosensza, CLFP,  Senior Vice President, Maxim  Commercial Capital will cover the conference for Leasing News Readers.

April 14-16, ELFA National Funding Condense
    Chicago, Illinois
Online scheduling coming in late January, 2026 
Randy Haug, LTi Technology Solutions, will be covering the conference gor Leasing News Readers.

May 5–May 7
American Association of Commercial  Finance Brokers
Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Disney Springs, Orlando, Florida
https://members.aacfb.org/Conference
Leasing News Coverage by Vicki Shimkus, CLFP, Finance, Brokers Relationship Manager, Ameris Bank Equipment.  

October 21-23, AACFB Commercial Financing Expo
Hilton Irvine, Irvine, California

October 25–27, ELFA Annual Conference,
    Palm Desert, California  
Online Scheduling Coming later.
Randy Haug, LTi Technology Solutions, will be covering the conference gore Leasing News Readers

November 11–13, SF Net, 81st Annual Convention  
Marriott Hotel. Los Angeles, California 
https://www.sfnet.com/home/events/event-detil/2025/11/11/default-calendar/sfnets-81st-annual-convention

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2026’s Neediest Cities in America
– WalletHub Study

Hoping to inspire goodwill toward the less fortunate, WalletHub compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 28 key metrics to determine where Americans are most economically disadvantaged. The data set includes factors like the child poverty rate, food insecurity rate and uninsured rate.

Neediest Cities in America
1. Detroit, MI	11. Baton Rouge, LA
2. Brownsville, TX	12. Los Angeles, CA
3. Shreveport, LA	13. Fort Smith, AR
4. Cleveland, OH	14. Philadelphia, PA
5. Little Rock, AR	15. Newark, NJ
6. Gulfport, MS	16. Memphis, TN
7. Corpus Christi, TX	17. Baltimore, MD
8. Birmingham, AL	18. Houston, TX
9. Laredo, TX	19. Columbia, SC
10. New Orleans, LA	20. Las Cruces, NM

Key Stats

• Overland Park, Kansas, has the lowest child poverty rate, which is 11.8 times lower than in Cleveland, Ohio, the city with the highest.
• Gilbert, Arizona, has the lowest adult poverty rate, which is 5.4 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest. 
• Columbia, Maryland, has the fewest homeless persons (per 1,000 residents), which is 42.2 times fewer than in New York, the city with the most. 
• Sioux Falls and Rapid City, South Dakota, have the lowest unemployment rate, which is 5.4 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest. 
• South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest share of uninsured residents, which is 13 times lower than in Brownsville, Texas, the city with the highest.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit: 
https://wallethub.com/edu/cities-with-the-highest-and-lowest-population-in-need/8795

 

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Key Takeaways

California remains the largest state economy, responsible for 14.5% of U.S. GDP.

California, Texas, New York, and Florida collectively generate over 37% of national GDP.

The median U.S. state contributes roughly 1% to 2% of U.S. GDP.
The U.S. economy now exceeds $30 trillion in size, but that output is far from evenly distributed across the country.

While large and economically diverse states like California dominate contributions to national GDP, many smaller states contribute less than 0.5% each.

This info graphic maps the share of U.S. GDP by state based on data from Mark Zandi and Moody’s Analytics.

Breaking Down U.S. GDP by State

More than one-third of America’s GDP comes from the top four states—California, Texas, New York, and Florida. These are also the country’s most populous states, which directly impacts their economic size and output.