North Mill Equipment Finance (NMEF), an independent commercial equipment lender and lessor headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, added Lee Bergeron as senior vice president of structured products. Bergeron will be focusing on developing innovative operating lease products for vendors, dealers and manufacturers in partnership with NMEF’s referral partner network.

Joining Bergeron on this new product development focus will be Paul Cheslock, who now becomes vice president of structured products after having served as vice president of customer relations since 2018.

“As we continue our expansion and diversify our product offerings, NMEF is committed to fostering innovative financial solutions including true operating leases,” David Lee, CEO of NMEF, said. “Lee and Paul’s collective experience and expertise will be instrumental in quickly solidifying our place as a leader in the small and middle ticket FMV leasing market.”

“I am excited to be joining NMEF and to be working with Paul to build out this new financial product division,” Bergeron said. “NMEF’s deep referral partner relationship network, first-rate operational platform, and deep capital base, positions us to rapidly build a large portfolio of operating leases both on NMEF’s balance sheet and in partnership with potential investment partners.”

Prior to NMEF, Bergeron served as director of capital markets for Delta Financial Group, developing and executing the corporate capital markets strategy in a startup environment. Bergeron also previously served as president of Wheeler Financial from Pitney Bowes, president of the leasing division of MailFinance and in various senior roles at GE Capital. Bergeron holds a BBA degree in marketing from Texas Christian University.