BUSINESS COUNCIL UPDATES LFA’S BUSINESS COUNCIL STEERING COMMITTEES (BCSCs), which represent the fi ve key business sectors of the as-sociation membership, met in Washington, D.C., in May as part of the Capitol Connections congressional outreach program. Read about the committees’ activities below, and plan to attend the Business Council luncheons at the 56th ELFA Annual Convention in Orlando on Tuesday, Oct. 24. Don’t miss this chance to network with your colleagues and discuss industry sector trends. E Business Councils Meet in D.C. Captive and Vendor Finance BCSC This committee represents ELFA member companies that provide ven-dor financing programs, either as a subsidiary of a manufacturer or an independent, third-party organiza-tion. Th e committee is composed of 15 members, drawn roughly equally from captive organizations and third-party independents and banks. Throughout the first half of 2017, the committee conducted regular conference calls to discuss the current business climate and the outlook for this sector going forward. Th is input is valuable to association staff—and members of the committee itself—as the association develops needs-based programming designed for member companies operating in this space. With a few exceptions in certain market sectors, most committee members re-ported a cautiously optimistic approach to the fi rst half of the year in terms of originations and credit quality. At its May meeting in D.C., the group conducted the following business: ● ● Reviewed ELFA’s membership re-tention and recruitment goals for the year. ● ● Reviewed the goals and objectives of the association’s grassroots public policy program, focusing on target-ed contribution levels for members of the BCSC. ● ● Debriefed the successful Best Prac-tices Roundtable conducted in Chi-cago in April. ● ● Made preliminary plans for the Captive and Vendor Finance Busi-ness Council luncheon at the ELFA Annual Convention in Orlando. ● ● Reviewed the upcoming summer elections, which will be held to re-place BCSC members whose terms expire at the end of 2017. For more information, contact Committee Chair Mike Sweeney (michael.sweeney@everbank.com) or staff liaison Bill Choi (bchoi@ elfaonline.org). Financial Institutions BCSC Composed of 16 members, this com-mittee represents bank-related organi-zations and other fi nancial institutions involved in single transactions over $5 million. During the committee’s May meeting in Washington, D.C., the group discussed the following: ● ● The committee has made it a top priority to advance the understand-ing of the equipment leasing and fi nance industry among university and college faculty and students. Th ey have been doing this by deliv-ering the Guest Lecture Program (GLP), a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation designed to provide the basics and demonstrate why equip-ment finance is a viable option in the fi nancing/banking industry. To date, two committee members have presented the GLP. Five members are in the process of setting up six lectures this year with a committee goal of presenting 10 GLPs in 2017. To access the GLP, please visit www. leasefoundation.org/academics/GLP/ . ● The committee debriefed the suc-cessful Bank Best Practices Round-table, which was held in April in Chicago. Thirty-four members attended the 2017 roundtable and actively discussed hiring and re-taining talent, equipment finance Contest Recognizes Membership Recruitment This spring the ELFA Membership Committee challenged each BCSC to recruit as many new members as possible in a two-month period. ELFA would like to extend a big thanks to all the BCSC members that successfully recruited a new member in 2017 and applaud the Service Providers Business Council for recruiting the most members on a percentage basis. Congratulations! 16 JULY/AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017 EQUIPMENT LEASING & FINANCE MAGAZINE