Janelle Gorski,
Portfolio and Asset Manager ,
Midland Equipment Finance

Janelle Gorski started her career in equipment finance in 2015 with Heartland Business Credit (HBC) where she oversaw the collections, customer service and end-of-lease departments. She also backed up roles in documentation, funding and credit. In January 2018, HBC was dissolved and Midland Equipment Finance (MEF) was formed. A lot was asked of Gorski during the transition since she worked across almost every channel. She was promoted to portfolio and asset manager and formed the company’s new portfolio management department and created new roles that reported to her.

Gorski continues to make the business better, accepting additional projects and providing help where she can. Since the formation of MEF, one of her goals has been to bring external audit findings requiring immediate attention to a “green” status. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she shifted her role to help with the influx of modifications received from customers. The MEF management team and Gorski designed a process to quickly review, price, update and QC more than 2,000 modifications to customers. She personally priced and completed quality control on a large portion of the modifications. Gorski also developed a case management process which allows her team to organize and quickly answer submitted inquiries. She also has worked on additional projects, including switching to vendors that are more suited to handle the bank’s objective to digitally transform its business.

Gorski enjoys sharing her knowledge and has become a key member of the MEF team. She serves as a member of the ROCI (Risk Ownership Community of Interest) committee, leading MEF in risk related tasks for Midland States Bank, MEF’s parent company, including vendor management, business continuity planning, procedure writing, control management and assessment and event reporting. In 2020, Gorski was recommended to be a mentor by Fred Van Etten, president of MEF, for associates attending a talent enrichment course with the bank and was asked back to mentor in 2021.

“Janelle has tremendous insight and strong instincts. She can be presented with a situation or problem and immediately begins to work towards a solution,” Dan Thompson, senior vice president of credit at MEF, says. “This was most evident during the pandemic, when MEF needed a workflow to process the payment deferrals. She has since taken the knowledge gained during 2020 and created multiple efficiencies for MEF in areas of portfolio management and risk. In addition to this, she is a great team member who works well with all functional areas. She inspires confidence.”