Mike Elton, CEO of Advantage+, Brookfield, WI, announced Bob Hartshorn has been named Eastern Sales Manager of the 29-year-old, nationwide direct lender.

“We are excited to welcome Bob into the Advantage+ family,” Elton said. “Bob brings with him a wealth of industry knowledge and a history of strong success in small business lending. His desire to help small businesses matches our tenet of being small business focused, and we look forward to growing with him as a key member of our team.”

Hartshorn earned a BA in business finance from Framingham State College in Massachusetts, and an MBA in finance from the Elkin B. McCallum Graduate School of Business at Bentley College in Massachusetts. He has worked in the equipment finance industry for 30 years.

“I’m excited to join an established finance company that feels like a family, where I will be able to lead a sales team to grow the Advantage+ finance portfolio of equipment ranging from office furniture to dump trucks,” said Hartshorn.

Advantage+ was founded in 1992 and is a nationwide direct lender. It offers equipment and working-capital loans of $2,000 to $200,000 to small and mid-size companies. One-third of its new loans are to existing or previous customers. The company also provides customer finance programs for manufacturers, distributors and dealers.

Advantage+ has lent more than $500 million dollars to more than 20,000 businesses. Its managers and a few outside investors own the company. The company augments its growing capital base with loans from partner banks with managers that support small business and free-market capitalism.