The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (Foundation) announced the officers of its Board of Trustees who will serve in 2017. Board Officers serving are William Verhelle, Member, Harvard Partners LLC as Chair; Scott Thacker, Chief Executive Officer, Ivory Consulting Corporation as Vice Chairman; Ralph Petta, President and Chief Executive Officer, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) as President; Richard Doherty, President, PNC Equipment Finance, LLC as Treasurer and Paul Stilp, VP, Finance and Administration, ELFA, as Secretary. The officer elections were held during the Board of Trustees’ Annual Meeting. 

The new members appointed to the Foundation Board of Trustees include Jeffrey Berg, Executive Vice President – Country Manager, DLL; Katie Emmel, Chief Operating Officer, International Decision Systems; and Eric Hanson, Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital Advisors.

Richard Gumbrecht is Immediate Past Chairman and Larry Smilie, Managing Director, Capital Markets, Banc of America Leasing, will serve as liaison to the Foundation from ELFA’s Board of Directors.

“The Foundation’s trustees represent a wealth of expertise, talent and experience in the equipment finance industry,” said Petta. “We are privileged to benefit from their commitment and the time they contribute to the Foundation.”

Other 2017 Trustees are:

• Vincent Belcastro, Managing Director/Group Head, Corporate Equipment Finance, Santander Bank Equipment Finance
• Steven Byrnes, Principal, Capgemini
• Jeffry Elliott, Chief Administrative Officer, Huntington Equipment Finance
• Randy Haug, Executive Vice President and Vice Chairman, LeaseTeam, Inc.
• James Johnson, Professor of Finance, Northern Illinois University
• Bonnie Michael, Vice President, Legal and General Counsel, Volvo Financial Services
• Kelli Nienaber, Executive Director, Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation
• Gordon Scott, Vice President, CDK Financing Solutions

Steven R. LeBarron Award

Foundation President Ralph Petta honored James Schallheim, Ph.D., Professor of Finance, University of Utah with the Steven R. LeBarron Award for Principled Research during the Foundation’s Annual Research Planning Meeting, which was held along with the Annual Board Meeting. Jim has invested countless hours analyzing, editing and improving the Foundation’s research, and his academic background helped to establish and follow proper protocols which have enabled Foundation research quality to consistently improve and gain credibility. He is retiring from the Board this year after serving since 2000. The Steven R. LeBarron Award is presented annually to the Research Committee member who demonstrates the insight, fortitude and dedication exemplified by Steve.