New Hires/Promotions in the Leasing Business
and Related Industries

Brian Agront was hired as Partner Success Manager, PEAC Solutions, Mt Laurel, New Jersey. He is located in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. Previously, he was Vice President, Connell Equipment Leasing Company (June, 2021 - February, 2024); Program Manager, Societe Generale Equipment Finance (October, 2009 - June, 2021); Inside Sales Representative, Tygris Vendor Finance (September, 2004 - October, 2009); Inside Sales, US Express Leasing (2004 -January, 2009). Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianagront/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianagront/

Tom Donnelly was hired as Territory Manager Equipment Finance, Machinery Finance Resources (MFR), Windsor, Connecticut. He is located in the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Area. Previously, he was Regional Vice President, Huntington Asset Finance at Huntington National Bank (June, 2021 - February, 2024); Regional Vice President, TCF Capital Solutions (February, 2019 - June, 2021); Senior Account Executive, Lease Corporation of America (June, 2016 - January, 2019). Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-donnelly-equipment-finance-executive/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-donnelly-equipment-finance-executive/

Jill McKean-Bilby was hired as Equipment Finance Sales Executive, Huntington National Bank, Columbus, Ohio, Texas Branch. She is located in Weatherford, Texas. Previously, she was President, BOK Financial Equipment Finance Inc. (February, 2018 - December, 2023); Vice President, Forts Bank (November, 2012 - February, 2018); GE Capital, Vice President, Sales Representative of Corporate Finance (May, 2011 - November, 2012); Vice President, CitiCapital (June 2000 - March, 2005).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillamckean/

Nicole Montrone was hired as Senior Vice President, North America, Goba Capital, Miami, Florida. She is located in Birmingham, Alabama. Previously, she was Managing Director, Kpop Dynamic, LLC (January, 2022 - Present); Vice President of Sales, R Business Credit (November, 2022 - October, 2023); Vice President, Strategic Initiatives, ENGS Commercial Capital, LLC, a division of Engs Commercial Finance; Business Development Officer, Ameris Factors Financial Group, LLC. (May, 2011 - February, 2017).  Full Bio:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-montrone-6869244/details/experience/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-montrone-6869244/

Tom O'Hear was announced Senior Vice President, Vertical Lead Industrial, Verdant Commercial Capital, Cincinnati, Ohio, December, 2023. Previously, he was Vice President, Global Program Management, DLL (August, 1999 - December, 2023); Director, Small Ticket Leasing, BankBoston Leasing, Inc. (1993 - August, 1999).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-ohear-8913166/

 

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License and Registration Updated
A State-by-State Analysis of License Requirements for Lenders and Brokers

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia

Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland

Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey

New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota

Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Washington, DC Puerto Rico

• Virginia sales-based financing disclosure law – Went into effect July 1, 2022
• California commercial financing disclosures – Went into effect December 9, 2022
• Utah commercial financing disclosures – Went into effect January 1, 2023
• Florida disclosure law and broker law  -  Went into effect July 1, 2023
• New York commercial financing disclosure law – Went into effect August 1, 2023
• Connecticut commercial financing disclosure laws – Went into effect January 1, 2024
• Georgia commercial financing disclosure laws – Went into effect January 1, 2024

Seven States Reintroduce Commercial Disclosure Financing Bills

• North Carolina – Small Business Truth in Financing Act
• Kansas – The commercial financing Disclosure Act
• Missouri – Commercial Financing Disclosure Law
• New Jersey – An Act concerning commercial financing
• Illinois – Small Business Truth in Lending Act
• California – Commercial Financing Bill
• New York – An Act to amend the banking law and the administrative code of the City of New York, in relation to regulating commercial finance licensing

Source: deBanked.com

ELFA Launches Interactive State Map to Track Financial Disclosure Regulation Activity
Free to Non-Members --- PDF Required
https://www.elfaonline.org/advocacy/state-issues/lenders-license

Full Report:
https://leasingnews.org/Pages/states_license.html

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Leasing and Finance Industry Help Wanted

 

Build Your List
By Ken Lubin, ZRG Partners, Managing Editor

We all have a list of people, ex clients and potential clients that we know we should reach out.  It is the list in the back of our heads, in our inboxes or on our desk of people we know we should connect or reconnect with, but never do.  We always say that we will when we have time.

Now is the time.

We have more time than we ever had. We have time to reach out, to build our brand/business, to connect with those we haven’t yet connected with or reconnect with those we may have neglected to in the past.  Here are 3 simple ways to build your list.
Download your LinkedIn connections list and take the time to determine who you should connect with or delete.   Here are the Directions https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/66844/exporting-connections-from-linkedin?lang=en

Export the contacts in your inbox to an Excel spreadsheet and sort by priority of who you should reach out to. Determine who the influencers are in your space that could be potential clients and connect.
One thing I do is look at the speakers at top industry events and reach out to them directly.  You can do it via LinkedIn. Or with a little ingenuity and out of the box thinking, you can send them emails directly.  One way to test if you have the right email is to use https://mailtester.com/

Now is the time to take the internal list of who we should be reaching out  that is floating in our brain and put it on paper (virtual paper) and make the effort to connect.  Many of your contacts are likely just as perplexed on what to do during these times as you.  Perhaps when you team up, great things can happen.

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

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Funders Taking "New" Broker Business List

Four Do Not Require that Brokers Be Licensed

BSB Leasing, Inc.
Bankers Capital
C.H. Brown Company
Forum Financial Services
TimePayment Corp.

The following “funders” have informed Leasing News they will consider business from “new” third party originators.  Many companies require a certain length of time in business and other requirements, such as a specific volume of business. These “funders” will consider submissions from those new in the leasing and finance business:

Full List with information dollar amounts and requirements:
https://leasingnews.org/Pages/new_brokers2014.html

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Leasing News Advisor
Ralph Mango

ralphmango@hotmail.com

Ralph joined the Advisory Board June 26, 2013. As a reader of Leasing News, Ralph has been a long-time contributor and a resource of history. In July, 2013, he was named Leasing News Associate Editor, responsible for proofreading and editing each news edition as well as contributing content. He serves as a volunteer as do many of the Leasing News writers and contributors. In that role, Ralph sees the written news edition version first, before graphics are added, reviewing all articles. He has become the editor's right hand in producing each Leasing News edition each early evening right before it is set in HTML.

Ralph is semi-retired.

During his leasing industry career, he has consulted on multiple business necessities that include internal control processes for sales, sales support, documentation, verification, funding, and MIS; integration of CRM into sales processes toward reducing administrative tasks, strengthening forecast reliability and pipeline veracity, and pricing authority delegation to eliminate revenue leaks, among others.

His nearly 40-year equipment leasing career included stops as VP-General Manager, SVP of Sales and Sales & Marketing, and Region management with several industry leaders.  He has broad and successful business unit general management experience in both indirect and direct equipment leasing as a captive lessor and vendor provider that began as a credit manager.

His career zenith was as Sr. Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Newcourt Financial when he piloted the proposal team through which he became Co-founder, Vice President and General Manager, Dell Financial Services in 1997.

Ralph (New Brunswick, ’74) is a member of the Alumni Mentoring program for Rutgers University, mentoring soon-to-be Rutgers graduates on their career aspirations and providing editing and proofreading services to them as well.  He is also part of ACP. The ACP, American Corporate Partners (www.acp-usa.org), provides similar guidance to our returning military, assisting them in identifying and translating their skills that were executed in a military structure into concepts and language that resonate in the private sector.

During 2019, an outgrowth of his Associate Editor responsibilities resulted in his co-editing “A Moment in Paradise; Collaborative Thoughts on Empathy,” by former colleague Paul Jackson.  All profits from the book go to Opportunities, Inc. He is available for Proofreading and editing on a contract basis.

Ralph and Beth enjoy living in northern Virginia, near their three daughters, four grandchildren, and two sons-in-law.

Riding the Waves of Change
2024 NEFA Spring Conference

March 24, 2024  - March, 2024
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort
Huntington, California

Agenda, Attendee List, Registration
https://web.cvent.com/event/9c210bed-3c9d-4bd0-a262-82f46b4d1cc0/websitePage:645d57e4-75eb-4769-b2c0-f201a0bfc6ce

Theresa Kabot, CLFP, Kabot Commercial Leasing LLC, will be covering the Conference for Leasing News

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##### Press Release ############################

ELFA Launches Interactive State Map
to Track Financial Disclosure Regulation Activity
Free to Non-Members

https://www.elfaonline.org/advocacy/state-issues/lenders-license

Washington, DC,— To assist equipment finance companies in tracking financial disclosure regulations that will impact their businesses, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) has developed a new interactive state-by-state disclosure map of legislative activity. This is the latest informational resource from ELFA’s State Advocacy team to help educate members about what they need to know about this important topic.

Scott Riehl, ELFA VP of State Government Relations, said, “For the first time the industry has an easy-to-use tool to see the activity and access the litany of information in each state.

 “The interactive map is a continuation of ELFA’s nationwide efforts to protect and promote the industry’s interests while providing a running update on these state disclosure regulations sweeping the country.”

Users simply hover over a state to view legislation status and details. When users click on a state, the map opens to the state’s actual enacted or proposed financial disclosure regulation. There are currently 16 states that have either passed or have financial disclosure legislation in progress. The map will be updated regularly.

Riehl and members of ELFA’s State Legislative & Regulatory Subcommittee have worked successfully to exempt as many industry transactions as possible in order to reduce burdensome disclosure requirements on equipment finance companies, and continue to do so.

To meet the demand from and keep ELFA members informed on disclosure regulation updates, ELFA has become a one-stop source on the issue. More than 1,500 industry professionals registered for three previous in-depth webinars ELFA presented in 2022 and 2023.

To access the Interactive State Disclosure Map, visit ELFA’s Industry Topics Disclosure page at https://www.elfaonline.org/advocacy/state-issues/lenders-license. The page also includes an issues overview; webinar recordings, slide decks and takeaways; comment letters and more.

ELFA is the only association that advocates for the specific interests of the equipment leasing and finance industry. The association represents the industry at both the state and federal levels.

About ELFA
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its 580 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers. ELFA has been equipping business for success for more than 60 years. For more information, please visit www.elfaonline.org.

ELFA’s Knowledge Hub is the premier source for statistics and analyses concerning the equipment finance sector. Please visit www.elfaonline.org/knowledge-hub/knowledge-hub-home 

### Press Release ############################

Siberian Husky Mix
Omaha, Nebraska Adopt-a-Dog

Ambrosia

Female
10 weeks old
9 lbs.
Black, White and Tan
Energy Level: Medium High

Hi I'm Ambrosia! That's a big-big name for a tiny little puppy so you can call me Rosa! I love to play and explore and do cute little play bows! I am super sweet and love to snuggle! I am the youngest of my puppy pack ... I'm the first to get too chilly and want to go inside and I'm not a fan of the rain. BUT I can wrestle with the big dogs and enjoy romping with them in the yard. I'm super smart and learned the doggie door on my own. I'm a little more timid and get pushed around by the other puppies at food time, but I still get what I want! If you'd like to adopt me be ready for toddler puppy shenanigans and toe tasting! If that sounds ok fill out an application and mention me, Ambrosia!

Adoption Information:
https://www.taysiablue.com/adoption-questionnaire?lang=en

Taysia Blue Rescue
https://www.taysiablue.com/

Adopt a Pet
http://www.adoptapet.com/

News Briefs

Janet Yellen: Some banks may be ‘quite stressed’
     by empty office building trouble
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/06/economy/janet-yellen-i-will-never-forget-scramble-to-prevent-bank-run-after-silicon-valley-bank-implosion/index.html

Wall Street is worried about another
    regional banking crisis
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/06/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

Why One Shaky Bank Is Stirring Fears
    of a Wider Financial Mess
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/business/banks-real-estate-fears.html

Boeing Finds More Problems With
    737 Max, Risking Delivery Delay
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/business/boeing-737-max-problems.html

 

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Toyota Cashes In on Booming Hybrid Sales
    forecasts record profit driven by gas-electric vehicles
https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/toyota-motor-reports-rise-in-quarterly-net-profit-as-sales-grew-5324042e?mod=business_lead_story

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Sports Briefs---

Vegas mayor says A’s plan ‘does not make sense’,
suggests they stay in Oakland
https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/02/06/kurtenbach-vegas-mayor-says-as-plan-does-not-make-sense-and-shes-right-of-course/

The Game Plans That Could Decide the Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl
https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2024/2/6/24062117/super-bowl-kansas-city-chiefs-san-francisco-49ers-game-plan-kyle-shanahan-andy-reid

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California News Briefs---

Newsom to send 120 CHP officers
     to fight crime in Oakland
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/newsom-send-120-chp-officers-fight-crime-oakland-18651884.php

Exclusive: S.F.’s school district threatened with
    lawsuit that will mean seismic changes
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sfusd-schools-district-lawsuit-cvra-elections-18649287.php

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Gimme that Wine

 

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

Troubled Times for French Wine
   Producers are protesting and revolution is in the air
https://www.meiningers-international.com/wine/insights/troubled-times-french-wine

Uber plans to lay off all of the employees of Drizly,
an alcohol delivery app founded in Boston
https://www.wcvb.com/article/uber-lays-off-employees-massachusetts-founded-drizly/46649392#

Wente Vineyards Unveils Mount Diablo
Highlands Red Blend
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/article/282746