The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association announced its new board of directors and officers for the next 12 months during its 60^th Annual Convention in San Antonio this week. Michael DiCecco, executive managing director of Huntington Asset Finance, will be the association’s new board chair and Robert Neagle, president and CEO of Finova Capital, is now chair-elect. The chair-elect and new board members were recommended by ELFA’s nominating committee and approved by a vote of the general membership.

“I am honored to serve as the board chair of ELFA and to represent the board, staff members and our member organizations, all of whom serve the interests of the businesses that depend on the equipment financing industry to grow and thrive,” DiCecco said. “Equipment finance is critical to our recovering economy, and ELFA’s role as an advocate and partner is becoming even more important in these rapidly changing times.”

“We are extremely fortunate to have Mike DiCecco as chairman of the board of directors for 2022,” Ralph Petta, president and CEO of the ELFA, said. “Mike has been a valued member volunteer for many years, and his industry knowledge and commitment to our association will be tremendous assets to the ELFA membership and the industry at large in the coming year.”

DiCecco has more than three decades of experience in equipment finance and commercial banking and a long history of ELFA leadership. He joined Huntington in 2001 and led the development of the bank’s equipment finance business, which now has assets of more than $12 billion. He also served as the commercial bank leader in Huntington’s northeast Ohio region and led the commercial bank’s specialized lending businesses.

DiCecco served the ELFA as a member of its board of directors and executive committee from 2014 to 2017, returning to the board in 2018. He is a member of the board’s executive and nominating committees. He has also served as board liaison to ELFA’s Emerging Talent Advisory Council, contributing to the council’s ELFA Emergence leadership development conference, regional emerging talent networking events and leadership articles and podcasts from 2018 to 2021. Previously, he served as a member of the ELFA’s membership committee and financial institutions business council steering committee. DiCecco has also supported the work of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation as a participant in the foundation’s Industry Future Council and a contributor to various “State of the Equipment Finance Industry” reports.

At Huntington, DiCecco is responsible for all aspects of asset finance, including asset-based lending, equipment finance, technology and healthcare finance, vendor and inventory finance, public capital, renewable energy, premium finance and lender finance.

In the community, DiCecco serves on the Cuyahoga County regional advisory board for the Boys & Girls Club of northeast Ohio and is a fundraiser for cancer research through Pelotonia, an annual bike ride to support research at the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center.

2022 ELFA Board of Directors

The newly elected members of the ELFA’s board of directors include:

• Jon Biorkman, President of Healthcare Financial Services, GE Healthcare
• Kathleen Canum, Vice President of Administration, Canon Financial Services
• Debra Devassy Babu, Shareholder, Darcy & Devassy
• Eric Gross, Chief Operating Officer, Dext Capital
• Kirk Phillips, President and CEO, Wintrust Commercial Finance
• Michael Romanowski, President, Farm Credit Leasing
• Robert Wax, Co-President, Kingsbury Wax Bova
• Bruce Winter, President, FSG Capital

The following individuals were elected by the membership to serve as ELFA vice chairs: Robert Boyer, president of First Commonwealth Equipment Finance, and James Cress, vice president and general manager at Stryker, Flex Financial. Daniel Krajewski, president and CEO of Sertant Capital, will serve as treasurer.

Paul Stilp, the chief financial and operating officer for the ELFA, will serve as secretary and Petta will be an ex-officio officer.

Kris Snow, president of Cisco Systems Capital, is immediate past chair. Other members of the board include:

• Deborah Baker, Head of Worldwide Leasing and Financing, HP
• Maureen Carr, Managing Director, Pacific Western Bank
• Mark Duncan, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Mitsubishi HC Capital America
• David Farrell, Managing Director and Head of Capital Markets, Bank of America Global Leasing
• Nathan Gibbons, COO, QuickFi by Innovation Finance
• R.J. Grimshaw, President and CEO, UniFi Equipment Finance
• Amy Gross, Executive Vice President of Key Government Finance, Key Equipment Finance
• Ricardo A. Rios, President and CEO, Commercial Equipment Finance
• Barry Ripes, Senior Vice President and Financial Services Leader, Equifax
• Thomas Rutherford, President, Crestmark Equipment Finance
• David Verkinderen, Senior Vice President of Office Equipment and Manufacturing Vendor Services, U.S. Bank Equipment Finance