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One of the first businesses to grow and emerge within the working capital market during the recession, Fora Financial has established a competitive position in the marketplace, as well as a storied legacy. It all started with two college roommates who had an innate passion for small business. After graduating from Indiana University, both Jared Feldman and Dan Smith went their separate ways – Jared as an underwriter and Dan as a sales consultant. Then, the economic recession hit. Dan knew that the small businesses of America drove the U.S. economy and would need assistance to survive the default times ahead. And with both Dan and Jared coming from a long line of successful entrepreneurs and growing up immersed in the small business culture, they felt compelled to help. Prompted by Dan’s vision, they combined their financial savvy and small business knowledge to start Fora Financial in June of 2008, when the economic world felt like it was coming to an end. Over the next five years, Dan and Jared worked tirelessly to build their staff and client base from the ground up. Continually doubling their staff and revenue almost every year since its inception, Fora Financial has continued to develop transparent relationships with our clients and partners and provide them with custom, innovative funding solutions. As of our five-year anniversary in June 2013, Fora Financial has funded over 8,000 individual transactions with over 4,500 unique customers. The company has also funded more than $199 million in working capital for small businesses since its inception. Fora, meaning “marketplace” and “forum” in Latin, aligns with our mission to foster and support the small business industry. The rebrand also created efficiencies and consistencies to better serve our customers and partners. Today, Fora Financial continues to remain a competitive leader with one of the most extensive offerings and services in the small business industry. We remain dedicated to developing new, innovative ways to serve companies in an ever-changing financial market.
Every organization has a story. Many are typical accounts of significant financial transactions, notable business acquisitions, facility openings, ribbon-cuttings and the like, generously sprinkled with the obligatory nods to navy-jacketed men and women. But good organizations, actually great organizations, tell stories that capture the audience’s imagination from the very start—stories that make you dream, that stand a paradigm on its head or that expose you to ways of thinking you hadn’t considered before. For many of these organizations, their account spans the decades and even the centuries; for others, their tale has just begun. The genesis for First West’s story occurred several years ago around a kitchen table in Abbotsford when two golfing buddies, who were also CEOs of well-established credit unions, decided there had to be better ways for credit unions to grow and expand in their competitive industry than through traditional mergers. Such traditional mergers were usually an immediate plus for the financial statements but carried a tremendous cost to local brand awareness, local decision-making and local market focus. Not long after, with only an idea and belief that things could be different and better, Valley First and Envision Financial began a journey together to draft the blueprint of a partnership that had the potential to achieve what was to that point only imagined. So the partnership began, with trying, learning, rethinking, recalibrating and on occasion, failing—but always believing. And the outcome was none other than we now call First West. Chapter by chapter, scene by scene, the First West story continues to unfold, with a third partner now on the journey. Enderby & District Financial and its members recongnized the times and led with courage, weaving their hopes into the First West vision of what can be. More than just a credit union and a partnership, First West is a concept and an idea—like the start of an adventure. It’s an experience certain to awaken the mind, heart and spirit to another way of doing financial services in Canada. And so First West’s story, our story, has in many ways just begun.
Mahoney is a full service CPA firm located in St Paul, MN. We provide a full range of professional services, including accounting (audit, review, compilation), tax planning and return preparation for all tax types, and general consulting to individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations. We have specialties in in real estate (low income housing tax credit), affordable housing, nonprofits, and closely held small to mid-sized businesses. The CPA`s in our General Business Services area are certified Quickbooks ProAdvisors and can assist with training and trouble shooting your data.
Option 1 Credit Union is a Grand Rapids, MI-based company in the Financial Services sector.
Lawley Service, Inc. is one of the leading providers in Financial Services. It is based in Conyers, GA. To find more information about Lawley Service, Inc., please visit www.lawleyinsurance.com