Jennifer Ross

SVP, SLR Business Credit

Jennifer Ross is a senior vice president with SLR Business Credit and manages the operations team working out of the Utah office.  Her current responsibilities also include management of a factoring portfolio and underwriting new business.  

Jennifer began her career in consumer and mortgage lending and transitioned to commercial asset-based lending and factoring when she joined Summit Financial Resources in 2009.  During her tenure with Summit, Jennifer held various positions in both operations and portfolio.  In 2019 Summit was acquired by SLR Senior Investment Corp where Jennifer played an instrumental role in integrating the existing Summit portfolio and staff to the SLR Business Credit platform.

What advice would you offer to women just starting\ out in the industry?

There are so many answers to this question. It is hard to know where to begin.  My best advice would simply be to always take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.  Some opportunities are clear:  take advantage of offered training, licensing, and participate in special projects and networking opportunities.  Other opportunities are not as clear and can come disguised as problems.  Do not be afraid to get involved!  Some of my best “education” has come from working through and resolving issues with the help of a mentor.  

What do you enjoy most about your role? 

I enjoy problem solving and finding solutions.  It is extremely rewarding when you can assist a client through a difficult time in their business.  I also enjoy collaborating with my team to find ways to improve upon processes and procedures within our organization.

How can commercial finance organizations attract and retain more women?

When I started my career, I had several small children.  For me, work-life balance was often very difficult.  In my opinion, flexibility is key when attracting women to our industry.  I think offering family-friendly benefits and encouraging all employees to use them helps develop an organizational culture that can make work-life balance much easier.  Actively developing women as leaders is also a great way to attract women to your organization.

What effect, if any, has working remotely had on your career and/or industry?  What have been the challenges and how have you worked to overcome them?

Due to travel restrictions, securing new business has been a challenge.  As an organization, we have had to find creative ways to use technology in place of in-person meetings to originate prospects and communicate with networking contacts.  Camaraderie and team building that comes when colleagues are in the same physical location is also something that has been missed and is something that I used to take for granted.  Looking back, some of our best collective ideas have developed organically through casual workplace conversation that turned to business.   While working remotely, SLR Business Credit has used virtual conferencing on a regular basis to try and keep in touch with each other.  Some have been formal meetings, while others have been casual “virtual happy hours” that included other household members and even pets.  

What do you think work will look like post-pandemic world?

Due to health concerns during the pandemic, remote work has become a necessity for many of us.  As a result, many businesses that would not have considered this option in the past have found that working remotely can be successful.  I think some businesses will opt to continue full time remote work permanently; while, others may offer more flexibility to work remote as necessary or will use a hybrid in-person/remote work week schedule while retaining an office space for meetings, training and team building.  I also believe that business travel will be reduced but not eliminated.  Because virtual conferencing has become a common practice over the last year, more consideration may be given to whether the travel is necessary, or if the same goal may be accomplished through the use of technology tools.