Industry leaders join Equipment Finance News’ used equipment webinar

Equipment finance and dealer executives will join Equipment Finance News’ webinar “High-priced used equipment inventory: The no-man’s land of equipment finance” on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m. ET. 

Register for the webinar here.  

The lenders on the panel will include UniFi Equipment Finance President and Chief Executive John Gougeon and BMO Bank North America Vice President and Relationship Manager Jody Ray. The dealer panelist will be Kevin Pate, director of fleet and heavy-duty equipment at Shoppa’s Material Handling.  

Discussion topics include: 

• Dealer-lender collaboration to offload high-end used equipment;   
• Sales and marketing strategies for higher-priced used equipment; and  
• Depreciation curves with each passing model year.  

The discussion comes at a time when aggressive OEM incentives and discounts, while effective for new equipment, are hindering sales of higher-priced used machines that are 3 years old and younger. In fact, more than 70% of agriculture equipment dealers reported excess used inventory in the second quarter largely because of new-equipment incentives such as 0% APR, according to IronAdvisor Insights.  

The following industry leaders will weigh in on how dealers and lenders can overcome this challenge while capitalizing on opportunities in the used-equipment market. 

• Gougeon was named president of UniFi, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of Ann Arbor, in April 2024. He has more than 35 years of experience in the equipment finance industry, including senior positions at National Bank of Detroit, GE Commercial Credit and Bank of America. UniFi provides small- and medium-ticket financing for construction, vocational truck and specialty vehicle industries.  

• Pate leads end-to-end equipment strategies for Shoppa’s largest customers. He oversees acquisition, utilization, maintenance and remarketing processes. With more than 18 years of experience in the material handling industry, Pate is committed to helping businesses boost efficiency and optimize their fleets. 

• Ray transitioned to the vendor finance division of BMO Commercial Bank in 2024 and has quickly become a leader of its equipment and vehicle financing business. He has also held key roles at GM Financial and Commerce Bank.  

 Register here for the free Equipment Finance News webinar “High-priced used equipment inventory: The no-man’s land of equipment finance” set for Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m. ET.