Today, during the 55th 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. Anthony Cracchiolo, President and CEO of U.S. Bank Equipment Finance, is the new Chairman of the Board and David Schaefer, Founder and CEO of Orion First, 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 Tony Cracchiolo serving as Chairman of the Board of Directors for 2017,” said ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta. “Tony’s vision and leadership skills combined with his industry knowledge and commitment to our association will be tremendous assets to the ELFA membership and the industry at large in the coming year.”

“As our industry evolves, I am proud and encouraged that the ELFA continues to have such an influential role in the financial marketplace. Given the high degree of engagement of our members and the guidance and support of the ELFA staff and leadership team, I am truly honored to take on the role of Chairman of the Board,” said Cracchiolo. “I look forward to continuing the important work that is already underway, furthering the evolution of our association and rising to the challenges ahead.”

Cracchiolo is a 35-year veteran of the financial industry. In his current position, he leads and oversees all operations of U.S. Bank Equipment Finance, which is composed of nine business units, delivering products and services through both direct and vendor channels. The direct businesses include capital equipment, small business, technology finance, government leasing and finance. The vendor channel businesses include office equipment vendor services, healthcare vendor services, manufacturing vendor services and technology vendor services, as well as the division’s syndications group. Prior to joining U.S. Bank, Cracchiolo held the position of Managing Director of CitiCapital Vendor Finance for Business Technology.

An active participant in ELFA, Cracchiolo has served on the ELFA Board of Directors since 2010. In addition to his current position on the Board, he has been a member of ELFA’s Executive, Personnel, Nominating, Investment and Audit Committees, as well as the Captive and Vendor Finance Business Council Steering Committee. In 2015 he served as a Trustee of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation.

Cracchiolo holds a bachelor’s degree in management science, computer science and mathematics from City University of New York and a master’s degree in computer science from New York Institute of Technology. He is also a graduate of the University of Michigan Executive Program. He has served on the Development Committee of New York City’s YMCA since 2012.

2017 ELFA Board of Directors
The newly elected members of the ELFA Board of Directors include:

• James Cress, Vice President & General Manager, Stryker Flex Financial
• Marjorie Krumholz, Partner, Thompson Coburn LLP
• Matthew LeSage, COO, Wells Fargo Equipment Finance
• Brian Madison, President, Trinity Industries Leasing Co.
• Robert Neagle, President, Merchant Finance, Ascentium Capital LLC

The following individuals were elected by the membership to serve as ELFA Vice Chairs: Jud Snyder, President, BMO Harris Equipment Finance; Martha Ahlers, Vice President and COO, United Leasing; and Larry Smilie, Managing Director, Capital Markets, Banc of America Leasing.  Robert Boyer, President, Susquehanna Commercial Finance, will serve as Treasurer. Paul Stilp, ELFA’s Chief Financial and Operating Officer, continues to serve as Secretary. William Stephenson, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of DLL, is Immediate Past Chairman. Other members of the Board are:

• Andrew Bender, CEO, GSG Financial
• Michael Campbell, CEO, International Decision Systems
• Aylin Cankardes, President/Founder, Rockwell Financial Group
• Michael DiCecco, President, Huntington Equipment Finance
• John Evans,  Executive VP, Equipment Finance Division, Bank of the West
• Lori Frasier, Senior Vice President Strategy and Performance Management, Key Equipment Finance
• David Gilmore, Senior Vice President, Region 4, John Deere Financial
• Brian Holland, President & CFO, Fleet Advantage
• Gary LoMonaco, Vice President & Treasurer, Forsythe/McArthur Associates
• Sanjay Kumar, Senior Director, Worldwide Technology and Channel Financing, Cisco Systems Capital
• David Mirsky, CEO, Pacific Rim Capital
• William Phelan, President, PayNet

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods.