A person never knows what a Las Vegas night may inspire when three friends who happen to be former leasing executives get together to celebrate the birthday of their colleague.

"We're small-time gamblers, but big time, big ticket leasing guys!" jokes Anthony Salm, president of newly formed Patriot Equipment Finance as he conveys the story of how the company got its start. It was that celebratory weekend when the trio decided to form a company that allowed them to continue doing what they had learned so well over the years – equipment financing – while focusing in key vertical markets where they all had expertise – namely the energy, construction, and mining industries.

"We know many of the major players in these vertical markets, and we also know what funding sources have an appetite for based on their current credit situations. And, we also understand the collateral they are trying to finance," explains Salm. "It was no surprise that a consortium of oil and gas investors wanted to invest in us and our books of business. With our new investors, we knew we could fund transactions from private equity and go beyond the super broker model with these guys (investors)."

Mr. Salm, along with Scott Glover, executive vice president of sales and operations, Hank Lee, chief operating officer, and two Cleveland based business analysts formed the new equipment finance company, Patriot Equipment Finance. Together, they have over 75 years of experience working together and on their own and at a multitude of mid-ticket lessors and banks. Collectively, they have financed over $1.5 billion in capital projects – from aviation to energy.

Their intent was to go beyond what normal equipment leasing companies often touted, mainly low rates and fast credit decisions. "We wanted to form a company that went beyond the core competencies of what the major players in the industry were providing, so we set out to define the areas that made us successful in the corporate world."

To that end, Patriot Equipment Finance intends to provide value to corporate CFOs by offering creative lease finance tools to assist them in their strategic planning. The company will evaluate how equipment finance plays a role in helping CFOs build and communicate the company's values. This, in turn, will help build rapport with analysts and investors, while creating trust in the CFO, the numbers they report, and their companies. Patriot Equipment Finance will help educate CFOs on how a resourceful leasing partner will allow them to work more effectively as a team with the COO, CEO, and others on the management team.

 "It's simple. Patriot Equipment Finance is a partner that integrates well with our customers and the industry's we serve," explains Mr. Salm. "We know the true value of these relationships and we want to build a company around that. It's less of a gamble than Las Vegas."

 Patriot Equipment Finance has its corporate office in Strongsville, OH and sales offices in Pittsburgh, PA and Los Angeles, CA.

 Learn more about Patriot Equipment Financing at http://www.patriotef.com