The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association announced that the winner of its Advocacy Champions Award for 2023 is the association’s bank business council steering committee (BCSC). The award recognizes the bank BCSC as the most engaged BCSC with ELFA advocacy initiatives throughout the year. Rob Seltzer, chair of BCSC, accepted the award on behalf of the committee on Monday at the general session during the 62nd ELFA Annual Convention in Phoenix.

The ELFA’s federal advocacy team created the Advocacy Champions Award to encourage member participation in the association’s advocacy programming. The award is a competition among the association’s five BCSCs, which represent the various segments of membership: bank, captive and vendor finance, independent, service providers and small ticket. ELFA members earn points for their respective business council when they participate in the association’s annual Capitol Connections event, when their company hosts an in-district visit with a member of Congress and when they reach their prior authorization goal for LeasePAC, the ELFA’s political action committee.

The bank BCSC was recognized for having the highest level of participation in 2023. A total of 40 bank members participated in Capitol Connections, where they met with elected officials and brought important industry issues to the forefront. The bank members followed up on that success by holding two meetings with members of Congress at their equipment finance offices. In addition, the committee reached its prior authorization goal for LeasePAC.

“Advocacy is a pillar of ELFA’s mission to support our industry, and we are excited to celebrate and highlight members’ contributions to our advocacy program,” said ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta, president and CEO of the ELFA, said. “The bank BCSC’s award-winning participation for a fourth year is a testament to their commitment to educating policymakers about the importance of the equipment finance industry and the role it plays in the U.S. economy. We were thrilled with our members’ efforts to continue to build relationships with their members of Congress through in-district visits. These relationships help not only the association, but the entire industry, by highlighting the impact and importance of the equipment finance industry to the U.S. economy.”