The Certified Lease Professional (CLP) Foundation said fifteen professionals have earned the CLP designation. This is the highest number of individuals to gain the designation in one sitting.

The exam was offered at the conclusion of the National Equipment Finance Association’s Institute for Leasing Professionals (ILP). The event was sponsored by PacTrust Bank, and for two days volunteers educated the attendees on all of the subjects covered in the CLP exam.

When Chris Lerma, CLP, Allegiant Partners, was asked why he thought the ILP was so successful, he responded, “We all took the class together, studied together, and had happy hour together. The bigger group and fact that we all knew each other was a huge advantage. For pricing and accounting we broke up into smaller groups and helped each other out.”

Sam Shallenberger, CLP is the first CLP at his company and currently serves as chief financial officer of RJ Young Company of Nashville, TN. When asked why he pursued the designation, he stated “I earned the CLP designation to gain tools that will allow RJ Young to offer leasing in new lines of business.”

The fifteen new CLPs are:

Neil Clark CLP, Innovative Lease Services

Jaimie Haver CLP, PacTrust Bank

Robert Knudson CLP, Go Capital

Chris Lerma CLP, Allegiant Partners

Michael Kianmahd CLP, Maxim Commercial Capital

Chris Maudlin CLP, PacTrust Bank

Javier Mendoza CLP, Maxim Commercial Capital

Andrew Nere CLP, Innovative Lease Services

Jake Nguyen CLP, Commerce National Bank

Kristan Parker CLP, Innovative Lease Services

Sam Shallenberger CLP, RJ Young

Kim Shea CLP, First Star Capital

John Snyder CLP, Culver Capital Group

Lisa Whitehead CLP, Pacifica Capital

Chet Zeken CLP, Go Capital

There are currently 186 Certified Lease Professionals throughout the world, the foundation said.