It has finally come. Although we new that it was going to happen, and whether it was officially official, or not, the retirement of Michael Fleming from the ELA became official yesterday. After 27 years at the helm of the ELA, Mike is officially retiring on July 1 of this year. He is being succeeded by Kenneth E. Bentsen.
The equipment leasing industry has grown in both terms of size and sophistication over the past 30 years, and certainly faced its challenges. Mike has been there to help guide the ELA through it all with the invaluable assets he brought to the association. In addition to his leadership skills, Mike has considerable trade organization experience (Mike is a Certified Association Executive) and consummately represents the interests of the industry on the Hill and to the press. Most importantly, he has a superb grasp of what this industry is about, its key issues, where it is going, and what it needs to do to get there. I always enjoyed being able to talk to Mike at ELA functions and listen to his perspective on the equipment leasing industry.
Although there was an emotional send off at the ELA convention in Boca Raton by a resolute (read ‘crazed’) few, I would like to add my own wishes to Mike by saying thanks, good luck, and hope to see you around!
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