At a specially convened meeting of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) Board of Directors on Saturday, March 25, Chair Bob Neagle announced that President and CEO Ralph Petta will retire at the end of 2023. Petta has served in a variety of roles at ELFA and its Foundation over the past 36 years. He was named President and CEO in 2016.

“For over three decades, Ralph has played an instrumental role in the success of ELFA, delivering on the value proposition to member organizations through development and execution of a variety of programs, products and services designed to assist them in achieving success in the equipment finance marketplace. He has been an integral thought leader across many of our initiatives over the years, possessing a keen operational focus, which has greatly benefited the association,” said Neagle.

“The association has retained the global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to conduct a comprehensive search for our next association leader. We expect this process to result in the selection of a successor CEO/President some time in the fourth quarter of the year,” added Neagle. 

About ELFA

The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is the trade association that represents companies in the $1.1 trillion equipment finance sector, which includes financial services companies and manufacturers engaged in financing capital goods. ELFA members are the driving force behind the growth in the commercial equipment finance market and contribute to capital formation in the U.S. and abroad. Its 600 members include independent and captive leasing and finance companies, banks, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as manufacturers and service providers. For more information, please visit www.elfaonline.org.