Leadership

CEO & President

CRAIG S. WEINEWUTH

Mr. Weinewuth is a principal of ENGS Commercial Finance Co. Prior to Engs, Mr. Weinewuth co-founded MeriCap Credit in 2005, where he was president and CEO of this private equity backed commercial equipment finance company, and led this company to a market leader in truck, trailer and construction equipment finance. Prior to MeriCap, Mr. Weinewuth was the GM for American Express Business Finance until its sale to Key Bank in 2005. American Express Business Finance was a $1.8 billion nationally recognized commercial finance company with annual originations of over $850 million in the primary segments of healthcare, office products, IT, franchise, commercial vehicle, and commercial & industrial.

Mr. Weinewuth has been in the commercial finance and leasing industry since the early 1990’s, holding a wide range of positions from corporate counsel to a variety of executive and general manager experience with two Fortune 100 companies to principal and co-founder of Capital Alliance Financial Services, LLC, a de novo commercial equipment finance company which was acquired by First Sierra, which itself was subsequently acquired by American Express in 2001. Mr. Weinewuth holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting & finance from the University of Wisconsin School of Business and Juris Doctor from DePaul University School of Law.

EVP, Chief Marketing Officer

JAMES B. FREUND

Mr. Freund is a principal of ENGS Commercial Finance Co. and is responsible for the company’s Sales, Originations and Marketing.  Prior to ENGS, Mr. Freund co-founded MeriCap Credit in 2005, where he served as Executive Vice President Sales, Marketing and Asset Management responsibilities of this private equity backed commercial equipment finance company.  Mr. Freund led the originations for this company into a market leader in Truck, Trailer and Construction equipment finance.

Prior to MeriCap, Mr. Freund served as Senior Vice President/Director for American Express Business Finance, where he led the growth of the Commercial Vehicle and the Commercial and Industrial Equipment segments into market leaders. Mr. Freund started his commercial finance career in 1988 with Transamerica Commercial Finance Corp., where he held the title of Senior Legal Counsel responsible for the legal affairs of the company’s largest business segment.

Mr. Freund became principal and co-found of Capital Alliance Financial Services, LLC, a de novo commercial equipment finance company which was acquired by First Sierra which itself was subsequently acquired by American Express in 2001.  Mr. Freund earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Marquette University School of Business, a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School and a Masters in Business Administration from Loyola University Quinlan School of Business (Chicago).

Chief Financial Officer

JOHN M. VANDE MOORE

Mr. Vande Moore is the Chief Financial Officer of ENGS Commercial Finance where he is responsible for overall financial management of the company, its financial reporting and multiple corporate functions including Accounting, Capital Markets, Treasury, Information Technology and Human Resources.

Mr. Vande Moore has extensive operational and financial experience in commercial lending and equipment finance. He was formerly CFO and Co-founder of several private equity backed equipment finance organizations. Prior to that he was the CFO for Comdisco’s $5 billion technology equipment finance division.

Previously, Mr. Vande Moore held positions at Brunswick Corporation’s Life Fitness division. He began his finance career at GE Capital’s Corporate Finance Group.

Mr. Vande Moore holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Wisconsin Madison and Master of Accountancy degree from DePaul University. He is a registered CPA in Illinois. Mr. Vande Moore is married with two children and lives in the Chicagoland area.

Chief Risk Officer

JOHN C. CARROLL

Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Carroll spent 15 years at Citibank managing credit risk and strategy for an array of domestic and international loan portfolios, including partnerships with many of the best known and largest names in the US commerce and transportation space. In addition to his large corporate relationships, Mr. Carroll also managed dealer-based portfolios, comprised of $2.5+ billion of aggregated dealer-originated receivables. Most recently he was the Chief Decision Management officer for an $8 billion portfolio, leading all analytical and strategy efforts for a Private Label and Co-Brand relationship with a top-10 US retailer. Prior to his time at Citi, Mr. Carroll held positions of increasing responsibility in the risk management and analytical space at Morgan Stanley/Discover, First Chicago and Signet Bank.

Mr. Carroll’s forte is in combining analytically derived insights with regression analysis to create risk policy and strategy that is intuitive and empirically sound. Mr. Carroll spent many years mining data and has leveraged that experience in all elements of risk management, guiding super prime and sub-prime portfolios through challenging and tumultuous economic environments.

Mr. Carroll has a degree in economics from The University of Chicago as well as substantive coursework at The London School of Economics.

Chief Operating Officer

CHRISTOPHER D. JOHANNESON

Mr. Johanneson is the Chief Operating Officer at ENGS Commercial Finance Co. where he is responsible for continuing the growth trajectory of the business and digital FINTECH transformation. He brings over 15 years of industry experience in the commercial equipment industry. Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Johanneson held positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Navistar, Inc. In his most recent position there, he was responsible for all aspects of central Sales and Pricing for the North American market. He was charged with overseeing and managing $8B in annual revenue and 60K+ GVW Class 6-8 orders annually.

Mr. Johanneson has built long standing and successful relationships with Navistar’s Dealer channel which consists of over 500 locations. He was successful in designing and executing sales strategies that generated $500M of incremental revenue annually. Mr. Johanneson is respected in the commercial equipment industry and has a diverse background that encompasses leadership roles in Sales, Pricing, Operations, and Procurement.

Mr. Johanneson holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa, and a Masters in Business Administration from DePaul University (Chicago) in Marketing Management and Sales Leadership.

SVP, Office of the Chairman

TAKASHI ARIKI

Mr. Ariki is Senior Vice President for the Office of the Chairman. Mr. Ariki joined ENGS Commercial Finance in January 2019. His role encompasses cross-functional responsibilities in accounting, planning, internal controls, credit/risk and other business processes. In this role he is responsible for building strong relationships between ENGS and its parent company Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc.

Mr. Ariki began to his career as a public accountant at a Big 4 audit firm. Over the course of his career, including eleven years with Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc. and its subsidiaries, Mr. Ariki has developed extensive experience in corporate management, credit evaluation, and internal controls.

Mr. Ariki is a registered CPA in Japan. Mr. Ariki holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Commerce from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan.

SVP, Office of the Chairman

TAKAHIRO SOHMA

Managing Director, ENGS Commercial Capital

TANIA A. DANIEL

Tania Daniel leads ENGS Commercial Finance’s working capital division. Ms. Daniel has spent over fifteen years partnering with businesses to meet their working capital needs by providing cash flow solutions such as invoice factoring and other forms of asset based lending.

Over the course of her career, Ms. Daniel has held roles in executive management, risk and portfolio management, credit and underwriting, and sales and operations. She joined LSQ Funding Group in 2001 where she played an integral part in many areas of the company. She was able to use the knowledge she gained to grow within the organization and become the Vice President of Operations. Most recently, Ms. Daniel was Chief Operating Officer of Porter Capital Corporation where she oversaw daily operations, built a high performing team, developed a dynamic culture, and created strategies that enhanced the growth of the organization.

Managing Director, ENGS Insurance Agency

CLIFF DUNIGAN

Mr. Dunigan is the Managing Director of ENGS Insurance Agency.  He has over 30 years of experience in the insurance, reinsurance, and brokerage industry.  He has managed insurance and reinsurance portfolios for GE Insurance Solutions, where he served as President of the programs and Facultative division.  Mr. Dunigan has also held leadership positions with Swiss Re and W. R Berkley, serving as a Senior Vice President of direct treaty business.  He has worked abroad with Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund back reinsurer handling program premium upwards to 250,000 million.

Mr. Dunigan earned his undergrad at Drake University and MBA in Finance from Lake Forest College, in Lake Forest, IL. He holds the designations of Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe).

Senior Vice President, Capital Markets

SCOTT M. FRANKLIN

Mr. Franklin is the Senior Vice President of Capital Markets for the organization. He is primarily responsible for all capital markets activities, including negotiating, executing and reporting on third party lending arrangements. Additionally, Mr. Franklin leads the evaluation and execution of potential portfolio acquisition opportunities. Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Franklin spent almost 20 years with the Bank of Montreal, most recently as a Managing Director in the US Securitization Group, responsible for the origination and structuring of Asset Backed Securities, specializing in equipment finance transactions. Earlier in his career, Mr. Franklin held a number of Accounting and Audit positions for a few large international banking organizations. Mr. Franklin has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Marquette University as well as an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Mr. Franklin is a registered CPA in Illinois.

Senior Vice President, Information Systems

FRANKLIN D. SWANN

Mr. Swann is responsible for managing all of the technology systems for ENGS, including its core infrastructure software, reporting services, and hardware platform. Mr. Swann has over 30 years of professional experience bringing technology solutions to Fortune 500 and independent finance companies. Mr. Swann held similar roles at other equipment finance and software organizations such as Comdisco, Relational Funding and Instec Corporation.

Senior Vice President, Credit

WAYNE H. PASS

Mr. Pass is the Senior Vice President of Credit for the organization. Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Pass was Vice President and Director of Credit for the Transportation & Construction Credit Divisions for Key Equipment Finance and American Express Business Finance, where oversaw the growth from $300MM to $1.3BB in assets. Earlier in his career, he had Vice President and senior roles at CitiCapital Commercial Corp, Financial Federal Credit and Orix Credit Alliance. Mr. Pass holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Miami, FL.

Senior Vice President, Operations

ROSALIE M. REYNOLDS

Ms. Reynolds has been in the commercial finance industry for over twenty-five years working with Fortune 100 companies such as American Express and Transamerica, as well as TCF Inventory Finance, Inc. and MeriCap Credit Corporation. Prior to ENGS, Ms. Reynolds was a Vice President at TCF Inventory Finance Co. where she supported the Legal Department and management of the Documentation Team, which prepared dealer loan documentation and perfection of TCF’s security interest with respect to such loans. During her tenure at MeriCap Credit and American Express Business Finance, Ms. Reynolds responsibilities included preparing, implementing and managing the Companies policies and procedures as related to the front-end processing of commercial finance/leasing contracts, vehicle titling, corporate secretary, licensing and qualification. During her tenure with Transamerica, Ms. Reynolds’ responsibilities included corporate secretary responsible for all licensing and qualification of a commercial finance organization with over 25 subsidiaries in the U.S. and Europe; the management and supervision of a ten plus legal department support staff and budgeting and administration of a 20 plus legal department. Ms. Reynolds received her B.A. degree from DePaul University, Chicago, IL.

Controller

ROB KOLEK

Mr. Kolek is the Corporate Controller of ENGS Commercial Finance responsible for Accounting, Financial Reporting, Payroll, Human Resource, Accounts Payable, and Tax.  Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Kolek oversaw accounting and financial reporting of Relational Technology Solutions, a premier independent technology solutions company focused on leasing ($1B in assets) and equipment supply.  He has also held leadership roles at Hitachi Data Systems and Macquarie Rail.  Mr. Kolek began his career in public accounting and consulting.  He is a registered CPA in Illinois.  He also holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting from Northern Illinois University and an M.B.A. in Finance from DePaul University.

SVP, Financial Planning and Analysis

ANN ROBERTSON

Ms. Robertson is the director of Financial Planning and Analysis at ENGS Commercial Finance. Ms. Robertson came from Discover Financial Services where she spent 15 years supporting various functions including marketing, credit and risk, and operations. She brings expertise in investment analytics, strategic goal setting, and improving operational efficiencies. As a leader, Ms. Robertson is passionate in cultivating a team environment to bring out the best of others.

Ms. Robertson studied Aerospace Engineering at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Old Dominion University and later completed her MBA at the University of Chicago. Her working experience also includes product management and business development with Fortune 100 companies including Honeywell and United Airlines.

Vice President, Capital Markets

THOMAS P. BRAIDA

Mr. Braida is the Vice President, Capital Markets for the organization.  He is responsible for all lease and loan syndications, including negotiating master assignment agreements, marketing individual and portfolio sales, transaction pricing and developing and maintaining lender relationships.  Mr. Braida has spent over 25 years in corporate finance in various senior credit and syndications roles at leading technology and financial services companies.  Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Braida was Managing Director at Cencor Capital, where he oversaw credit underwriting and syndications activities.  Earlier in his career, he held Director and Vice President level roles at Apple, Cisco Capital & Cisco Systems, LINC Capital and Comdisco.

Mr. Braida has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from DePaul University, Kelstadt Graduate School of Business.

Vice President National Accounts, SDG Initiatives

THOMAS CANEPA

Vice President, Portfolio Management

BRIAN KERRINS

Managing Director, Transportation Division

ANN BRODETTE

With more than 30 years of top-performing sales experience and team/workforce development, Ms. Brodette leads the seven regional sales teams for the Transportation vertical. Highly detailed, strategic and financially minded, she has an unmatched work ethic and dedication to superior quality.

With a certification in Project Manager (PMP), she keeps her finger on the pulse of our vendor relationships and excels at bringing ideas and wants from the field and turning them into actionable items and enhancements for our customers.

Her vast entrepreneurial experience, culminating in co-founding, operating, and growing an award-winning national brand, has helped her bring a unique perspective to ENGS as well as cultivating synergy across many departments.

Ms. Brodette has a Bachelor of Economics Degree from University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana IL.

Managing Director, Industrial Division

KEN WUETHRICH

In the business for nearly thirty years Ken has built a career around finding ways to help his customers acquire the equipment they need to grow their business. Formerly President of Connext Financial – a company originally formed in 1996 – but back in the early 80’s he was introduced to the world of finance when the business computer systems he was selling couldn’t be acquired without the offer to provide the capital to do so. That began a life of building programs and a funding strategy that allowed large and small companies to easily get the capital they need. Things then grew into the beauty of providing lessons learned and useful tools to help vendors – those selling the equipment – to offer the right financing tools in just the right way. He calls it business intelligence, knowing our customers and what they want. Helping them and watching them grow. He is resourceful, hardworking and loves to find financing solutions. It can be done. Fun fact: Ken now enjoys eight grandchildren.

Managing Director, Construction Division

CHRIS JOHNSON

Director of Sales, ENGS Commercial Capital

ANDREW OSBORN

Director of Financial Technology Solutions

ROMAN GAJDA

Roman Gajda is the Director of Financial Technology Solutions for ENGS Commercial Finance Co..  He is responsible for managing the digital brands and leading the fintech strategy to both new and existing business relationships.  Roman has over 30 years of experience in the equipment finance industry and has held various leadership roles developing organizations, handling all aspects of transactions and national programs, from origination through funding.

Previously, he held various leadership positions at Forsythe Technology, Relational Funding, and Comdisco, always with a focus on people, process and profitability.

Director of Digital Sales Strategy

STEVEN HOLBEN

Mr. Holben is the Director of Digital Sales Strategy at ENGS Commercial Finance Co. where he is responsible for continuing to develop the digital sales strategy and building additional sales analytics for ENGS. He brings an analytical mindset to the sales team after spending his previous career (including 5 years as ENGS’ Finance Manager) in a breadth of finance and accounting roles. Prior to joining ENGS, Mr. Holben held positions with increasing levels of responsibility at Navistar, Inc. and at Mondelez International as Sr. Financial Systems Analyst.  While with Navistar, he spent 1 year as an expat in Sao Paulo Brazil working for MWM Motores.

Mr. Holben holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the Michigan State University, and a Masters in Business Administration from DePaul University (Chicago) in Strategy and Decision Making.

Director of Broker & Special Relationships

RODICA PIOTROWSKI

Ms. Piotrowski is responsible for managing the Company’s Inside Sales efforts and originating business through strategic relationships, new vendor relationships and the company’s existing customer base.

Ms. Piotrowski has over 20 years of experience in sales as well as commercial lending and equipment finance.  Earlier in her career, she’s held senior roles at Ford Motor Credit and Ford Motor Credit Commercial Lending including Administration Supervisor, Customer Service/Collections Manager, Credit Manager, among leadership roles with other companies.

Ms. Piotrowski has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Loyola University, Chicago IL.