American Factoring Association Announces Key Board Retirement and New Board Members
The American Factoring Association (AFA) announced the retirement of Allen Frederic, the organization’s first Board President and long-serving board member. Frederic was instrumental in the formation of the AFA in 2009 and served as Board President for 12 years and then as a board member for two additional years.
The AFA’s purpose is to educate the public and policymakers on the availability of working capital for financing America's small businesses and to conduct efforts in support of increasing working capital financing.
“I was extremely honored to serve on the board and as the AFA’s first president,” Frederic said. “I learned a tremendous amount about how things are done in Washington D.C., and I made a number of dear friends. I discovered that lawmakers like to make laws, and regulators like to write regulations, many of which are not friendly to small businesses and lead to unintended consequences. Our outreach was focused on educating elected officials and guarding firms in the factoring industry from an unintended consequence of some new law or regulation. Our most significant accomplishment has been educating members of the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee about what factors do, how they help small business and. in turn, how they help the economy grow.”
With a nearly five-decade career in commercial finance and banking, Frederic has a long list of accomplishments to his name. During his tenure with the AFA, he served as CEO of Gulf Coast Business Credit, then formed Republic Business Credit. Frederic retired from the factoring industry in 2019 and is now a Managing Director with Infinity Financial Group, a boutique investment banking firm headquartered in Dallas.
“We appreciate Allen’s long tenure and service to the organization,” Cole Harmonson, President of the AFA, said. “He was an invaluable leader and trailblazer, and we are indebted to him. His high standards and tireless effort have left the organization with a blueprint for success in the future.”
The AFA also announced five new Board Members. In these roles, they will assist the AFA in educating lawmakers on the factoring industry and be committed to the betterment of the factoring community. The new Board Members are:
Hailey Benton-Thomas of TBS Factoring Service, LLC
Melissa Donald of LDI Growth Partners, LLC
Loren Shifrin of REV Capital
McLean Wilson of Breakout Capital
Neely Thomas of Love’s Solutions LLC