Focused On You

Bill Verhelle

CEO

 

Bill founded First American Commercial Bancorp, Inc. d/b/a First American Equipment Finance, while a student at the Cornell Law School in 1996. The company, headquartered in Fairport, NY, finances capital equipment for some of the largest hospitals, colleges, universities, enterprise businesses and non-profit organizations in the United States. See: www.faef.com.

 

In 2012, Inc. Magazine recognized First American for the 8th time as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. (First American ranked as high as #3 on the 2001 Inc. 500 list).

In 2011, for the tenth year since 2000, KPMG Rochester and the Rochester Business Alliance listed First American as one of the Top 100 companies headquartered in Rochester, NY.

In 2012, the Best Companies Group chose First American as the #1 best place to work in New York State (less than 250 employees).

On April 30, 2012, City National Bank of Los Angeles, CA, the 26th largest bank in the U.S., acquired First American in an all cash transaction. After the acquisition, Bill was invited to continue in his prior role, leading the expansion of the U.S. equipment finance business, which continues to operate independently, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of City National Bank.

 

Before founding First American, Bill was Vice President and Western Division Manager of the Tokai Bank of Japan's middle-market leasing company (now De Lage Landen Financial Services.)

Bill has a Bachelor of General Studies Degree (BA) from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Anderson School at UCLA and a Doctor of Laws (JD) from Cornell Law School. Bill is a member of the New York Bar Association.

During 2008 Bill served as the Chairman of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) in Washington, D.C. See: www.elaonline.com.

 

Bill resides in Naples, Florida with his wife Cyndee, and their four sons: Mitchell, Bradley, Trey and Luke.

 

Education

Professional

 

Chairman, ELFA Succession & Transition Committee (2010)
Board of Trustees Member, Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (2010-2012)
Chairman, Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) (2007 - 2008)
Chairman, ELFA Government Affairs Council (2006 - 2007)
Chairman, ELFA Middle-Market Independent Business Council Steering Committee (2004)
Member, ELFA Executive Committee (2004 - 2008)
Member, ELFA Board of Directors (2004)

Bill is a member of the New York State Bar Association.