Over 310 equipment finance professionals and service providers from across the U.S., Canada and as far as Australia attended the National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) 2018 Funding Symposium in October in Charlotte, NC – setting a new Symposium attendance record. New records were also set for the greatest number of first-time attendees and exhibitors – with over 90 first-time attendees and 50 exhibitors.

This year’s Funding Symposium Chairperson, Bob Hanna of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, assembled a top-notch slate of educational sessions. “What I learned over the past three years since chairing the 2015 event is there are no limits on the program. If the content is relevant, we are all in, and that is what we experienced this time around. We came up with new and provocative subjects and brought in the subject matter experts for the presentations. The result was an explosive agenda from start to finish, and the people have spoken! It was by far the best NEFA event to date setting new benchmarks in quality education and networking, and I am proud of the teamwork across the board,” said Hanna.

This year’s Funding Symposium also marked the retirement of NEFA’s longtime Executive Director, Gerry Egan, and an introduction to NEFA’s newly appointed Executive Director, Michael Toglia.

“To say the event was a success would be a gross understatement,” said Toglia. “The mood and enthusiasm throughout the event were electrifying. We are very pleased with the record turnout and thank all our sponsors, exhibitors, educational program presenters, fundraiser volunteers and attendees for making this year’s Symposium such a tremendous success.”

The Funding Symposium also served as the Annual Business meeting for the National Equipment Finance Association, and officers and directors for the next twelve months were elected during the conference.

NEFA’s new President and Chairman of the Board is Marc Keepman of KLC Financial. He is joined on the Executive Committee by Dennis Dressler of Dressler Peters as vice president; Daryn Lecy of Oakmont Capital Services as treasurer and Laura Carini of Financial Pacific Leasing as secretary. Mike Coon, of North Star Leasing Company, will remain on the Executive Committee as immediate past president.

“The National Funding Symposium is always a wonderful event to meet with our fellow equipment financing partners, and this year was no exception. The economy has been strong this year and this looks likely to continue into next year and beyond. This bodes well for all in our industry,” said Keepman. “I am delighted to be chosen to serve as the president and chairman of NEFA during this coming 12-month period.”

Directors of the association announced at the Symposium included James Jackson of The Alta Group; Guy Selinka of Streamline Financial Services; Scott Lipka of FirstLease; Adam Peterson of Channel Partners Capital; Anne Dalgaard of ECS Financial Services; Scott Wheeler of Wheeler Business Consulting; Lori Littleford of Hanmi Bank and Robert Hornby of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi.