ELFA Online News

Organized in 1961, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is a non-profit association that represents companies involved in the dynamic equipment leasing and finance industry to the business community, government and media.

ELFA's diverse membership consists of independent leasing companies, banks, captives, financial services corporations, broker/packagers and investment banks, as well as service providers like accountants, consultants, equipment managers, executive recruiters,

insurance companies, lawyers, publishers, and software providers. ELFA promotes the leasing industry as a major source of funds for capital investment in the U.S and other countries.

Headquartered in Washington DC, ELFA is a national organization with more than 750 member companies and a staff of 25 professionals. In 2003, equipment leasing is estimated to be a $220 billion industry.

United Association of Equipment Lessors

UAEL Mission Statement: The mission of the Association is to provide a forum for the personal and professional growth and success of its members.

UAEL Objectives: (1.)To foster the exchange of information and ideas on transacting business within the equipment leasing and commercial finance industry by providing opportunity to discuss, debate, and publish subjects of interest to its members.

(2.) To provide interaction among the Association's members through educational and social activity resulting in business opportunities.
(3.) To develop and encourage the practice of high standards of personal and professional conduct by the membership.
(4.) To collect and disseminate industry information relevant to its members.
(5.) To recognize individuals and firms who make outstanding contributions to the equipment leasing and commercial finance industry.

Bloomberg News

Worldwide financial communication from the Bloomberg Professional® service, which provides an unparalleled combination of data, analytics, electronic trading and straight-through processing tools on a single platform, to Bloomberg Television®, to Bloomberg Radio. Its magazines, online presence, and products drive investment decisions that affect millions of people - and billions of dollars worldwide.

CNN Financial

Founded in October 2001, CNN/Money, www.money.com, is one of the Internet's leading sources for breaking business news, personal finance commentary and planning tools. Working with the editors of MONEY magazine and the CNNfn television network, CNN/Money delivers all the day's pressing financial stories and goes beyond the headlines to show how they affect our users' financial well-being.

In less than a year, CNN/Money has more than doubled its audience share and been featured in Barrons, Crain's New York Business, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Cleveland Plain Dealer and San Francisco Chronicle for its thoroughness and ease-of-use.

Our staff of more than 40 journalists works closely with CNNfn and CNN.com to bring our users the most important business and economic stories first.

And our expert commentators, including CNN's Lou Dobbs and Kathleen Hays, and Fortune magazine's Adam Lashinsky,

Andrew Serwer and Bethany McLean, bring unmatched insight into what the day's big stories mean for the nation's economy and markets.

CNN/Money's personal finance team covers stock and mutual fund investing, real estate, interest rates, autos and travel. Our Millionaire in the Making column profiles investing and savings strategies of real people. And Money magazine's Walter Updegrave answers readers' questions three times a week in his Ask the Expert column. The site also features a selection of articles each month from Money and Mutual Funds magazines.

CNN/Money's personal finance tools are among the easiest to use on the Web. The site avoids the pseudo-science employed by many sites in favor of a down-to-earth approach to topics like asset allocation and saving for retirement. And the site offers fun-to-use, interactive decision guides based on popular Money magazine features including Best Places to Live.

The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), founded in 1997, is the nation's leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America's corporations. It also is the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States.

Dedicated to enhancing opportunities for women's business enterprises, WBENC works in partnership with women's business organizations located throughout the country to provide a national standard of certification for women-owned businesses. The organization also provides its corporate members and certified women's business enterprises (WBEs) with access to a range of B2B sourcing tools including, an Internet database that contains information on certified women's businesses for purchasing managers nationwide. WBENC is a resource for the more than 500 US companies and government agencies that rely on the WBENC certification as an integral part of their supplier diversity programs.

Through its benchmarking surveys and ongoing interaction with certified women's business enterprises, WBENC has become the nation's leading source of information on trends in supplier diversity programs for WBEs at US companies and government agencies. WBENC also promotes best practices in supplier diversity through the annual selection of "America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises."

WBENC prepares and provides its partner organizations with on-site training and educational materials detailing certification procedures and program management. WBENC's research projects and surveys, primarily of CEOs and corporate procurement decision-makers, help to identify impediments to doing business and suggest "best practices" to maximize WBE opportunities and expand and enhance supplier diversity programs.