Special News Edition

2022 NEFA Funding Symposium
Their Largest Event EVER
 
By Shari L. Lipski, CLFP
Principal, ECS Financial Services, Inc.

The National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) held its 2022 Funding Symposium in Nashville, TN on Wednesday, November 2nd thru Friday, November 4th, with a record-breaking attendance of 405 attendees, breaking its previous record of 376 attendees this past spring in Huntington Beach. 

“We would just like to give a big thank you to the NEFA staff, sponsors, exhibitors, and conference committee members for their contributions to making it a great conference – deals were made, relationships grew, and fun was had by all!” said co-Chairs Jena Morgan of JDR Solutions and Stephanie Hall of Quality Equipment Finance.

The conference began on Tuesday evening with a networking and charity event sponsored and hosted by Shawn Smith of Dedicated GBC. Attendees were treated to a fun, competitive, and exciting time of axe throwing. This event generated over $21,000 to help support Safe Haven, an organization that provides resources for families facing domestic violence and housing needs.

Wednesday morning began with a STRIPES Leadership Workshop for attendees to learn about this new industry opportunity hosted by Monitor Magazine.

Women in Leasing Luncheon

The morning rounded itself off with the event of the season and yours truly hosting the always exciting Women in Leasing Luncheon on the rooftop of The Hampton Social Restaurant. Our lunch had another record-breaking attendance of eighty-seven women. Thank you to ECS Financial Services & Financial Pacific, an Umpqua Bank Company, for co-sponsoring another epic event.

Kirsten Hawkins and Amelia

NEFA also had its youngest member attend. Meet Kirsten Hawkins of SCJ Commercial Financial Services with 2-month-old Amelia. I had the wonderful opportunity to get to know Amelia during the event and look forward when Amelia will be attending a Women in Leasing lunch.

NEFA’s Committee meetings were during the afternoons which were well attended. Discussions involved expanding the focus on women in the industry and starting an equality committee. The CEO Townhall provided a wonderful opportunity to discuss the industry and exchange ideas.

Finally, attendees enjoyed three hours of networking during the Ambassador and Welcome Receptions with an astounding group of fifty-nine member companies exhibiting.

Chad Sluss

Thursday was a full day at NEFA starting with welcome remarks from Chad Sluss, NEFA’s CEO, followed by this year’s keynote returning speaker, Mark Scharenbroich, author of “Nice Bike.” Mark brought life to the fundamentals and true value in learning and taking the time each day to connect with others both personally and professionally through his unique comedic storytelling.

During the lunch and annual meeting, Sluss discussed the State of NEFA, announced there are 356 member companies with eighty-five new members YTD, and followed by announcing the leadership team for 2023. The NEFA Executive Committee will be President, Adam Peterson of Channel Partners, Vice President, Robert Hornby of CSG Law, Treasurer, Jacklynn Manning, CLFP of AMUR, Secretary, Paul Fogle of Quality Equipment Finance, and Immediate Past President, James Jackson of The Alta Group. Jackson, said “it was an honor to serve as Board President of NEFA over the past year. I am proud of what we were able to accomplish as a team and I am confident that incoming President Adam Peterson will continue to drive our future success.”

The 2023 Board of Directors are Don Cosenza, CLFP of North Mill Equipment Finance, Ron Elwood, CLFP of Navitas Credit Corp, Scott Forrest of Bluefin Capital, Kim King, CLFP of BankFinancial Equipment Finance, Kayla Perlinger, CLFP of Oakmont Capital Services, Shervin Rashti, CLFP of SLIM Capital, Robert Rinaldi of Rinaldi Advisory Services, and Shawn Smith of Dedicated Financial GBC.

Chad mentioned the Board of Directors will be developing a 3-year strategic plan, announced the upcoming 2023 conferences which will be March 22-24 in San Diego and October 4-6 in San Antonio, and introduced Hannah Kroll, NEFA’s new Director of Membership.

During lunch, inaugural recipient of the NEFA Legacy Award, Brent Hall of Alliance Funding Group, honored incoming President Adam Petersen. Adam follows his father Brad as President of NEFA just as Brent followed his father, Oren Hall.

Randy Haug awarded Scott Wheeler, CLFP of Wheeler Business Consulting, the Chris Walker Education Fund 2022 Member of the Year award.

CLFP members

Mel Vinson, Director of Academies for the CLFP Foundation, took a moment to gather the seventy-four CLFPs in attendance for a group photo commemorating the announcement that the CLFP reached an all-time high of 1,210 CLFP’s to date.

Kelli Nienaber, Executive Director of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, along with ELFF President, Nancy Pistorio, President of Madison Capital, discussed the Foundation’s industry resources, academic outreach programs, scholarship opportunities, and overall focus of bringing best in class information, guidance, and resources second to none to the equipment lease and finance industry all for FREE due to the generosity of its member donors. As an ELFF Trustee, I invite you to visit the Foundation website at www.LeaseFoundation.org to learn more.

Lovern Gordon of Boston Financial & Equity Corporation announced the formation of the Black Equipment Finance Network (BEFN). The association will focus on facilitating and increasing participation of black professionals in networking, creating professional development opportunities, and promoting diversity in the equipment finance Industry. BEFN will be hosting their inaugural networking event at NEFA’s spring conference on March 21st. Please visit their website at www.BEFN.org to learn more.

Jesse Johnson founder of Equipment Finance Cares provided an update on EFC’s initiatives during 2022 and asked everyone to visit www.EquipmentFinanceCares.com to learn about EFC endeavors and become involved by participating in future events.

During the afternoon, sessions included a legal update on commercial financial disclosures, a strategic planning panel, a collections discussion, cyber security concerns, and the hot topic of Section 1071.

Thursday evening’s festivities started with the President’s reception and two fantastic hours of exhibitor networking, wrapping-up with a fun-filled event at Whiskey River Saloon supporting the Chris Walker Educational Fund. The Chris Walker Education Committee uses the funds to issue grants to individuals in the industry for various educational programs.

Friday morning, attendees grabbed a quick breakfast and spent a few hours visiting with exhibitors before heading home.

As a lifelong WAEL/UAEL/EAEL/NEFA member, I believe this was the best event ever. The industry is full of leasing professionals that give back to our industry, companies, and communities like never before. I don’t remember another time that everyone was as engaged and dedicated to making our little corner of finance bigger, better, and more successful. Thank you to the NEFA team for another wonderful conference.

I hope you enjoyed this little recap and photos. On behalf of Leasing News, our Board of Advisors, and this conference’s roving reporter, I wish you all a wonderful 2022 holiday season and look forward to seeing you at a leasing industry conference in 2023.

Shari L. Lipski, CLFP
Principal, ECS Financial Services, Inc.
847.897.1711
SLipski@ecsfinancial.com
www.ecsfinancial.com
Chair of the Leasing News Advisory Board