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Kit Menkin’s Leasing News www.leasingnews.org Tuesday, March 5, 2002 Headline--- Leasing Innovations Wins San Diego BBB 2001 Award NAELB Proposes Multi-Association Committee New UAELB Website Up and Running Tuesday—Odds and Ends Steve Cambell Resigns as CEO of CapitalStream MidAmerica Association of Equipment
Lessors Golf Tournament S&T Bank Launches Equipment
Leasing Program eFinance Raises $6 Million
in “C” Financing Round Computer “Blue
Book” Now on Line “ Nicest man in the world; always has a smile on his face. Always has something nice to say about somebody. I make it a point that when I am in ******** to visit him every time. Truly, a great guy.” Greg McIntosh, Snider Leasing, Sacramento, California Whatever Happened to.... tomorrow—Wednesday edition ### Denotes press release ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #### ############################### ########################## Leasing Innovations
Awarded San Diego BBB 2001 Torch
Award
SAN DIEGO –Leasing
Innovations Incorporated was recognized as a San Diego 2001 Better
Business Bureau Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics Finalist in the
five to ten employees category. The annual awards program honors local companies
that demonstrate ethical business practices, both in operations and
in terms of being ethical, reliable and responsive to customers, vendors
and employees. Local BBB President Gerry Wilson states, “Each
honoree exemplifies that adhering to ethical business practices gives
a company a competitive advantage, while helping to uphold a marketplace
that is fair for all.” Criteria used by the judges included: high
standards of behavior toward customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders
and communities; truthfulness and accuracy of advertising and sales
practices; ethical reputation among industry peers and in communities
in which they do business; long term value of ethics policies to shareholders,
customers, employees; and training and communication programs to assist
employees in carrying out established ethics policies. Leasing Innovations Incorporated (LII) was
founded in 1992 and provides equipment financing services throughout
the US, with offices in San Diego and Boston. LII finances in excess
of $50 million worth of equipment annually. The firm serves large
and small corporations, as well as having a special expertise in not-for-profit,
municipal, federal and Indian tribal leasing transactions. For more
information call (800) 532-7388. # # # SAN DIEGO 437 S. Highway 101, Suite 104 Solana Beach, CA 92075
858.259.4794 800.532.7388 BOSTON 87 Summer Street, 4th Floor Boston, MA 02110
617.426.5200 877.426.5846 (How is that for
“good news.” editor ) ### ##########################
############################ ( more good news ) National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers Propose Multi-Association Committee Excellent leadership. NAELB takes the lead again, not only with a strong ethics program, pro-active standards committee, an active listserve, daily help desk, products for members, the only association to allow all associations in at the member at their conferences ; but now takes a major peace proposal for the entire industry, looking for more ways to cooperate and work together. My press hat is off to the NAELB board of directors. This was sent to all the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers 475 members, almost 400 are on their listserve: “As the leasing industry continues to evolve, NAELB is committed to searching for better ways to provide more contacts, more business sources and more education ---more practically--- to our members and support increased professionalism in the leasing industry as a whole. For years there have been vague, wishful discussions about cooperation between associations or even hints about joining of associations. Many of you may have read some of the recent calls for dialogue on these topics. Because of our unique mission as the broker's association, however, there are a number of hurdles to deal with in exploring the possibility of increased cross-association cooperation. “NAELB has contacted the leadership of both the UAEL and the EAEL to propose the establishment of a standing multi-association committee. The purpose of the committee will be to identify areas of mutual interest and need, and in which increased cooperation will strengthen and enrich the opportunities for all involved. The elected NAELB Board of Directors will review any ideas or recommendations of the committee and present them to the membership for review and discussion. “We think this can be a meaningful beginning in looking for creative, cooperative and practical solutions to the problems that face all of us in this industry. We look forward to meeting with our friends at the UAEL and the EAEL and to reaching our common goals together. “This will probably be the topic of lively discussions at the NAELB convention in Orlando, April 11-14. Go to www.naelb.org and select coming events to learn more and register.” Best Regards, Mike Meacher President, NAELB The plea for cooperation originally came from reader Richard C. Walker and Equipment Leasing Association President Mike Fleming was the first to respond: Walker wrote: “I noticed the advertisement/notice in your Leasing News today about the Equipment Leasing Association Funding Symposium. Are you aware that attendance is restricted to Equipment Leasing Association members? I would think that the other leasing associations would want to offer their members the opportunity to attend, but I have received no encouragement from either the National Association of Equipment Leasing Brokers or the United Association of Equipment Leasing in pushing some kind of a deal. I would think ELA would benefit from having broader attendance than just their membership. I wonder if I'm the only UAEL/NAELB member who is not an ELA member and who would like to attend the Symposium?” Richard ======================== Richard C. Walker Capital Equipment Leasing President ======================== http://www.CELeasing.com e-mail: rwalker@CELeasing.com tel: (858) 551-1214 fax: (858) 459-9394 Equipment Leasing Association President Mike Fleming responded: Just to clarify. Non-members may attend ELA Conferences at least once. In addition, we have suggested to other associations that their members could attend conferences if the organization endorsed or promoted the conference. Then Richard Walker took it a further step: UAEL Leaders, I have recently had conversations with Joanie ( Dalton, UAEL executive director) and Bette ( Kerhoulas, vice-president , UAEL) with respect to our taking the initiative to arrange with Equipment Leasing Association ( ELA ) and United Association of Equipment Leasing Association ( UAEL) members to attend their ( ELA) Funding Symposium \in Chicago. The reason for this initiative is that there is no longer any dispute that the ELA Funding Symposium is the premier funding event and I am sure that a moderate number of UAEL members who are not ELA members would like to attend and would benefit from attending the ELA Symposium. Until the last few years ELA allowed non-members to attend, but they have always had a restriction on non-members attending more than one and they have recently begun to enforce it. In Monday's (Feb. 25, '02) Leasing News you can find an exchange between Kit ( Menkin, editor ) and myself which resulted in Michael Fleming ( president )of ELA sending me the following note: " Just to clarify. Non-members may attend ELA Conferences at least once. In addition, we have suggested to other associations that their members could attend conferences if the organization endorsed or promoted the conference." I think it is in our interest to find out what Mr. Fleming means by "endorse or promote" and, if possible, arrange for our members to be able to attend ELA's Funding Symposium. That is one membership benefit that I would find appealing and I cannot believe that I am alone in this respect. Since I cannot negotiate on behalf of UAEL, I believe that I have taken this project as far as I can on my own. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to further the process. Richard Richard C. Walker Capital Equipment Leasing President ======================== http://www.CELeasing.com e-mail: rwalker@CELeasing.com tel: (858) 551-1214 fax: (858) 459-9394 ( Let us hope Michael Meacher’s proposal for a multi-association committee will not only bring “ peace and harmony” but will be of benefit to the entire industry, including promoting education, ethics, and evolvement.. editor ) New United Association of Equipment Leasing Website Up Designed now for both DSL/Cable/T1 or “dial-up”, the site opens faster, is “cleaner”, with an emphasis of member information. UAEL will be adding new features in the near future, including a listserve, the ability for members to communicate with each other. UAEL.org ______________________________________________________________ NACHA ISSUES GUIDANCE ON E-PAYMENT INTEGRATION NACHA's Council for Electronic Billing and Payment has published a presentation that defines the benefits to businesses of integrating accounts payable operations with electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) systems. "The number one barrier to the increased use of electronic payments in business-to-business commerce is the lack of integration between corporate accounting and electronic payment systems," says Mike Taipale, ACH business manager of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and chairman of the Council for Electronic Billing and Payment. "The Council for Electronic Billing and Payment has created a tool that will help those who seek to articulate the benefits of accounts payable integration as part of an electronic invoice presentment and payment strategy." For more information, visit the association's Web site at www.nacha.org. Tuesday---Odds and ends Bob Fisher/Scott Anderson Support Bob Fisher & Scott Anderson made F/A the company that al the rest looked up to, the same as CPLC many years ago before GE. We need a new leader, who will it be? Leo Timmerman -- Be nice to hear some good news once in awhile. David K. Young DNJ Leasing 312-629-2877 312-629-2874 (fax) (Newspapers generally have "bad news," not good news. Today's had news about Graneri's seminars, the NAELB help desk, schedule of events, classified...we report all the positive news we can. And Bob starting a new company, that's positive news!!! I also agree with you, the List is too long and it is about time we in the leasing news had a break. I will start to look for more good news. editor ) Please help us build our readership. We have grown only because or readers tell a colleague. We are the first with “inside news”, information, and dedicated to the equipment leasing industry, supporting all leasing associations. -- MarCap Vendor, San Diego, California I am a daily reader and had friends at the MarCap Vendor in nearby San Diego. You certainly are correct in what happened there. My friend said he saw it coming. Many of the people there were quite concerned about the ATM business. You know six months ago, the MarCap Vendor division hit the wall and Arrow Capital acquired most of the people. I was told not the portfolio, which is being run of by a small group, still under Marcap in Chicago. I guess the same will happen to Fisher-Anderson. Interesting enough the individual that championed the ATM business at Marcap Vendor now is a senior manager hired by Arrow. He loves that business. Ain’t that a kick in the head? ( name with held ) Steve Cambell Resigns as CEO of CapitalStream I wanted give you a heads up that Steve Campbell has resigned as CEO of CapitalStream. Steve has decided to move on and pursue other interests and Jeff Dirks, President & COO will step up to serve as CEO while the search is underway to find a permanent replacement. Steve Campbell's expertise in acquiring venture funding has served CapitalStream well having raised over 47 million dollars in venture capital in the last four years. His leadership and entrepreneurial experience have been vital to CapitalStream's success and growth. Everyone at CapitalStream has worked very hard to continue to grow our company in this difficult market. In the last three months we have had several customer wins including Merrill Lynch and Bank of the West, and we are continuing to capture new customer relationships. We continue to be excited about what lies ahead and the growth opportunities for CapitalStream and our customers. Thanks for continuing to provide a forum in which we can communicate to the industry. Regards, John Kruse Co-Founder and VP of Account Development -CapitalStream (Let’s view this as good news, as he did his job raising money, and perhaps he realizes that it is now time to change the coach of the team. Editor ) MidAmerica Association of Equipment Lessors Golf
Tournament
May 20th 18th
Annual Golf Invitational and 4th
Annual Warm Up Golf Weekend The MidAmerica Association
of Equipment Lessors (“MAEL”), ELA’s largest regional
affiliate, will be hosting it’s 18th Annual Golf Invitational
on May 20, 2002 at Harborside International Golf Center in Chicago,
Illinois. Harborside is crafted in
the links tradition of treeless, windswept English, Scottish and Irish
seaside courses and is located 16 minutes south of the loop. With
two championship courses reserved at Harborside, there is space for
320 golfers. The “storm-proof” lakeside clubhouse can accommodate
up to 400 people for the reception and dinner. We expect participation this
year to be at capacity, which is up from last year’s 254 golfers
and 290 for dinner and reception. Our after dinner speaker will be
announced in the very near future. The MAEL
Invitational will be preceded by the 4th Annual Warm Up
Golf Weekend with mid-day tee times reserved on May 18th
at Ruffled Feathers Golf Club in Lemont, IL and on May 19th at The
Course at Aberdeen in Valparaiso, IN. Sponsorship opportunities are
available for all events. Arrive
on Friday the 17th or Saturday the 18th, enjoy
two or three great rounds of golf and plan your Year 2002 Chicago
business appointments for the 21st and/or 22nd. Reserve
your place today to participate in our industry’s largest golf
related networking opportunity. Hotel
accommodations have been blocked for your convenience at Holiday Inn
Chicago Mart Plaza, 30 North Orleans Street, Chicago, Illinois 60654
(312) 836-5000 (reservations should be made prior to April 1st). During
the day, non-golfing companions/spouses can sample Chicago’s
fine cultural and shopping environment and evenings are free for entertaining
and socializing. Register on-line @ www.mael.org
or e-mail events@mael.org for further information. Leasing News inquired if the golf event ( which sounds great, especially including non-golfers!!!) is open to non-members, too: Kit--- All MAEL events are open to members and non-members. The pricing is set with an eye towards encouraging non-members to become members. Members and their guests get member pricing. Non-members and their guests get non-member pricing. Pricing is by who pays. We have not had a non-member bring a member as a guest, but if we did, we would make an adjustment. We have also priced the Invitational to encourage people to register in groups of four, whether they play together or want to be assigned a foursome randomly to improve their opportunity of developing at least a few new relationships. Thanks for all you are doing for our industry and, in particular, for MAEL. Best regards, Clyde D. Cady President Facility Capital 333 West Wacker Drive Suite 1750 Chicago, IL 60606 cdcady@facilitycapital.com www.facilitycapital.com 312.541.6000 phone 312.541.1275 fax 312.399.9335 mobile Members ELA & MAEL P. S.I would be happy to invite you to attend as my guest. Let me know. ( Thank you for the kind offer. Sounds like a great tournament, and in these tough days, we need to have fun once and a while. This sounds like you can mix business with a lot of fun with friends. editor ). ### ###################################### ##################### S&T Bank Launches Equipment Leasing Program To Better Serve
Its Growing Commercial Customer Base
S&T Bank announced today their newest commercial
product, Business Equipment Leasing. The product has been introduced
in response to high demand in the commercial market. "Our research shows
that 85 percent of businesses lease equipment," said Todd Brice,
senior vice president - commercial lending. "Because we want
to serve our commercial customers' financial needs at all levels,
we feel this product is a necessity. All too often, businesses lease
through their equipment vendor or some other source which has no commitment
to the businesses' overall financial success." S&T Business Equipment
Leasing is a valuable financial solution for businesses looking to
preserve cash flow, realize tax benefits or protect themselves form
technical obsolescence. Commercial customers will also have access
to the easiest, most convenient finance method available with one-page
applications acceptable by fax and four-hour credit decisions for
transactions under $100,000, upon receipt of completed documentation.
Headquartered in Indiana,
PA, S&T Bancorp's principal subsidiary, S&T Bank (Nasdaq:
STBA), operates 40 offices within Allegheny, Armstrong, Clarion, Clearfield,
Indiana, Jefferson and Westmoreland counties. With assets in excess
of $2.4 billion, S&T Bancorp stock trades on the Nasdaq National
Market System under the symbol STBA. ( courtesy of ELAonline.com ) executive@stbank.com
Direct Banking Center #### ############################## ############### ( more good news ) eFinance Raises More Money---Number 4 of eLease Software List http://www.leasingnews.org/elease/software.htm eFinance Corp started 1999 CEO:Karen Wendel employees 30 number of users:10+ Users clients includeADP, eScout, NEC, HP, Navidec #### ####################################### ###################### CSFB'S SPROUT GROUP LEADS $6 MILLION INVESTMENT ROUND IN eFINANCE CORP. NIF Ventures Also Invests in Leading Credit Technology Company SAN MATEO, Calif.) - eFinance Corporation today announced it has completed a $6 million Series C funding round led by CSFB's Sprout Group and joined by NIF Ventures. eFinance is a leading technology company offering credit decisioning solutions that allow customers to quickly and accurately gauge the financial soundness of their trading partners. San Mateo-based eFinance will use the funding to support the rapid growth of the company and deliver additional technology products and consulting services to the market. This new investment round brings eFinance's total equity funding to approximately $20 million. Lead investor Sprout Group, the venture capital affiliate of Credit Suisse First Boston, also led the Series B round in 2000. NIF Ventures, the venture arm of The Daiwa Securities Group, will receive a seat on the eFinance Board of Directors, to be held by Nancy Yee, Venture Partner at NIF Ventures. "While recent technology advances are helping companies streamline their physical supply chains, delivering credit and managing payments across the financial supply chain is a slow process based on decades-old legacy systems and processes," said Sprout Group Principal Beth Hoffman. "Credit decisioning is critical because it significantly affects the profitability of a company. eFinance provides an advanced technology platform that makes credit decisioning and accounts receivable management a strategic advantage for enterprises." The eFinance technology solution is structured for use across each step of a customer's financial supply chain, from customer pre-qualification through credit extension, accounts receivable and payments. Customers such as ADP and NEC use eFinance's credit technology to evaluate customers' financial soundness and to streamline the credit process, which helps them decrease bad debt, increase sales, and reduce operating expenses. Nancy Yee of NIF Ventures noted, "eFinance is built around industry experts with deep professional experience in technology applications, credit management, and enterprise consulting. eFinance addresses the need for organizations to create a common language for defining how to think about their trading partners as they go through each step of the physical and financial supply chains. Credit decisioning is the prime candidate for this unifying role." "This investment is further validation of eFinance's business model and value proposition to our customers," said Karen Wendel, CEO of eFinance. "Organizations are continually confronting the tension between sales objectives, credit extension to customers, and the wise use of working capital. eFinance's technology platform acts as a 'dial' to regulate the flow of credit - tightening the control to reduce bad debt and loosening it to increase sales. eFinance's strong client relationships with companies like ADP and NEC are evidence of the ROI benefits that our technology platform delivers. We look forward to working with our investors as we continue to develop products and services that meet the critical needs of our customers and market." About eFinance Corporation With headquarters in San Mateo, California, eFinance is a privately held company led by seasoned professionals with extensive experience in credit, financing, risk management, and technology. Founded in 1999, eFinance provides technology solutions that enable companies to quickly and accurately gauge the financial soundness of their trading partners at each step of the financial supply chain. eFinance has received investment funding from CSFB's Sprout Group, NIF Ventures, Sanchez Capital Partners, and DigitalVentures. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.efinance.com. About Sprout Group Sprout Group (www.sproutgroup.com) has been an institution in venture capital for more than thirty years and is one of the largest private equity firms focused on funding emerging technology companies. Founded in 1969, Sprout has financed more than 350 companies and has raised nearly $3.5 billion in committed capital from leading institutional investors and individuals active in the technology industry. The firm actively invests in enterprise infrastructure and software, communications, and healthcare technology. About NIF Ventures USA NIF Ventures is the venture capital arm of The Daiwa Securities Group, the investment bank in Japan. With offices in Tokyo, Singapore and Silicon Valley, NIF helps young companies fine-tune their strategy, build the right management team, find the needed resources, and develop corporate alliances to expand internationally. Since 1982, NIF has invested in more than 1,300 companies, and currently manages over US$1 billion in capital. For further information, please visit NIF's website at www.nifusa.com. ### CONTACT: eFinance Corporation Marshall Murphy 650.581.2907 marshall@efinance.com ### ############################################# ############### ( more good news ) The World’s First Midrange Blue Book launches online!
Website will revolutionize the way the Pre-Owned 20 Billion Dollar
Midrange Computer Marketplace Buys and Sells hardware.
Westbury, NY ––
The Midrange Blue Book, Inc. launched their website today. This revolutionary
website, TheMBB.com, is designed to level the playing field of the
pre-owned midrange computer marketplace. The mission of The Midrange
Blue Book is to provide an unbiased arena for end users and dealers
to obtain the most current market pricing on manufacturers’ hardware
like, IBM, Cisco, Sun Micro, HP, and many others. “This is the first
of its kind,” says Paul Cayton, The Midrange Blue Book’s
Founder. “The pre-owned computer industry is soaring and small
dealers everywhere are turning a profit”. “That’s
wonderful,” says Mr. Cayton, “only how do you know whether
you’re getting a fair price or value for your equipment?”
The pre-owned Midrange Marketplace is a 20 Billion Dollar industry
and growing. TheMBB.com is the logical next step to protect the consumer”. The Midrange Blue Book
does for the midrange computer industry what Kelly Blue Book has done
for the used car industry. The site currently covers the market prices
on over 50,000 pieces of midrange equipment, ranging from the smallest
tape drive to a complete system. “TheMBB.com will continue to
add manufacturers until they have covered the entire Midrange and
Mainframe marketplace”, says Cayton. The Midrange Blue Book
has employed a team of researchers, who, in conjunction with some
of the countries top midrange dealers, work vigorously to ensure that
the pricing is always accurate. For the busy IT manager that
has numerous systems, printers etc., TheMBB.com allows them to set
profiles of the hardware they own or wish to buy. They can then request
to receive monthly e-mail alerts of what the current market value
is and to be notified when that equipment’s market price changes.
This feature is especially important for Leasing Companies and Banks
who have equipment out on lease and wish to track its market value.
TheMBB.com will eventually
cover the entire Midrange and Mainframe marketplace. Until then, they
offer subscribers Free Market Research. TheMBB.com will e-mail back
within 48 hours the market prices on any Midrange or Mainframe hardware
not yet covered by their site. In addition to the already
impressive list of features, TheMBB.com has also added a vehicle for
equipment exchange between the buyer and seller. They call it The
Dynamic Midrange Exchange or DME. Essentially, Subscribers can e-mail
a Request For Quote, which is matched through an Intelligent Matching
Engine to only those Computer Dealers who specialize in that type
of hardware. The Midrange Blue Book is
available in the form of a Retail (End User) and a Wholesale Subscription
(For Dealers, Lessors, and other companies that qualify). The cost
of subscription is $399 per year and $125 per quarter. The Midrange Blue Book,
Inc. is a privately owned an operated corporation located in Westbury,
NY. Contact: Paul Cayton Phone: 516-333-6720 Fax: 516-333-3297 E-Mail: pcayton@thembb.com #### ################################################# #################### Hey, there has been a lot of “good news” today. editor |
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