As vice president of business development at Blue Bridge Financial, Nick Dervenis is responsible for overseeing loan origination initiatives and is involved in linking these efforts with the portfolio management team to ensure that they are consistently meeting targets.

Dervenis started at Blue Bridge as a member of the credit team in 2018. After five years, he became codirector of the department. Dervenis’ knowledge of credit, willingness to learn and ability to apply that knowledge to origination strategies have all contributed to the growth of the direct sales team.

As Blue Bridge strives to maintain a reputation in the marketplace as creative thinkers, Dervenis supports the same creativity internally. “My goal as a leader at Blue Bridge and in the industry is to enable those with the right mindset, in hopes that their growth will mirror mine both in our organization and beyond as they build rewarding and long-lasting careers in equipment finance,” Dervenis says.

Dervenis points to market volatility and a mindset shift amongst borrowers as the two biggest challenges the equipment finance industry currently faces. As market volatility has contributed to hesitation amongst borrowers, Dervenis notes how equipment finance lenders, especially independents, have the responsibility to earn the trust of each customer they interact with and to commit to adding true value for that customer base.

With the arrival of cutting-edge technology — and as the values of customers shift — Dervenis emphasizes the importance of healthy change and adaptation to new circumstances, which can lead to growth opportunities and efficiency increases. Dervenis highlights three key focus areas that will help the equipment finance industry adapt: leveraging technology and data, evaluating where it should be used to enhance customer experience and supporting industry-wide creativity.