The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) announced that its 2016 Operations and Technology Excellence Award will go to two companies: LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. and National Leasing. The winners were selected by a subcommittee of ELFA members and will be showcased during ELFA’s Operations and Technology Conference, Sept. 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.

“Both LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. and National Leasing took on the difficult challenge of modernizing and transforming legacy business processes and technology to establish a firm foundation for continued growth in an ever-changing business environment,” said Andrew Cotter, EVP, CIO, Somerset Capital Group, Ltd., and Subcommittee Chair for the award. “Both winners are inspiring examples of the innovative spirit of the ELFA Operations and Technology Excellence Award. We look forward to hearing stories from both winners at the ELFA Operations & Technology Conference in September.”

“ELFA is pleased to highlight the award-winning initiatives of LEAF Commercial Capital and National Leasing, which serve as a model for the innovative use of technology in the equipment finance industry,” said ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta. “We congratulate both companies for their cutting-edge solutions.”

LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. is recognized for creating a next-generation marketing automation and sales insight solution. The new system increases marketing and sales efficiency and conversions by intelligently and automatically prioritizing leads using Big Data and predictive analytics techniques. It displays optimized lead intelligence and prescriptive next actions to salespeople, reducing guesswork and allowing them to focus more tightly on converting leads. The solution integrates best-in-class third-party applications with LEAF’s existing cloud CRM and is designed to easily accommodate technological improvements as they come online.

National Leasing is recognized for creating National Leasing Interactive (NLi), an online equipment financing system that brings financing to equipment dealers’ fingertips, making it easier, faster and more convenient to quote equipment financing to customers. Using the online quoting system, equipment dealers can generate financing quotes in seconds and instantly pull portfolio reports on all financing customers anytime, anywhere from the convenience of a desktop or mobile device. This personalized and customizable web tool, which was developed by a cross-functional team, eliminates most of the onboarding and training required for equipment dealers.

The Operations and Technology Excellence Award identifies and recognizes equipment leasing and finance companies that have demonstrated best practices in developing and implementing innovative uses of technology or creative business processes to improve operations, enhance customer interactions, enter new markets and build overall ROI. The program brings the backroom to the foreground, spotlighting the best in the industry as an example for others. Previous winners of the award include:

• 2015: Element Financial Corporation and Quick Bridge Funding, LLC
• 2014: BB&T Equipment Finance Corporation and Wells Fargo Equipment Finance, Inc.
• 2013: TCF Equipment Finance, Inc. and SunPower Corporation
• 2012: LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. and AIG Commercial Asset Finance
• 2011: First American Equipment Finance and ICON Capital Corporation
• 2010: Winthrop Resources Corporation
• 2009: Key Equipment Finance, PHH Arval
• 2008: Orion First Financial LLC, Trinity Industries Leasing Co.
• 2007: TCF Equipment Finance, California First National Bancorp, and Xerox Capital Services
• 2006: Farm Credit Leasing
• 2005: Styx Capital, Relational LLC
• 2004: Cisco Systems Capital Corporation
• 2003: AgStar Financial Services, National Leasing
• 2002: ABB Financial Services, IBM Global Financing, Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation

Information about the 2016 ELFA Operations and Technology Conference, Sept. 12-14 in Baltimore, Md., is available at www.elfaonline.org/events/2016/OTC/.