Description
Bill founded First American Commercial Bancorp, Inc. d/b/a First American Equipment Finance, while a student at Cornell Law School in 1996. The company, headquartered in Fairport, NY, finances capital equipment for some of the largest hospitals, colleges, universities, law firms, 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). See: www.inc.com.In 2011, for the 10th time since 2000, KPMG Rochester and the Rochester Business Alliance listed First American as one of the Top 100 companies headquartered in Rochester, NY. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Top_100.In 2012, the Best Companies Group chose First American as the #1 best place to work in New York State (less than 250 employees). First American was again recognized as one of the top companies to work for in New York State in 2013 (#5), 2014 (#2) and 2015 (TBD). See: www.bestcompaniesny.com.In March of 2015 First American was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the top 20 best financial services workplaces in the United States. See http://fortune.com/2015/02/18/20-great-workplaces-in-financial-services/ and http://us.greatrated.com/first-american-equipmentOn April 30, 2012, City National Bank of Los Angeles, CA, the 23rd largest commercial 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 as CEO, leading the expansion of the U.S. equipment finance business, which continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of City National Bank. See: www.cnb.com. Bill retired from his position as CEO of First American on May 1, 2015; however, he remains as a consultant for the business. 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 (1988), a Master's in Business Administration (MBA) from the Anderson School at UCLA (1992) and a doctor of laws (JD) from Cornell Law School (1998). Bill is a member of the New York Bar.During 2008, Bill served as the Chairman of the Washington, DC-based trade association representing the $700 billion equipment finance industry in the U.S.: The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA). See: www.elfaonline.org. Bill currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Equipment Finance Foundation in Washington, DC. See: www.leasefoundation.org.Bill resides in Naples, Florida with his wife Cyndee, and their four sons: Mitchell, Bradley, Trey and Luke.