At a specially convened meeting of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) board of directors, Bob Neagle, chair of the ELFA, announced Ralph Petta will retire as president and CEO of the association at the end of 2023. Petta has served in a variety of roles at ELFA and its foundation during the past 36 years. He was named president and CEO in 2016.

“For more than three decades, Ralph has played an instrumental role in the success of ELFA, delivering on the value proposition to member organizations through development and execution of a variety of programs, products and services designed to assist them in achieving success in the equipment finance marketplace. He has been an integral thought leader across many of our initiatives over the years, possessing a keen operational focus, which has greatly benefited the association,” Neagle said.

“The association has retained the global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to conduct a comprehensive search for our next association leader,” Neagle said. “We expect this process to result in the selection of a successor CEO and president some time in the fourth quarter of the year.”