New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Tom Burns was promoted Director of Credit, PEAC Solutions,  Mount Laurel, New Jersey. He joined PEAC Solutions July, 2004, Senior Credit Analyst, promoted Credit Manager, January, 2016, promoted AVP, January, 2018, promoted Credit Leader (April, 2022 - April, 2025). Full Bio:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-burns-7089b79/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-burns-7089b79/

Justin Friedman was hired as Regional Sales Manager,  Partnerships, PEAC Solutions to work remote from Portland, Maine. Previously he was at Enova International starting May, 2019, Senior BD Executive Partnerships, promoted Head of Sales Training & Development (NYC & CO), OnDeck (January, 2022 - April, 2025); Partnerships & Inside Sales Director, Libertas Funding LLC (April, 2018 - May, 2019). Full Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-f-48bb74a6/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-f-48bb74a6/

Priscilla A. Gray, CLFP, was hired as Documentation and Funding Administrator, First National Capital
Corporation, Irvine, California. She previously was Senior Contract Manger, 360 Equipment Finance
(January, 2025 - April, 2025); Operations Manager, LendSpark (November, 2019 - January, 2025); VP
of Documentation & Funding, Fork Financial Services, Inc.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/priscilla-a-gray-clfp-b53920108/

Amanda (Sapienza) Leach was hired as Vice President, Managing Underwriter,  Flagstar Bank, Hicksville, New York, also working from Hicksville. Previously, she was Vice President of Risk, SLR Equipment (June, 2023 - March, 2025); She joined Nexseer Capital July, 2018 as Credit Manager, promoted Vice President of Credit, CLFP (September, 2021 - June, 2023); Credit Analyst, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Company, Limited (December, 2014 -
July, 2018): Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-sapienza-leach-09374577/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-sapienza-leach-09374577

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Best Practices Create Sustainability
By Scott Wheeler, CLFP

Seasoned originators in the commercial equipment finance and leasing industry understand that volatility demands discipline. Adhering to established best practices is not just advisable—it is essential for protecting both company integrity and personal credibility.

Cutting corners might seem like a shortcut, but in reality, it is a fast track to long-term risk.

During challenging periods, less experienced originators may feel pressured to bend minor rules in pursuit of short-term wins. However, this mindset can lead to lasting damage. In 2025, as market uncertainty persists, originators must remain especially vigilant. As the industry's first line of defense, it is their responsibility to pause and investigate when something feels off. Instincts matter—trust them.

Fraud tends to rise in times of instability. Desperation can drive individuals to make unethical choices. That is why it is more important than ever for originators to uphold integrity, double-check details, and stay committed to the right processes. Doing the right thing is not always the easiest path, but it is always the most sustainable one

Scott A. Wheeler, CLFP
Wheeler Business Consulting
1314 Marquis Ct.
Fallston, Maryland 21047
Phone: 410 877 0428
Fax: 410 877 8161

Email: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com
Web: www.wheelerbusinessconsulting.com

Wheeler Business Consulting is working with individual originators and sales teams throughout the industry to ensure that they are well positioned in the market, capturing their fair share of business, and outperforming the competition. To schedule a one-on-one meeting contact Scott Wheeler at: scott@wheelerbusinessconsulting.com

Balboa Capital Available Position
Program Manager II- Equipment Broker Sales

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The Best Profession: Sales
By Steve Chriest

A vendor partner we worked with a few years ago provided us with some revealing research information about the sales profession. Among working professionals, it appears that salespeople, generally, are a well-balanced, stable group.

In their work as purveyors of sales excellence, this vendor maintains a database of over 300,000 sales candidates, 100,000 business decision-makers, and 1500 sales forces. Understanding salespeople and formulating actuarial tools that predict success in sales are core parts of their business. Here is some of the interesting information they have discovered:

Among doctors, lawyers, and salespeople, which profession would you guess has the highest average return for their investment in education? According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is salespeople, not doctors or lawyers, who enjoy the highest average return for their investment in education.

Who has the highest suicide rate among dentists, psychologists, business executives, laborers and salespeople? If you guessed dentists, you would be right. With all the rejection most salespeople endure on a daily basis, you might think salespeople rank high on this list. In reality, salespeople have the lowest rate of suicide among these groups.

When comparing politicians, TV personalities, building maintenance workers and salespeople, it's salespeople who have the lowest rate of early heart or other stress related diseases. Maybe even onerous, unrealistic sales quotas aren't enough to overly stress most salespeople.

Which profession, among surgeons, entrepreneurs, writers and dentists, has the highest divorce rate? For some reason that I'll let you speculate about, dentists again top this list. The sales profession is second lowest on the list, and only Catholic Priests have a lower rate of divorce!

This should all be good news for sales managers and senior managers. It should be comforting to know that most salespeople enjoy a high average return for their investment in education, do themselves in much less often that other professionals, are less likely to succumb to stress and other stress related diseases than many other professionals, and stay married longer than many groups of top professionals.

It's no wonder salespeople successfully endure constant rejection from customers, uncomplimentary skits on Saturday Night Live, and the blame for lagging sales, even when their company's product or service offering are at fault. It seems that well-adjusted, optimistic, stable people just naturally gravitate to the business of sales!

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The Complaint Process for Leasing and Finance Associations
AACFB, CLFP, ELFA, NEFA

The Leasing and Finance Associations have procedures to consider complaints about its members, often to resolve an issue or take other action.  

Code Of Ethics and Complaint Procedures:
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/ethics_complaint_procedure.pdf

CLFP Complaint Procedure
https://leasingnews.org/PDF/CLFP_Complaint_Procedure.pdf

Official Procedure:
https://www.elfaonline.org/about/principles-of-fair-business-practices/view-elfa's-code-of-fair-business-practices

NEFA Dispute Resolution Producer:
http://www.leasingnews.org/PDF/NEFAStandardsCommittee2017.pdf

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One of the main drivers of the “Great Resignation” that saw more than 50 million Americans quit their job in 2022 was the fact that labor was in short supply, resulting in higher wages being offered by employers who struggled to fill open positions. Switching jobs quite simply paid off, as workers were able to land significantly higher salaries by putting themselves back on the market instead of sticking with their old employer.

According to ADP Pay Insights, which is based on payroll transaction data from almost 10 million employees in the United States, the median year-over-year increase in annual pay for job switchers was above 15 percent for the most part of 2022. For people staying in their current jobs, the average pay increase was significantly lower, between 7 and 8 percent, or roughly half of the pay rises job switchers were getting.

Over the past two and a half years, the labor market has cooled significantly though, with job openings coming down from historically high levels and fewer positions remaining unfilled across industries. As labor supply and demand gradually came back into balance, wage growth naturally slowed down. According to ADP, that slowdown has been steeper for job changers, though, resulting in a smaller gap between pay increases of job switchers and job stayers. While there was an 8.4 percentage point chasm between the two in April 2022, the difference in median pay increases has narrowed to 1.9 percentage points by March 2025.

At the same time, and partly because of this trend, the number of Americans quitting their jobs has come down notably as well, putting an end to the “Great Resignation”, one of the more surprising post-pandemic labor market trends.

Statista.com

News Briefs

Trump Softens Blow of
    Automotive Tariffs
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/trump-tariffs-autos-exceptions-fc634efd?st=1ymHCd&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Canada's Liberal Party wins election in turnaround seen as
    reaction to Trump's annexation threats and tariffs
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/canada-election-trump-tariff-annexation-threats/

Attorneys dispute Trump officials' claim that deported   
    moms willingly took their U.S. citizen children
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/deported-moms-citizen-children-cancer-trump-officials-rcna203398

UPS cutting 20,000 jobs amid reduction
    in Amazon shipments
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ups-job-cuts-layoffs-amazon-shipments-stock-price/

Are Homeowners Overpaying on Property Taxes?
    Now They Can Find Out on Realtor.com®
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/are-homeowners-overpaying-on-property-taxes-now-they-can-find-out-on-realtorcom-302440242.html

 

 

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Trump’s first 100 days, in 10 charts
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/29/trump-first-1

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Sports Briefs---

In case you missed: Shedeur Sanders finally gets
    picked in fifth round of NFL
https://nypost.com/2025/04/26/sports/shedeur-sanders-finally-lands-with-browns-in-fifth-round-to-end-dramatic-nfl-draft-tumble/ draft to end dramatic tumble 

49ers take 24-year-old quarterback Kurtis Rourke
with 7th-round NFL Draft pick
https://www.sfgate.com/49ers/article/49ers-nfl-draft-quarterback-kurtis-rourke-20296986.php

Stephen Curry and the Warriors weather
Jimmy Butler’s absence https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/sports/stephen-curry-and-the-warriors-weather-jimmy-butlers-absence-for-one-game/r one game

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California News Briefs---

George Santos gets over 7 years for wire fraud
https://www.courthousenews.com/george-santos-gets-over-7-years-for-wire-fraud/

Even Mark Zuckerberg is admitting that
   Facebook is bad now
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/mark-zuckerberg-admitting-facebook-bad-20295052.php

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Gimme that Wine

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJnQoi8DSE8    

The Rhone Rangers will host a regional event on
   Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in Santa Barbara, CA. It will
      include a selection of 100+ wines from 24 wineries
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/301403

Chef’s Table: Legends’ Highlights the Culinary World's   
   Finest
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/chefs-table-legends-jose-andres-thomas-keller-alice-waters-jamie-olivier-netflix

Castle Rock Winery's 2023 California Cuvée Pinot Noir
  Awarded Double Gold  and 99 Points at the
     California State Fair Wine Competition
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/301370