IFA Mourns Passing of ABL/Factoring Recruiter David Rains

David Rains, president and founder of Commercial Finance Consultants, passed away last week at the age of 64 due to complications from COVID-19.

Rains spent more than 30 years in the asset-based lending and factoring industry as a recruiter. He worked for executive search firm MRI and founded Commercial Finance Consultants. Rains also worked with the Prison Entrepreneurial Program as an advisory board member.

“He was bigger than life. That's not just from his sister, but from comments from others, in that he was such a positive, upbeat personality all the time. He always had a big Texas smile and a laugh that could be heard across the entire hall at any of the conventions. He was always uplifting, enthusiastic, opinionated,” Debra Wilson Zukonik, Rains’ sister and chief credit officer of Dare Capital, said. “And although he was 64 years old, he had more energy than anyone else I've ever met. His career and something that he loved to do was to help companies and employees make a perfect match in order to build careers and build companies, but his passion was to help inmates develop the character and job skills that would enable them to be successful upon their release from prison.”

“He could disarm you immediately and make you smile and laugh and make you laugh at yourself… he was just a bundle of joy,” Allen Frederic, managing director of corporate finance for Infinity Financial Group, said. “David wasn't in business just to make money... David was in business to help people, to help companies be successful, to help individuals realize their trades and get a better job, get a better opportunity… He was just a faithful husband, father, son, brother, friend. David, you can tell was one of my closest, closest friends.”

“Particularly after he built his business to a point of prominence in the industry, his heart was so much to encourage others. He was always talking about how he'd already been blessed too much,” Steve Hausman, managing director of Entre Capital, said. “David had a significant role in the development of the factor industry.”

“I not only lost an associate, I lost a great and loyal friend,” Bert Goldberg, executive director of the International Factoring Association, said. “He was the largest and most vocal supporter of the Factoring industry. This is a loss not just for those of us who knew him but the entire Factoring community.”

In an email statement, Cole Harmonson, CEO of Dare Capital, shared the following: “I greatly regret that I must tell you, if you haven’t already heard, my friend David Rains, a true giant in the factoring & ABL world, lost his fight with COVID-19 yesterday.

“Chances are, especially if you work in commercial finance, you knew David because David knew everyone. If you ever attended factoring conferences, you couldn’t miss him. He was always stationed right at the entrance in his little booth, shaking hands, kissing babies and greeting everyone in his booming Texas drawl. Over ten percent of all secured finance companies, in fact, have one of David’s recruits in their executive suite.

“I can still hear him, as soon as I got within earshot: ‘COLE HARMONSON! What is going ON today, big boy?!?’ He’d fix you with that giant Texas smile, and what could you do but smile back? He would not be ignored.

“He was the salesman’s salesman, always fun to be around, always uplifting, always brimming with enthusiasm, never lacking in opinions. He was 64 years old and had the most energy of anyone I’ve ever met. David’s career was to help companies and employees make a perfect match to build careers; his passion was to help inmates develop the character and job skills that would enable them to be successful upon their release.

“I was one of his first customers, many years ago, in a different century. This year, I founded Dare Capital with his sister, Debra Zukonik. He was her strongest advocate and her fiercest protector. ‘That’s my baby sister,’ he’d say. ‘You mess with her, you mess with me.’

“He leaves a huge void in the factoring industry, but a bigger void in our spirits. If he saw this, he’d probably laugh and tell me to get off my a** and go do something productive, ‘big boy.’

“I’ll miss you, my friend.”

There will be a service at Sunnyvale Baptist Church on Wednesday, Aug. 5 at 11 a.m. Visitation will start at 10 a.m. at this same location. It is a large church and we will be socially distancing. With that being said, we fully understand concerns about COVID-19 and do not want anyone to feel compelled to come if they are uncomfortable doing so.

David's family has requested that any monetary donations go to: Prison Entrepreneurship Program PO Box 83661 Richardson, TX 75083-6617.