Inflation and supply chain disruption were top of mind at our booth and other networking venues during the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA) Funding Conference in Chicago in April.
The event attracted some 700 attendees for the industry’s first live funding event since the pandemic. This was a good turnout of financing executives who seemed to appreciate the opportunity to discuss common challenges and solutions while reconnecting in person with some colleagues and friends only seen virtually since the pandemic began.
The question is, how do we respond to our clients who are contending with hard-to-find equipment parts and rising costs? In the municipal market, much of the equipment is essential. The assets, ranging from fire trucks and police gear to ambulances and technology, are necessary for the safe functioning of cities, towns and states.
Government entities can’t wait for the pandemic to end and for different points in an economic cycle. And most often, their budgets are already set for the upcoming fiscal year.
The good news is that we can lock in today’s interest rates on equipment loans and leases, and we can finance used equipment. This is attractive to government entities that know they will need the equipment and can’t pay higher prices down the road. Even if they must wait for equipment to arrive due to supply chain delays, they don’t have to accept future rates that are likely to rise. They could establish a loan today and not pay anything until 2023.
While it takes a certain level of specialized knowledge to make the municipal market a comfort zone for business expansion, lessors and vendors often partner with Baystone to enter this market or to develop more opportunity in government financing.
With more than 30 years of experience and having funded over 32,000 municipal obligations totaling more than $3.47 billion, Baystone has proven to be resilient no matter the market conditions.
