On Oct. 21, during the 53rd Annual Convention of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), the association announced its new Board of Directors and Officers who will serve during the next 12 months. Robert “Bob” Rinaldi, CEO of Commercial Industrial Finance, is the Chairman of the Board and William Stephenson, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of DLL, is now Chairman-Elect. The Chairman-Elect and new board members were recommended by ELFA’s Nominating Committee and approved by a vote of the general membership.

“We are very fortunate to have Bob Rinaldi as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2015,” said ELFA President and CEO William G. Sutton, CAE. “Bob has been a valued member volunteer of ELFA for many years, and his knowledge of the industry and dedication to our association will be assets to our members and the industry at large in the coming year.”

“It is a distinct honor to serve as Chairman of the Board of ELFA,” said Rinaldi. “Participating in ELFA has always been my way of giving back to the industry that has been so good to me on so many levels. The equipment leasing and finance industry has been and continues to be a major catalyst in the growth of the U.S. economy, contributing to GDP growth, increases in productivity, jobs and, of course, capital.”

Before joining Commercial Industrial Finance as CEO in January 2014, Rinaldi served for four years as Senior Vice President at CSI Leasing. Previously, he served as Executive Vice President of the $8 billion bank-owned lessor National City Commercial Capital (now PNC Equipment Finance) and as President of National City Commercial Capital Canada. Prior to that, he and his partners founded Information Leasing Corporation in 1984, which they subsequently sold to Provident Bank of Cincinnati, later acquired by National City Bank.

Rinaldi has more than 27 years of experience in equipment finance and has been an active participant in ELFA for more than 15 years. He served as a member of the ELFA Board of Directors from 2002–2005 and 2007–present and became Vice Chairman in 2011. From 2007 through 2010, he served as Chairman of LeasePAC, ELFA’s nonpartisan federal political action committee. In addition to his ELFA involvement, he has contributed to ELFA’s research affiliate, the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, including service on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and Development and Research Committees. In November 2013 Rinaldi was the recipient of the Foundation Research Committee’s Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research.  Most recently, in June 2014, he was the recipient of ELFA’s 2014 David H. Fenig Distinguished Service in Advocacy Award. He received a B.S. from Michigan State University.

2015 ELFA Board of Directors
The new members of the ELFA Board of Directors include:

• Andrew Bender, CEO, GSG Financial LLC
• Michael DiCecco, President, Huntington Equipment Finance
• John Evans, Executive VP, Equipment Finance Division, Bank of the West
• Sanjay Kumar, Senior Director, Worldwide Technology and Channel Financing, Cisco Systems Capital Corporation
• David Mirsky, CEO, Pacific Rim Capital, Inc.
• William Phelan, President, PayNet, Inc.

The following individuals were elected by the membership to serve as ELFA Vice Chairs: Thomas Jaschik, President, BB&T Equipment Finance; Anthony Cracchiolo, President & CEO, U.S. Bank Equipment Finance; and David Schaefer, CEO, Mintaka Financial, LLC. Jud Snyder, President, BMO Harris Equipment Finance Company, continues to serve as Treasurer and Paul Stilp, ELFA’s Vice President of Finance and Administration, continues to serve as Secretary. William G. Sutton, CAE, serves as President and CEO.

Adam D. Warner, President of Key Equipment Finance, is Immediate Past Chairman. Other members of the Board are:

• Martha Ahlers, VP and COO, United Leasing, Inc.
• Ron Arrington, Transitional Member
• Bill Besgen, President and COO, Hitachi Capital America Corp.
• Diane Croessmann, Executive Director - Worldwide, Lenovo Financial Services
• Daniel Dyer, Co-Founder and CEO, Marlin Leasing Corp.
• Christopher Enbom, CEO and Chairman, Allegiant Partners dba First Star Capital dba Clearview Financial
• Brian Griffin, Senior VP – Leasing, MB Financial Bank
• Miles Herman, President and COO, LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc.
• Ed Hetherington, President, Doosan Infracore Financial Solutions
• Gary Kempinski, Executive General Manager, GE Commercial Finance
• John McQueen, President, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc.
• Scott Thacker, CEO, Ivory Consulting Corporation
• Steve Whelan, Partner, Blank Rome LLP

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $827 billion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its 580 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers.