More than 260 equipment finance professionals and service providers from across the U.S., Australia and Canada attended the National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) 2021 Virtual Finance Summit on March 16-17.
“In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, NEFA found it imperative to offer value to members while keeping safety at the forefront. This virtual conference, as compared to our traditional in-person gatherings, did offer some unique benefits,” said Chad Sluss, Executive Director and CEO of NEFA. “Businesses of all kinds and sizes were able to join the event, offering value to employees in all areas of these companies. Employees we do not often get a chance to engage with at our in-person conferences, due to budgetary constraints, participated in this virtual event. This year’s Finance Summit once again demonstrated the unparalleled and growing value proposition offered by NEFA to the equipment finance industry.”
Attendees of the Finance Summit enjoyed highly productive networking time, topical and informative educational sessions, and many opportunities to meet with exhibitors. In addition to eight educational sessions, led by top industry professionals, the conference kicked-off each day with a motivational keynote address. The Day 1 Keynote was provided by TEDx Speaker and IBM Futurist Stan Phelps. Phelps is a masterful storyteller who guided participants through his talk, “The Purple Goldfish: How the Little Things Make the Biggest Difference.” The Day 2 Keynote was provided by Minnesota Army National Guard veteran John Kriesel. His motivational story, “Still Standing, Still Smiling,” relays lessons learned in overcoming extreme tragedy with the power of positive thinking.
“The 2021 Virtual Finance Summit provided incredible energy with keynote presentations from Stan Phelps and John Kriesel each day. Following each keynote, attendees had the option to attend two additional sessions from industry leaders throughout the two-day conference. Attendees were provided significant networking opportunities, with sponsors, exhibitors and industry colleagues throughout the event. We were very pleased with the attendance and want to thank the conference committee, sponsors, exhibitors, presenters, volunteers and our members for making this event so successful,” Sluss said.
The 2021 Virtual Finance Summit Chair, Kristian Dolan, CEO and Founder, Northteq said, “We persisted through Zoom fatigue and had a great conference! Thank you to the conference committee for orchestrating sessions with new topics like Cannabis Financing and eNotary, to time tested topics such as Credit Scoring and Fraud. We hope all attendees walked away with actionable information to improve their businesses.”
The 2021 Virtual Finance Committee was comprised of the following industry leaders: Kristian Dolan, NorthTeq, Chair of the Virtual Finance Summit; Anne Dalgaard, Dynamic Rentals; Dennis Dressler, Dressler|Peters, LLC; Chris Maudlin, Wintrust Specialty Finance; Beth McLean, Northland Capital Financial Services, LLC; Kim Riggs, Orion First Financial, LLC; Peter Van Dyke, NorthTeq Inc.; and James Wilson, TimeValue Software.
This year’s Finance Summit included a virtual fundraiser to benefit the Chris Walker Education Fund. The fundraiser, a raffle drawing to win a Peloton bike, was a great success, with the winner, James Jackson, Vice President, NEFA Board of Directors and Co-CEO - Practice Leader of the M&A Group, The Alta Group, ultimately donating the bike back to the Fund which was a very gracious gesture.