About Us
Dan Pace
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer - Dan Pace, is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Executive Officer of First Financial, an organization dedicated to providing a broad spectrum of financial services to its clients, including; equipment leasing, SBA loans, commercial mortgages, as well as secured and unsecured lines of credit.
Dan attended Penn State and entered the financial world originally as a runner at Chicago Mercantile Exchange and was soon a commodities broker. After six successful years as a commodities broker, Dan relocated to Florida to be closer to his family. Prior to joining First Financial, Dan owned and operated several fitness facilities. It was during the years in the fitness industry that Dan realized that his drive was in financing and joined First Financial, initially as Sales Director and continuously advancing to his current position as CFO and CEO.
His experience as a commodities broker and entrepreneur have served him well in his positions with First Financial. His main objective as CEO has been to develop vendor relationships with not only large organizations, but to reach out to the smaller, up and coming vendors, to provide their customers with leasing and financing options.
Through his efforts, First Financial has established financing relationships with Life Fitness, Doctor’s Express, Char Hut, Water Out, Children’s Lighthouse Schools and Paciugo’s Italian Ice. Just to name a few.
As CFO, Dan has worked diligently to ensure that his portfolio performance remains stellar in order to provide his clients with the most competitive financing programs available.
On a personal note, Dan is a cycling enthusiast and cycles more than 250 miles weekly. He also enjoys sports, music, and the beautiful Fort Lauderdale beaches.
Cindy Watson
Vice President SBA & Finance Division - Cindy, has been with First Financial Leasing & Finance since its inception. At the beginning Cindy, worked extensively in the equipment leasing division and has since moved on to the Finance Division. Having started in the equipment leasing division, Cindy understands the criteria requirements for leasing applicants and is very proficient in working with our clients to ensure that they meet these requirements.
Recently promoted to Vice-President, of the SBA & Finance Division, Cindy’s goal is to assist First Financials clients through the SBA process. The SBA loan process can be overwhelming for the client and Cindy is very successful in providing the client with a comfort level to complete the process with ease. Cindy possesses an in depth of knowledge of the SBA process as she participates in SBA continued education certification on a yearly basis and requires her staff to do the same.
As well, Cindy oversees the Business Development of First Financial, thus she is continuously spearheading the development of marketing in an effort to not only “grow the company”, but to retain current client and vendor relationships.
As Vice President of SBA & Finance Division, Cindy works closely with the underwriting division and her main focus lies on maintaining customer relations with our extensive vendor portfolio.
Cindy's hobbies include walking South Florida's beautiful beaches, volunteering at her community church, music trivia and is possibly the worlds biggest Elvis Fan. Her colleagues tend to agree.
Paul E. Bosley
Executive Vice President – Paul's main focus is on developing our B2B relationships with local companies through networking organizations including LeTips & Trade Shows.
Titan Management Company – Regional Manager - Managing two (2) chains of Gold's Gyms located in St Louis and in South Florida that were losing money and for sale. The St. Louis chain has been sold to Gold's Gym International after a successful business turnaround that was completed in less than nine (9) months. South Florida is still work in progress.
Healthclubexperts.com, LLC - Owner – An Association of business-to-business products & services serving independent owners & managers of health clubs, community wellness centers & gyms. Successfully completed the most profitable grand opening in the industry to date, Motion Fitness Center, New Berlin, WI and the largest Gold's Gym in the US in Staten Island, NY; Completed the strategic planning of Healthtrax's first community wellness centers. Visit www.healthclubexperts.com.
Personal Awards: 1993 "Parent of the Year Award" Cheshire Academy, Cheshire, CT 1988 "Top Percent Over Quota" National Contest Winner for Bally HTCA 1984 "Man of the Year" Northeast Regional Contest Winner for Bally HTCA Activities: Completed 18 marathons including the Disney, Dublin & NYC Marathons, 11 Boston Marathons, & the Marine Corp marathon. I also enjoy traveling, reading, downhill skiing, surfing & chess.
Affiliations: Assumption Catholic Church – Lector, Server and Eucharistic Minister (2005 – present) Chairman, Joints in Motion, Southern NE Chapter, Arthritis Foundation - Raised $100K+ (1999-2003) St. Bridget Catholic Church - CCD Teacher: Grades 3 through 8. (1997 – 2003). Cheshire Academy Parents Association (CAPA) (1992 - 2003) University of CT Fitness Center's Board of Adviser's (1990 - 1995) Southern CT State University Adjunct Professor of Physical Education (1979 -1982)
Gary Raffensberger
Branch Operations Manager- As Operations Manager, Gary continuously monitors the daily operations of First Financial to ensure that the company’s programs are effectively servicing the needs of its customers. Gary reviews active contracts prior to renewal to identify opportunities for improvement and effects changes as required. As well, he monitors vendor performance quality in meeting purchase order and contractual conformity.
Gary took numerous management courses at Penn State York campus, and recently completed his SBA certification. As a 30 year Management veteran, specifically in production, Gary has built strong relationships with many of equipment vendors and has successfully provided equipment leases and SBA loans for their clients.
Gary and his wife Caroline enjoy the outdoors. Gary is and avid cyclist logging 3500 miles in 2011. Caroline loves walking their dog Simon, and both participated in the First Baptist Churh Christmas Pageant where they are members.
Winnie Choi
Sr. Leasing Director- As Sr. Leasing Director, Winnie is in integral member of our team; she manages and directs the daily activities of the equipment leasing division of First Financial. In this capacity she is responsible for the review of all lease transactions and agreements. See oversees the completion of all necessary paperwork and ensures that portfolios are complete prior to transaction funding. As well, she continuously fosters and strengthens partnerships with vendors and customers in an effort to build and maintain a win-win relationship for all parties.
Winnie is a native of Hong Kong and established her residency here in Broward County, Florida in 1987. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Keiser University in 2006. While studying for her BA she was employed in the restaurant industry and accounting industry. Upon completion of her BA she joined First Financial as a documentation specialist and has advanced to her current position as Sr. Leasing Director.
Winnie currently maintains the following certifications; SBA Training Certification 504, 7A Business Loans, Patriot Act, and 7A Real Estate.
On a personal note, Winnie is married and enjoys her role as mom to her active son Dylan. She is fluent in both Cantonese and English. In her spare time she enjoys her days and evenings cheering her son on at his baseball games, cooking, swimming, shopping and relaxing to music.
Andrea Sobotka
Western Region Executive Officer- Andrea’s passion and mission is simple; “to help people succeed professionally and personally by leveraging her in depth business knowledge, analytical capacity, problem solving methods, negotiation and relationship management skills”. Andrea is a 20+ year veteran of the financial, health and fitness industries. Over the years, her unique professional background, training and experience has served her clients well both corporately and entrepreneurially as a business consultant, CFP (Certified Financial Planner), financial advisor, equipment leasing specialist, corporate senior manager, published business writer and speaker. Andrea was born and raised in Toronto. In 2002 she resigned from a successful career as a senior manager with one of Canada’s largest financial corporations to move to a sunny state in the US and establish a business management consultancy (serving the health and fitness industry) with husband and partner, Rick. Andrea resides in beautiful Fountain Hills, Arizona with her husband Rick, her two sons, Austin and Wade, and her English bulldog, Jack. In her spare time, Andrea enjoys hiking, golfing, reading, following global economic and conservation issues, wining and dining friends, and volunteering at a wildlife rescue center.
Amaray de la Rosa
Credit Advocate Program Director-. In this capacity Amaray works one-on-one with our clients that do not have credit scores high enough to meet our credit criteria. She has assisted these individuals in raising their scores by 20 to as much as 120 points. With her assistance these previously ineligible clients qualified for mortgages, unsecured loans and equipment leases, all at "A" credit rates.
Born in Cuba and raised in the United States, Amaray is bilingual, fluent in both English and Spanish. She has traveled extensively throughout the United States and in over the past thirty years has called Philadelphia, Delaware, Texas, Arizona and Florida her home. Amaray is an avid reader and her personal interests include meditation and the arts. She is a student of Reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that promotes healing by using one's own "life force energy". Her other recreational interests are Sudoku, Crossword Puzzles, and other memory and trivia games.
Antoinette Setari
Sr. Credit Analyst- Antoinette joined our company in 2002. Previous to joining us, Antoinette was employed at Professional Leasing for 13 years where she began her equipment leasing career.
Her area of expertise is in equipment leasing and financing. She has worked in all areas of equipment leasing including documentation processing, credit, funding, vendor relations and customer relations.
Her responsibilities as Sr. Credit Analyst include working closely with Dan Pace, CFO, assisting him the analysis of large ticket (over $1 million) transactions. In addition, she is responsible for our Life FitnessVendor Portfolio. In this capacity she works extensively with their nationwide sales team.
Antoinette's hobbies include cooking, baking and relaxing in the Florida sunshine.
Mark Smith
National Finance Director- Mark joined our company in October 2010, he specializies in venture capital, equipment leasing, commercial lending, and private placements. President and Co-Founder of Cambridge Consulting Group, an investment banking firm in 1994, later forming Cambridge Capital Consulting Group. Senior Vice President and Director of Financial Planning of First Montauk Securities, Inc., Red Bank, NJ in 1993. Prior to joining First Montauk & Company in 1992 as Senior Vice President, Investments he was a partner at Corey, Dyke & Smith, an estate planning firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His background includes experience as Vice President, Investments with Prudential Bache Securities and as First Vice President, Investments at Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. There he was consistently a top-ranked Estate Planner, conducted seminars nationwide and was a frequent guest speaker at the firm’s Account Executive Advanced Training Seminars in New York.
In a management capacity, He served as Regional Vice President for Putnam Management Company of Boston where he specialized in Corporate Investments and Financial Planning, providing complex estate planning advice and working extensively with Corporate Pension and Profit Sharing Plans. He also served as a Financial Planning Consultant with E.F. Hutton & Company as well as a District Sales Manager for the NCR Corporation. Professional Affiliations and Credentials Registered Investment Advisor 1992 Series 7 Registered Representative 1975 Series 4 Registered Options Principal 1982 Fort Lauderdale Stock & Bond Club 1977 International Association of Financial Planners Greater Boston Chapter 1978 Central Jersey Chapter 1992 Association of Investment Brokers 1977 First Capital Companies, President’s Council 1981 Quinoco Companies, Chairman’s Council 1983 State Planning Council of Central New Jersey 1992. Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-BS in Bus Admin. -1970
Outside the office Mark enjoys golfing, cruising along the coast on A1A, volunteering at his church, and of course all things North Carolina.
Tamer Fahmy
National Sales Director: As National Sales Director and Senior Loan Specialist with
over 25 years of industry experience including Merger & Acquisitions,
Business Development, and Financial Consulting , Tamer’s expertise lies in the
ability to raise various types of capital for any size company or individual needs, whether it is Equipment Leasing, Commercial Lending, or Venture Capital. Tamer and his team have a proven track record of meeting their client’s needs.
Tamer was born in Cairo, Egypt. Went to college in England for two years at the prestigious United State International University, which then allowed him to transfer to the San Diego USIU where he completed and graduated with a major in International Business.