The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) has selected Julia Pierce, President at Pierce Capital, to receive its 2013 David H. Fenig Distinguished Service in Advocacy Award. The award, named for ELFA’s former Vice President of Federal Government Relations, honors individuals who have made significant contributions to the association’s advocacy efforts to promote sound public policies for the equipment finance industry. Pierce will be formally recognized during a ceremony at ELFA’s Capitol Connections event on Wednesday, May 15, in Washington, D.C.

“Julia’s unselfish contributions to ELFA’s advocacy efforts, policy endeavors and the equipment finance industry as a whole are tremendous,” said William G. Sutton, ELFA President and CEO. “We are delighted to present this honor to her in acknowledgment and appreciation of her outstanding advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels, one of the cornerstones of ELFA’s mission.”

Pierce has been an active participant in ELFA for nearly 20 years. During this time, she has served in many capacities to support the industry’s policy objectives. Pierce served as a founding member and Chair of the ELFA State Government Relations Committee, which reviews legislative proposals from all 50 states and the U.S. territories, determines the impact to the industry and gives guidance on the association’s response to the state relations team.

Pierce was a leader on the ELFA team that successfully negotiated with the state of California for the establishment of the GS $Mart, which is California’s award-winning government financing program facilitating state and local government leasing. She also has been very active in Sacramento with the California legislature on issues such as making an Investment Tax Credit available to leasing and enactment of the ELFA Vendor Amendment to the electronic recycling law.

In addition to her many state policy activities, Pierce has provided support to the federal government team. She is a regular attendee at the annual Capitol Connections program, leveraging her relationships with key California federal legislators to bring higher awareness of the industry at the federal level. She is a long-time contributor to LeasePAC, the political action committee of ELFA, and has always shown a dedication to grassroots activities as a cornerstone of a sound government relations strategy.

Pierce served as Chairperson of the ELFA’s Municipal Leasing Forum in 2001, 2005 and 2006. She served on the ELFA Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee from 2009-2012. She also has presented at multiple ELFA conferences, including the Tax Professionals Roundtable and the Public Sector Forum.

Pierce has been active in industry and community service organizations throughout her career. She served from 1997 through 2004 on the California Secretary of State’s Advisory Board for the Uniform Commercial Code, and on the Seismic Task Force for the City of San Luis Obispo, California.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award from ELFA, particularly given that I had the honor of knowing David Fenig for many years,” said Pierce. “I look forward to continuing to work with ELFA’s state and federal government relations teams. Their expertise makes it possible for me to get involved and contribute to our industry's overall success.”

Pierce received her Bachelor of Arts in political science fom the University of Santa Barbara and completed a graduate program in engineering management at California State Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo. She began her leasing career at Pierce Capital, Inc. as a credit and operations manager. Over her career, she served as a Manager of Municipal Programs at El Camino Resources and as a Senior Account Manager for Verizon Credit. Most recently, Pierce was a Financial Solutions Manager at Cisco Capital, working as part of their municipal finance team to develop tax-exempt financing of municipal mult-year service agreements. This year, Pierce has set out to re-open Pierce Capital, an independent equipment leasing company that her father operated for more than 25 years. Pierce Capital is located in San Luis Obispo, Calif., and focuses on the financing of equipment for healthcare, technology, agriculture and hospitality.