Over 190 commercial equipment finance professionals from across North America gathered at the National Equipment Finance Summit, April 2nd through 4th, at the Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In addition to the wonderful Scottsdale weather, they enjoyed lots of networking, a full range of educational breakout sessions and discussions, and the Summit’s largest and most varied array of table-top exhibits ever.

“This was the best attended Summit in NEFA’s history” said Gerry Egan, Executive Director of the National Equipment Finance Association.  “We had more attendees in every category and the largest number of exhibitors we’ve had so far” Egan said.

Kyle Gilliam, CLP, of Arvest Equipment Finance, NEFA’s President, said “There’s so much opportunity right now and the Summit gave attendees a chance to share ideas and best practices as they focus their strategies and sharpen their skills.  There was lots of interest in our exhibitors, which is always a good sign of growth.” 

Gilliam went on to say “We’re also very pleased at the large number of first time attendees who joined us at the Summit and the wonderful comments we had about the strength and depth of our full slate of educational sessions.”

The 2014 Summit Chairperson was Chris Lerma, CLP, of Allegiant Partners.   Lerma said “We put a lot of effort into developing our educational program and my team of volunteers was able to recruit an impressive list of presenters and panelists.  There was a little something for everyone and each program offered some in-depth content.”

Eric Bunnell, CLP, also of Arvest Equipment Finance, was formally announced as the newest Certified Leasing Professional by Reid Raykovich, CLP, Executive Director of the CLP Foundation, and David Normandin, CLP, of Banc of California, President of the CLP Foundation, during lunch on Thursday, April 3rd.

It wasn’t all work and business, though.  Mark McKissick, of Banc of California, who had organized a Golf Networking and Fund Raiser for the day before, recognized the event’s winners and then presented some other less serious prizes and accolades to some of the other golfers. 

All net proceeds from the golf event went to the Chris Walker Education Fund.  Chris Enbom, CLP, of Allegiant Partners, and Randy Haug, of LeaseTeam, two of the committee members responsible for administering the Fund, were on hand to thank the golfers and speak to the attendees about the Fund. 

The lunch wrapped up on a decidedly funny note thanks to a surprise visit by New York comedian, Joe DeVito.  DeVito, who has appeared on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing and The Late Late Show, shared some thoughts about middle age and beyond, and about the intricacies of personal relationships, which sure seemed to strike a familiar chord with a lot of attendees.

The whole conference wrapped up on Friday afternoon with prize drawings which included two free attendee certificates to upcoming NEFA conferences; a couple of tablet computers sponsored by Allegiant Partners and ECS Financial; TValue software donated by TimeValue Software; a law book donated by Winston and Winston, P.C.; and some gift cards donated by Business Credit Reports.

NEFA’s next full scale conference is the 2014 Funding Symposium which will be held September 18th through 20th, at the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

The National Equipment Finance Association (NEFA) is a national association serving small to mid-sized independent equipment finance companies, lessors and brokers.  NEFA is a strong association offering enhanced educational programs and premium networking opportunities with broad geographic and industry segment diversity.  The mission of NEFA is to provide a forum for members to pursue personal and professional growth and promote ethical business practices through advocacy, networking and industry involvement.