The Alta Group has appointed Rick Remiker and Paul Menzel as Vice Chairmen. These highly regarded equipment leasing and finance industry leaders bring recent industry experience and support Alta’s commitment to providing deep industry expertise based on real world, true hands-on experience as market leaders and leasing executives.

Remiker, based in Chicago, previously served as Senior Executive Vice President and lead commercial banking executive of Huntington National Bank. Menzel, of Santa Barbara, CA, and Seattle, WA, was President and CEO of Umpqua Bank Equipment Leasing & Finance as well as Financial Pacific before it was acquired by Umpqua Bank.

Both Remiker and Menzel have enjoyed very successful careers in complementary segments of the equipment financing market. Having faced a variety of operational challenges during their careers, they have a unique ability to assess problems quickly and determine relevant solutions, adding to Alta’s existing collective knowledge and insight.

“I’ve spent my entire career in this industry, and I care deeply about it,” said Remiker, who described his new opportunity as one that allows him to work with the industry’s preeminent consultants—leaders who ‘live and breathe this business.’

“I’m looking forward to engaging with business leaders I know and helping new generations of leaders tackle emerging challenges,” Remiker added.

He said his unique experience at the bank parent level gives him perspective that will be valuable as a consultant. He has navigated many economic cycles as a C-suite executive and as an industry leader. Remiker’s past leadership roles in commercial banking afforded him unique insights into regulatory, risk-management and investor relations, he said.

Over the years he has been a passionate advocate of “insight-led” relationship management, which delivers tailored, actionable insights to clients and prospects. He served on Huntington’s senior credit and risk management committees, and during his tenure the bank experienced rapid financial growth through his innovative business strategies and his role in specialty acquisitions.

“Rick and Paul complement each other well,” said John C. Deane, CEO and chairman of The Alta Group. He noted that Menzel brings a wealth of knowledge from a small-ticket perspective in both independents and banks, while Remiker has more bank experience in mid-to large-ticket sectors.

Both Remiker and Menzel served as board members of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), and Remiker was appointed Chairman in 2013. He was also a two-term trustee in the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, the U.S. industry’s non-profit research organization.

When Menzel was on the ELFA board he chaired the association’s Code of Fair Business Practices and Small-Ticket Business Council committees. He also served on the association’s Industry Future Council.

He became a CLP (now CLFP-Certified Leasing and Finance Professional) in 1990 and participated in the development of the original CLP handbook.  
“I’m a big proponent of leadership development as a strategy to support successful growth within an organization,” Menzel said. “My long career in the leasing industry, through a variety of challenging successes, has been very rewarding. It is time give back to the next generation of leaders. This advisory role with Alta will allow me to do so while also enjoying the next chapter in my career.”

“I’ve always seen myself as a lifetime learner as a means to keeping life interesting and furthering my career,” he said. “I believe that ‘knowledge is king’ in creating a positive outcome in any situation, so I have lived by that tenet in advancing my leasing career.”

Menzel arranged the sale of Financial Pacific Leasing to Umpqua Bank in 2013, establishing a bank leasing subsidiary operating in all markets of the leasing industry, from small-ticket to middle-market transactions in third-party origination, vendor and direct channels.

Menzel has spent two-thirds of his career in the industry at a division or subsidiary of a bank within a regulated environment. The balance of his career has been spent working under private equity ownership as an independent operation, he said. When he joined Financial Pacific Leasing in the depths of the Great Recession in 2008, Menzel was able to lead the company through that challenging economic cycle and grow the business to $1.5 billion in assets—achieving six-fold growth in six years.

His proudest achievement, he said, was keeping the same team of employees together through all the changes in ownership and finding owners that supported their business plans.