Team

Richard M. Contino, Principal

Richard M. Contino is an internationally-recognized equipment leasing expert, with an extensive legal, business, marketing, tax, transaction structuring, financial and management background. He is an advisor on all types of start-up and on-going equipment leasing business activities for lessors, lease lenders and syndicators, equipment vendors, lease investors and corporate lessees. He is former General Counsel of De Lage Landen, Wayne, Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of The Rabobank Group, and the 14^th largest equipment lessor in the U.S.

Mr. Contino is the author of eight books on business, negotiating, and equipment leasing, including The Complete Equipment-Leasing Handbook, Amacom Books, 2002, and most recently Equipment Leasing and Financing: A Product Sales and Business Profit Strategy, Business Expert Press, 2019. He has conducted private on-site and publicly-held business success, communication, finance, and negotiation seminars throughout the United States for professional organizations (e.g., American Management Association, Equipment Leasing Association, Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education, National Seminars Group, Practicing Law Institute, and University of California Graduate School of Law) as well as corporations (e.g., AT&T, EXXON Corporation, NYNEX, and Texas Instruments Corporation).

Mr. Contino holds an LL.M. in Corporate Law from New York University Graduate School of Law, a Juris Doctor from University of Maryland School of Law, and a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is admitted to the Bar in the District of Columbia, Maryland and New York, is a member of the American Bar Association, and is Listed in Who’s Who of American Law, Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders, and Who’s Who in the World. Mr. Contino is also a Captain (retired) in the United States Air Force.

Tom Coveney, Principal

Tom Coveney has spent more than 40 years in equipment leasing and financing, helping manufacturers and technology vendors turn complex products into closeable deals. He began at IBM as a sales representative, where hardware and software sales were already tied to financing options and structured solutions.

He later worked with major bank leasing companies, designing vendor financing programs for manufacturers and service providers. At a leading U.S. bank, he founded the Vendor Leasing Group and originated more than $3 billion of business—much of it with leading technology companies—across hardware, software, and services. He has also originated manufacturer portfolio purchases that gave all parties more flexible balance-sheet outcomes.

In recent years, Tom has been a partner in a boutique financing firm focused on harder-to-place and venture-style opportunities. That work, together with experience through the dot-com leasing cycle and the 2008 bank-credit downturn, has shaped a practical, creative approach to structures that help vendors sell more product and more complete solutions.

Jim Lake, Principal

Jim Lake is a veteran with over 35 years in business, investment banking, real estate, and funding. He began his career as a U.S. Air Force combat pilot, where he rose to command roles and engaged with top U.S. leaders. Post-military, he was an airline captain and flight instructor. He founded Securities Realty Group for Florida real estate partnerships, and via GFRS, Inc., arranged funding through equity, LBOs, MBOs, and IPOs.

Credentials: Series 7/63 securities licenses; Florida real estate license; California law license. Education: B.S. from U.S. Air Force Academy; distinguished graduate of advanced military schools; MBA from Ball State; J.D. from Concord Law School (with awards, moot court); LL.M. in Small Business Management from Purdue Global. Authored The Small Business Owner’s Survival Guide to Asset Protection. Jim is also an Angel investor with successful exits, including three companies in the past five years that yielded 3x-6x returns.

A disabled veteran, Lake supports military causes: lifetime IEEE member; Order of Daedalians, American Legion; co-chair of Armed Forces YMCA fundraising; director of CTS Wounded Warrior; founder of DVA Charity; provides free legal aid via Chapman University and AMVETS. He won a federal case against a Fortune 500 firm for disability discrimination, benefiting thousands. Active in Greek American community (AHEPA Archon Polities) and St. Catherine’s Greek Orthodox Church, volunteering extensively, including serving Thanksgiving meals to the needy. Hobbies: symphony, museums, golf, sports.

Loralee Bouma, Principal

Loralee Bouma is a dynamic SaaS solutions finance executive with over 20 years of proven success in go-to-market strategy, deal structuring, and C-suite sales. She specializes in designing innovative SaaS programs with financing solutions that transform sales pipelines, deliver recurring revenue, and consistently outperform targets across complex B2B environments.

In her leadership roles, she has developed customized SaaS solutions for software and equipment vendors with over $1 billion in combined revenues, dramatically expanding their sales pipelines through strategic program design. She has excelled in managing high-complexity deals, earning multiple Champion Awards, the VP Award for Sales Excellence , and turning around multimillion-dollar opportunities as well as revitalizing territory sales impacted by competitive challenges.

Her SaaS solutions have increased vendors’ sales pipelines by 25%+ and delivered tenfold sales growth for key clients through groundbreaking per-use programs. In a senior operations leadership role, she pioneered the transition from perpetual licenses to SaaS recurring revenue models, originating a pilot that scaled to $150M in funded renewals and unlocking an additional $15M in previously refused organic growth.

A B.A. Finance graduate from the University of Montana with an additional BS in Paralegal Studies with a Management emphasis, Loralee combines financial expertise with exceptional relationship-building and negotiation skills. Passionate about value creation, she continues to help healthcare and technology partners achieve sustainable growth through smarter deal structures.

Penelope Holt, Marketing Lead

Ms. Holt is accomplished in supporting start-ups and rapidly moving them to fast growth and profitability. She has worked on both the client and the agency side to provide wide-ranging marketing support across disciplines, from market strategy and powerful positioning, to go-to-market planning, creative, advertising, PR and digital strategies. She has been a marketing executive, partner, and advisor at leading brands including Bill Me Later, PayPal, eBay, Pitney Bowes, British Telecom, Sezzle, and BorrowersFirst. A primary focus and expertise has been marketing and sales programs that support point-of-sale financing initiatives.

Ms. Holt holds a joint honors degree with advanced study in Linguistics and Literature from York University, England. She is the author, co-author, and editor of numerous books and publications.