David Drogos
President, CEO

David began his career with BFI Business FinanceŽ in 1983 and has served as its President and CEO since 2000. Over the years David has been instrumental in the growth and development of BFI and has created many of the policies and procedures that are in practice today. He actively oversees all divisions of the company, including business development, legal/documentation, and operations. Before joining BFI®, he was an auditor/account executive at Commercial Credit Business Loans, specializing in middle-market asset based lending. David received his B.A. in Accounting from the University of Arizona.

Dave has served on the Board of Directors for the Northern California Chapter of the Commercial Finance Association and has served as its Vice President. Additionally, he is a past president of the St. Christopher Holy Name Society. An article about BFI® by Silicon Valley Biz Ink discusses Dave's perspective on business lending during difficult times.

Jeff Johnson
Executive Vice President

Jeff has been with BFI® for more than fourteen years. He is involved in all aspects of loan origination and new business development and manages the Sales Division. Jeff received his B.S. in Business Marketing from San Jose State University. Jeff has served on the Board of Managers for the Central YMCA.

Jeff is a past board member of the Northern California Chapter of the Commercial Finance Association and is a member of the Turnaround Management Association.

Philip Carman
Senior Vice President
Pacific Northwest Region

Philip joined BFI® in 1998, after working with Comerica Bank and its predecessor, Plaza Bank of Commerce, for fourteen years. Philip received his B.A. in economics from the Claremont Men's College.

Richard "Dick" Gilbert
Vice President
Pacific Southwest Region

Richard joined BFI® in 2001, after working with Summit Financial Resources as their Senior Vice President of Sales. Richard began his career in 1969 as a Vice President of Sales at Community Bank's Industrial Finance Department. Richard has worked with various companies in the industry including National Acceptance Company of California (1975), Sanwa Business Credit (1987), Foothill Capital (1993), KBK Financial (1996) and Summit Financial Resources (1999.)

Richard currently serves on The Board of Trustees of San Antonio Community Hospital located in Upland, California. Richard has served as a director and past chairman of the Commercial Finance Conference of California (West Coast Chapter of the CFA.) Richard has also served on the Boards of the Commercial Finance Association, Pacific Coast Machinery Dealers Association, Machinery Dealers National Association, and several fraternal organizations. In 2003 Richard was honored by the Commercial Finance Conference of California with their first Lifetime Achievement Award (pdf.)

Gretchen Wile
Vice President
San Francisco Region

Gretchen joined BFI® in 2002 after working with GE Capital Business Credit as Assistant Vice President of Origination. Gretchen started her career in 1996 as an Assistant Business Development Officer at Heller Financial. In 1997, she joined Union Bank of California as Assistant Vice President of Underwriting. Gretchen received a B.A. in Finance from St. Mary's College.

Gretchen has also served on the board for the Association for Corporate Growth and is past President and Chairman of the Board for the Northern California Chapter of the Commercial Finance Association.

Shermin Tawni Alam
Vice President
Underwriting Division Manager

Shermin joined BFI® in 2000 after working with Wells Fargo Foothil''s Small Business Lending Division as a Portfolio Analyst. Prior to that, she worked as an Associate Auditor for PriceWaterhouse Coopers specializing in business audits in retail, entertainment, and minerals & mining. Shermin currently manages the Underwriting Division and is involved in all aspects of new business development.

Shermin is a past board member of the Northern California Chapter of the Commercial Finance Association. Shermin obtained her B.S. in Cognitive Science with an emphasis in Accounting from the University of California, Los Angeles. Shermin received her MBA from Santa Clara University.

Jose Esquivel
Vice President
New Business Development

Jose joined BFI® in 2005, after working for CNL Commercial Finance, Inc., as Vice President, Business Development Officer. Jose began his career in 1997 as a Junior Commercial Loan Officer for Sanwa Bank of California. In 1999, Jose joined Banco Popular N.A. as their youngest Relationship Manager and worked in various capacities including business development, portfolio management, underwriting, and special assets. Jose also served as one of two Principals for Cornerstone Capital Consultants, a business consulting firm that provided turnaround advise to middle market companies.

Janet Walworth
General Counsel

Janet joined BFI® in 2001 after working with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips in their Palo Alto office, specializing in commercial loan documentation, loan workout, and bankruptcy. Janet received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley and received her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, of which she is past president.

Jody Hansen
Vice President & Manager
Loan Documentation

Previously known to us as Jody Whiskey, Jody joined BFI® in 1997 and currently serves as Manager of Loan Documentation. Jody began her career in banking and finance in 1980 working in various aspects of bank operations, including commercial loan documentation and processing. Prior to joining BFI®, Jody worked for Plaza Bank of Commerce, Cupertino National Bank, and later Comerica Bank-California where she was an Assistant Vice President in the Loan Services Department.

Liza Lummis
Executive Assistant
New Business Department

Liza has worked for BFI® since 1986 in various departments and functions including customer relations, operations, and loan documentation. Liza currently works in the new business documentation division where she is involved in all aspects of loan closing including audit preparation, due diligence, legal documentation and loan funding.

Steve Darlington
Vice President

Steve joined BFI® in 2000 after working with Kaiser Permanente IT, managing the accounts receivable system for California. He was also Account Executive for Commercial Credit Business Loans and for Commonwealth Financial. In addition, Steve has been controller and CEO for several manufacturing companies. Steve received his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting, from California State University, Sacramento.

Roberta Stolar
Corporate Secretary
Manager

Roberta has been with BFI® since 1968. She currently serves as BFI's® Corporate Secretary as well as a Manager of the Operations Division.

Oanh Nguyen
Controller

Oanh joined BFI® in 1987 and currently serves as the company's Controller and a Manager in the Operations Division. Over the years Oanh has worked for BFI® in various capacities including Auditor and Credit Analyst. Oanh received a B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from San Francisco State University.

Macy Saechao
Assistant Vice President
Assistant Controller

Macy joined BFI® in 1999 after obtaining her B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Cal State Fresno. Macy currently serves as the company's Assistant Controller with various responsibilities including cash management, end-of-day reconciliation and closing, and also supervises the daily activities of the Operations division.

Jugdeep Nijjar
Assistant Vice President
Audit Manger

Jugdeep joined BFI® in 1998 after obtaining his B.S. in Business Management from the University of California, Riverside. Jugdeep currently serves as the company's Audit Manager and manages the audit process for all new and existing client audits. Jugdeep also performs daily tasks for the Operations division including client advances, credit analysis, and portfolio management.