NAELB President Mike Meacher Speaks Out

“We've never had 598 members. I wish we had!, “ Mike Meacher, president of the

National Association of Equipment Leasing (NAELB) declared on “Meet the Leasing News
Maker”.
“That number was from a contact list that included prospective members, retired members, and any number of other industry contacts beyond our regular membership...., frankly, the records they
inherited from our previous management group were in some disarray.”

The statistics reported that NAELB was the only association to lose members last year.

Membership today was 455, he said.

“Currently we have over 355 broker members and almost 100 associate or funder members, making us, we believe, the second largest association in the industry, “ he said. “ We're currently in the midst of a very successful funder recruiting drive. Many of those numbers won't actually show up until our April convention, so I don't know what the total will be by then. “

Mike is the current President of NAELB.  Mike has been in the leasing industry since 1984.  Mike
runs Bankgroup Financial  Services which  provides private label programs to the golf and turf
industry.  They also  provide irrigation system financing for  major irrigation manufacturers.

“NAELB has always been prudent with member money, “ he answered to one question.”  We are
very solvent. We have sufficient funds to weather the current economic slowdown and still provide
value to our members .”

He also added,” Because our broker members are almost all self-employed, we try to do things
with an eye on the budget for them to. We watch what we spend all the time. That's enabled us to
remain financially secure even during the last tumultuous year or so.

“Runaway growth, though, has never been our goal. We grow at a planned, steady rate we can sustain and service. That's why we've remained consistent and solidly solvent through the ups and downs of this business. The short version though is this: NAELB membership today is not down and is continuing to grow.”

When questioned about the 475 membership figure at the end of December,2000, compared with the 415 at December, 2001, he did not know if the prior year-end

numbers were reliable as the same outside management group was keeping records. Ironically, the
United Association of Equipment Leasing numbers at year-end,2000 of 598 was declared as not correct by present staff, who state they don’t know how the figure was arrived at.

“Being 'the broker's association', the NAELB is the only industry group formed to focus on the
interests and development of the business of leasing brokers, “ he said. “ We do that through
education, advocacy, improved communication with funders, and programs designed to upgrade the professionalism and profitability of our member brokers.”

Over fifty came to the live forum, and a constant twenty-five to thirty stayed for

the entire one hour interview.

“..... each of the Associations has a different and unique focus. As an example, NAELB focuses
on the education and development of business for our broker members, “ Meacher said. The other associations also focus on education and development for brokers, .but  NAELB does that
exclusively and that is a big difference.

“NAELB welcomes the participation of ALL funders who want to meet our brokers, “ he stated. “.
We currently have a direct marketing effort to the funder marketplace to accomplish this. If you have funders you want us to contact, don't keep it a secret.”

“Our meeting's are the place to meet, recruit, develop and reward the people who will build that
portfolio for them. Funders come because they know our members are committed to being the best
they can be and they want and need to meet them. Frankly, our most successful funders tell us they
don't care about running our association, they join for the relationships they build and the sales they get.

“Being 'the broker's association', the NAELB is the only industry group formed to focus on the interests and development of the business of leasing brokers. We do that through education, advocacy, improved communication with funders, and programs designed to upgrade the professionalism and profitability of our member brokers

“This focus has allowed us to develop a strong sense of community among our members. Because we know who we are and who we serve, it's made it easier to develop and deliver educational and other programs to our members.”

“With some many funding sources have difficulty, gone, merged, out of business: Is this marketplace
still a "broker's" market? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“Anyone who adds value to a transaction will always be able to earn a fee for their services. Niche marketing, problem solving and other services which add value earn you a place in this industry. Order taking adds no value.”

“There is talk about merging with another association. Do you think that will ever happen? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“It is an attractive, but an illusive goal to date. There are certainly advantages to funders by having fewer events at which to market. We are always open to looking at ways to improve the industry. “

He talked about the various programs, especially listserve, which has 360 registered

on line.  NAELB is about to launch a new website in two weeks for members only, including four different listserve groups for members to subscribe to. 

“How well is the prepaid Airborne working? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“This service is seriously popular. We even created so much volume we created a conflict between our supplier and Airborne. Keep watching our website for updates.”

“Is the annual convention in Orlando this year going to be worth my time and money? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“We're real excited about the convention this year. Because of all the changes in the industry, we're already finding interest to be higher than ever among the brokers and the funders. We expect to have a
lot of new attendees in both categories... All accommodations are full suites for less than the price of most regular rooms in other convention facilities. Breakfast is included, too! A lot of attendees will
find it even more attractive to take a villa. They're beautiful. You can see it all at: http://www.cariberoyale.com/ What is the anticipated turnout at the Southern Gathering in Atlanta next month? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“I have no specific numbers and EAEL is handling the reservations. We anticipate a strong turnout
from all the feedback I've been given..

What advice would you give a young broker entering the leasing business today? “

[ Michael_Meacher ANSWERS ]

“Know your customer, know your vendor and know your funder. They also need to associate with other successful people in the industry. This is why our motto is "success by Association".

This is an abbreviated report to over an hour interview with Mike Meacher, who said his fingers were
well worn out from typing answers.  He was a very good sport.

NAELB states the 598 membership number was compiled by their previous management company
and contains “prospects.”  They never had 598 members.  They further state they do not know if
the 475 count for December, 2000 is accurate.

UAEL states the 589 membership number includes people counted twice and is notaccurate.  The membership is now under Bill Grohe as membership director and

he discovered the error when he took over.