More than 110 attendees participated in the National Equipment Finance Summit held recently in Scottsdale, AZ, an increase from last year’s event, according to NEFA executive director, Gerry Egan.

NEFA president, Chris Enbom, of Allegiant Partners, launched the conference by introducing conference chair Shari Lipski of ECS Financial Services and Egan.

Egan spoke about the outlook for NEFA in the re-emerging economy, highlighting specific reasons why NEFA members are well positioned to benefit from and lead new growth, including close customer relationships of many small business members and the ability of small businesses to adapt more easily to new market realities.

Jesse Johnson and Steve Dubner, both of OSG Billing Services, Daryn Lecy of Stearns Bank, and Imran Haider of NetSol Technologies presented information on using technology to improve billing procedures and cloud computing to make better applications more easily available.

David Wiener, of the Alta Group, presented, by special permission, a preview of an upcoming report his company created for the Equipment Leasing and Finance Foundation called “The Place of Independents.” He highlighted trends and impacts of the economy on the independents in the equipment leasing and finance industry and spoke about how independents choose their markets and the opportunities that exist for them today.

Bruce Winter of FSG Leasing gave an in-depth look at the progress of his business from its inception through recent times and shared actual financial statements and specific benchmarks he uses.

Robert Cohen of Moritt Hock and Hamroff presented a humorous skit and presentation about the process and care needed as either a buyer or seller of portfolios. Included in his presentation were Chris Enbom of Allegiant Partners, Victor Harris of the Law Offices of Victor Harris, Andrew Alper of Frandzel Robins Bloom & Csato, and Michael Green, of Dakota Financial.

Egan moderated a “Meet the Media” panel with Kit Menkin of Leasing News, Stuart Papavassiliou of the Monitor, and Lisa Rafter of World Leasing News and Newsline. The panelists expressed their views of the industry today and the trend toward more electronic means of delivering news.

In another panel discussion, Scott Wheeler of Wheeler Business Consulting, Tim Mathison of P&L Capital and Brad Harmon of First Star Capital shared their best sales and sales management ideas from their experiences and positions as a sales trainer and consultant, a funding source and a lessor, respectively.

Susan Carol of Susan Carol Associates Public Relations introduced the business use of social media and fielded questions using real-time online demonstrations that included Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and several other services.