MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Connect, Engage, Grow ELFA Chairman Bob Rinaldi has a long and successful history in the equipment leasing and finance sector. Now, he turns his eye to building stronger member engagement. HEN BOB RINALDI STARTED HIS CAREER in finance, he never envisioned himself positioned at the helm of one of the largest and most influential financial industry associations. But now that he’s Chairman of ELFA, a look back at his career shows a perfect background for this post. With experience at the corporate level, as well as building a small independent leasing company into an industry leader that was acquired by a major financial institution, Rinaldi has an in-depth understanding of each member sector. In addition, he has a bold vision for the organization’s future and exciting plans for his leadership role in 2015. W By Gwen Moran A Storied Career Rinaldi began his career selling equip-ment for Xerox Corporation, working with clients to determine their budgets and business needs and then design-ing equipment solutions. With the sig-nificant focus on monthly and annual budgeting, that’s where he says he got his first introduction to the equipment leasing and finance industry. “We sold everything on a monthly-payment basis at Xerox. That’s how I came to appreciate leasing as a product initially, but later as a vitally important industry,” he says. At the time, his brother, Vince Ri-naldi, who was also working for Xerox as a senior branch sales manager, decid-ed to make a career change and joined Finalco Group, a publicly traded leas-ing company based in McLean, Va. A year later, another colleague and friend, Denny Hirt, went to work with Vince at the Cincinnati office. Shortly after that, Bob joined them at Finalco. He figured Presenting the Guest Lecture Program at UVA-Darden. sonally. Watching his em-he’d done well leas-ployees flourish in their ing Xerox equipment, careers and providing the and wanted to see support they needed to what he could accom-do so was a profound ex-plish if he could lease perience for the leadership anything he wished. team, Rinaldi says. “It was natural to “In the beginning, we want a bigger pas-had no grand illusions of ture to graze in, so the more altruistic rea-to speak,” he says. Bob Rinaldi sons for starting a com-Roughly a year pany,” he says. “But, when you’re grow-later, having learned the ropes of the ing the business over a period of time, leasing business, the Rinaldis, Hirt and hiring people, meeting their families a fourth principal, Mike Rooney, set off and watching them grow and take on on their own, launching a small leasing bigger roles and responsibilities, you company called Information Leasing can’t help but be affected by that.” Company (ILC) with a few thousand The company hit its stride and dollars out of their own pockets. Ri-within a couple of years was handling naldi says the four were focused on $30 million per year in transactions. It building a successful company, which continued to grow for another eight or to them simply meant having some so years until it was purchased by Provi-fun and making money doing so. In dent Bank of Cincinnati in December of fact, “have fun & make money” turned 1996. “It was a surreal moment” Rinaldi into the company mantra and culture recalls, adding, “No, actually it was the shared by and lived by everyone at the first in a series of surreal moments at-company. “This simple slogan became a tempting to maintain a culture of ‘have life lesson for me in terms of leadership fun & make money’ in a bank.” A series and running a high performing busi-of bank acquisitions ultimately landed it ness,” says Rinaldi. “The team performs under the ownership of PNC, where the best when they have fun at work.” So, company grew to the 5th largest bank-nobody on the small team took them-owned leasing company in the United selves too seriously, lest they become the States prior to the Great Recession. brunt of some “irreverent fun.” In recent years, Rinaldi felt the call But, over time, the vision morphed to try something entirely different, but to include a bigger picture and some certainly not new to him. In 2010, he serious growth. ILC hired an increas-joined CSI Leasing as Senior Vice Pres-ing number of people and helped them ident. In January 2014, he joined his thrive both in the company and per-38 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE