Equipment Finance Cares (EFC) held its first event of 2023 at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, TX.  More than 60 equipment finance professionals attended, representing 38 different organizations.

“We were excited to kick off EFC’s first event of 2023,” Jesse Johnson, president of Consult Disrupt and founder of Equipment Finance Cares, said. “Wintrust Asset Finance was an amazing host, and we were able to showcase seven charities and foundations affiliated with the equipment finance industry.”

The program offered two industry thought leading panels. Sean McKenna from Great American Insurance Group moderated the “Human Side of Leasing” panel, which featured Travis Melchior from LTi Technology Solutions; Kareem Jernigan from Leasing Associates; Blair Dawson from STRIPES Leadership Program and Riley Nemeth from Wintrust Commercial Finance. Jesse Johnson moderated the second “Best Practices” panel, which featured Kirk Phillips from Wintrust Commercial Finance; Jill McKean-Bilby from BOK Financial Equipment Finance, Dave Fate from Stonebriar Commercial Finance and Patrick Hoiby from Equify. Panel discussions touched on topics such as mental health of employees; diversity, equity and inclusion; engaging with the younger work force; work/life balance; the current state of equipment finance; women in leasing; succession planning; and maintaining company culture in a hybrid environment.

The foundations that were showcased during the event were Neuro Assistance Foundation, St. Anthony’s Academy – Dallas, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, First Tee Foundation, Love Life Now Foundation, Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation and the Chris Walker Education Fund.

The next Equipment Finance Cares event will be on June 13 and will be co-hosted by Quality Equipment Finance and the National Equipment Finance Association in Baltimore.