Kelly Skalicky grew up with Stearns Bank. Now she is the president of the company. With a varied background as her foundation, she is uniquely qualified to continue the success her parents built at Stearns and position it for the future, all while maintaining a focus on small business customers.... read more

Monitor 100 2018

Designed to empower women to take an active role in the ELFA and their workplaces, the inaugural Women’s Leadership Forum provided leadership development sessions on effective networking, communication and persuasion and opportunities to build relationships with other women in the industry.... read more

Monitor 100 2018

Thanks to strong performance, equipment-backed ABS has been an investor favorite for the last few years, but new competition may be on the horizon. Sergey Moiseenko and Chuck Weilamann from rating agency DBRS provide an overview and outlook for the sector.... read more

Monitor 100 2018

One of the purposes of the California Financial Law is to ensure an adequate supply of credit to borrowers in the state, but Andrew Alper argues the law — and proposed amendments — are harmful to business. He dissects newly-introduced legislation, which could significantly affect lenders and brokers.... read more

May/June 2018

Working for a bad boss can turn a dream job into a nightmare. Drawing from her own experience, Linda Kester shares five tips sales reps can use to stay professional and focused despite the influence of a bad sales manager.... read more

May/June 2018

While fintech equipment finance is currently in stealth mode, The Alta Group expects efficient, well-designed fintechs to make their mark on the industry very soon. With the help of her colleagues, Patricia Voorhees explores what this will mean for vendor and captive finance companies.... read more

May/June 2018

Although it does not have a long history in the C&I space, Investors Bank is betting big on equipment finance, adding industry veteran Ken Walters to lead a new group. Walters and his team are focused on building a national leader and providing solutions.... read more

May/June 2018

Bill Verhelle is back in the game with the launch of Innovation Finance, which will focus on delivering a dramatically improved customer experience to sophisticated corporate and non-profit borrowers. In an interview with Monitor, he discusses the five traits of excellent employers and the guiding principles of his business philosophy: trust, purpose and humility.... read more

May/June 2018

A record-setting level of optimism was reported in Wells Fargo’s annual construction industry forecast. John Crum, national sales manager of the Construction Group at Wells Fargo Equipment Finance analyzes the data, explains why equipment rental has been on the rise and what challenges and opportunities lie ahead. ... read more

2018

Presenters at the 17th Annual Investors’ Conference shared an optimistic outlook for the equipment finance industry, with ABS “strong at all levels,” M&A “very frothy” and 2018 business investment expected to be “very bullish.”... read more

May/June 2018

With the help of a few vendor-experienced friends, Dexter Van Dango explores several topics relevant to vendor finance, including strong new business volume, market volatility, the employment market, managed services and regulatory changes.... read more

May/June 2018

In a Q&A with Monitor, top vendor finance leaders — Jeff Berg from DLL, Anthony Cracchiolo from U.S. Bank Equipment Finance and Jim Kelly from Wells Fargo Vendor Financial Services — rate 2017 and provide an outlook for the year ahead. They examine how customer needs have changed over the last five years and share the innovative approaches their companies have employed to keep vendor partners, and end-users, satisfied.... read more

May/June 2018

Blockchain technology, an esoteric topic a few years ago, has worked its way into the mainstream. Blank Rome’s Keith Letourneau and Stephen Whelan provide an overview of this distributed ledger technology and discuss how it could be used in equipment, commercial and trade finance transactions.... read more

March/April 2018

The Alta Group’s Bruce Kropschot and James Jackson examine the M&A market for independent equipment finance companies. Although another good year is expected, several factors could affect the market, including rising interest rates, stock market trends, tax reform legislation and accounting rule changes.... read more

March/April 2018

Following tax reform, Joe Sebik discusses the need for lease salespeople to become more skilled in generating lease-versus-own financial analyses. ... read more

May/June 2018