Committee members include Richard Gumbrecht, CEO, Secured Finance Network; Wade Kennedy, partner, McGuireWoods LLP; David Kurzweil, shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Bethani Oppenheimer, associate, Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Robert D. Katz, managing director, EisnerAmper; Jonathan Craig, president, Prime Financial Recruiting; Nathen Bishop, first vice president, director of operations, Hana Financial; Charlie Johnson, SFNet's past chairman and current Education Foundation Board chairman; and Greg Slowik, SFNet's CFO and the Foundation’s Executive Director.

“The primary mission of the Committee is creating opportunities in secured finance for a diverse group of young people. Scholarships and paid internships, funded by the Foundation and local chapters, respectively, and supplemented by individual and SFNet member company matching gifts, will receive emphasis as well as assisting women and minorities with career development opportunities.  I’m thrilled to be a part of this very important initiative,” said David Kurzweil. 

“Both with respect to general membership as well as leadership of the SFNet, bringing attention to diversity is important for the health, relevance and ultimate success of the SFNet and the Foundation (or frankly any organization).  It is not so much an attempt to promote the success or advancement of any particular group or perspective, but rather a priority developed to ensure the broadest possible resources and information for the organization to draw on.  Any dynamic organization that needs to grow and change in order to serve its constituents needs to have this breadth of experience and knowledge feeding its decision-making and that experience and knowledge comes from the membership and leadership of the organization,” said Wade Kennedy.

The Committee decided to initially develop a Guest Lecture Program (GLP) designed to introduce ABL, factoring and other secured finance products to undergraduate juniors and seniors. “We hope to reach students at colleges and universities in minority and underserved communities through  these GLPs.  Secured finance is not an industry most students are aware of and we would like to change that,” said Greg Slowik. As a follow-up, internships at SFNet member companies will be made available for students attending any GLP and showing strong interest in gaining further knowledge and hands-on experience in secured finance.

To get the ball rolling, Robert Katz of EisnerAmper, who is adjunct professor of finance at Temple University, arranged for the initial guest lecturer presentation to his Corporate Finance class on April 8 in Philadelphia. Joe Accardi from People’s United Bank was the guest lecturer. The class of 20 students, all getting ready to receive a BA degree in Business/Finance, had stimulating interactive discussion with Joe about asset-based lending, including what it is and career opportunities in the field.

“The inaugural GLP was a success and we are grateful to Rob and Joe for making it happen. SFNet, is committed to increasing our industry’s diversity as well as attracting and training the next generation of leaders,” said Rich Gumbrecht.

According to Accardi: “Our discussion began with some basic concepts of creditworthiness, and the possible need for collateral. I explained that, as cash flow and liquidity become more strained, collateral becomes more important to ensure full repayment of a debt, and then various types of potential problems come into play with certain assets. 

“I was as impressed by the great questions from the students. They clearly had a strong academic background in finance and had learned a lot over the years of their academic life. They had no problem absorbing some real nitty-gritty ABL concepts like borrowing-base availability, ineligibles and NOLV,” Accardi said. 

Accardi provided an example of a former client of his from years ago, a company that was an importer of Christmas tree ornaments. “Very quickly the students understood that the inventory had a certain value in September, and a much lesser value in January. I was hoping that they’d come away with the idea that, with asset-based loans, you always need to be thinking about potential risks. This is not plain vanilla, auto-pilot lending, and that’s why it’s so stimulating and fun!” 

Accardi explained that the ABL business had been so rewarding for him over nearly four decades and urged the students to consider learning more about career opportunities and looking into internships with asset-based lenders. There was discussion about careers in credit and underwriting, new business development, and portfolio management. Accardi and Katz also discussed career and internship prospects with SFNet members and the support of the SFNet through jobs, trade publications and education.  Both offered to serve as a sounding board for students who were interested in exploring ABL career opportunities.  

 “More than half the class indicated an interest in learning more about the SFNet and lending opportunities and several did follow up with us after class,” said Accardi. 

Accardi told students what potential employers, in any field, are looking for when considering hiring a recent college graduate. “Obviously, no one is looking for 10 or 20 years of experience when hiring someone in their early-mid 20s. So what we are looking to hire is someone with a strong work ethic, strong communication skills, a positive attitude, a collaborative nature, and an eagerness to keep learning and growing. If that’s what you’re coming to the table with as a potential team member, success is pretty much guaranteed.”  

“The Foundation’s Guest Lecture Program is the best way to introduce young people to the secured finance industry...and SFNet's Chapter organizations are the best vehicle to deliver those programs locally.” said Charlie Johnson, chairman of the Foundation. “That’s why I am personally encouraging each Chapter president to make delivering at least one GLP to local a college business finance or accounting class a part of their Chapter’s agenda each year.” 

“In addition to the GLP, the Committee plans to establish a pilot program providing commercial lending educational resources to two community lending organizations that finance underserved communities, including women and minority-owned businesses, in Chicago. The two organizations are Chicago Community Loan Fund and Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives. Stay tuned for further details,” Kennedy said.   TSL