GreatAmerica Financial Services is a national commercial equipment finance company that provides financing and consulting services in the United States, and some of the U.S. Territories.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Headquarters | |
Number of locations | Marshall, Minnesota Milton, Georgia Northbrook, Illinois |
Key people | Tony Golobic, Executive Chairman |
Number of employees | 730+ (2023) |
| Website | www.greatamerica.com |
History
editThe company was founded in 1990. In 1992, the company relocated from Michigan to Cedar Rapids, Iowa and became GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation. At that time, there were only four employees, which included founder Anton (Tony) Golobic, his wife Magda, and two others.[1] In November 2012, the company adopted the new trade name GreatAmerica Financial Services Corporation.[2]
GreatAmerica is the largest independent, family-owned national commercial equipment finance company in the U.S.[3] and is dedicated to helping manufacturers, vendors, and dealers be more successful and keep their customers for a lifetime. A $3 billion company with life-to-date finance originations of $16.9 billion in the office equipment, communications, light industrial, information technology, automotive service and repair, and franchise industries. In addition to financing, GreatAmerica offers non-financial services under its Platform Services division, which includes GreatAmerica Portfolio Services.
In 2004, an investment group including GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation and CEO Tony Golobic purchased the GreatAmerica Building for $16 million.[4] During the Flood of 2008, the company activated their disaster recovery plan and relocated staff and resources to pre-arranged recovery sites. Staff did not return to the GreatAmerica building in downtown Cedar Rapids for 68 days.[5]
In late 2009, GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation surpassed $1 billion in assets.[6]
In 2009 GreatAmerica launched the Master Managed Services Provider subsidiary company, Collabrance LLC,[7] as a value-add service to their Strategic Solutions Group.[8][9][10]
In June 2011, the company purchased the GreatAmerica building from River Cedar Properties LLC for $22.5 Million[11]
In November, 2017, GreatAmerica announced that it surpassed the $2 billion mark in assets and concurrently reached its 25th year of uninterrupted organic growth.[12]
In 2022, GreatAmerica expanded its presence in the franchise financing business by acquiring Illinois-based IRH Capital LLC, a 20-year veteran in the franchise financing industry.[13]
In August 2024, GreatAmerica sold Master MSP, Collabrance LLC, to The 20. The20 retained the Collabrance brand and all Collabrance employees. [14]
References
edit- ^ Patterson, Maureen (June–July 2004). "The Time of Her Life: Polish immigrant Magda Golobic achieves the American Dream". The Woman Today.
- ^ "GreatAmerica Announces New Trade Name". Monitor Daily. Xander Media Group, Inc. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ "Home - Monitordaily". Retrieved June 23, 2022.
- ^ Ford, George C. "GreatAmerica buys downtown C.R. building". SourceMedia Group News. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
- ^ Derraugh, Murray. "How Business Resumption Planning Can Help Your Company" (PDF). ABF Journal. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
- ^ "GreatAmerica Leasing Surpasses $1 Billion Mark in 2009: The Strategy Behind the Growth". Monitor Daily. Xander Media Group, Inc. Archived from the original on April 24, 2012. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
- ^ "Collabrance | Master Managed Services Partner | Master MSP". www.collabrance.com. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
- ^ "Collabrance's "White Glove" IT Service for MSPs: A Closer Look - ChannelE2E". ChannelE2E. May 11, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
- ^ "GreatAmerica, Collabrance: A New Master MSP?". Channel Futures. October 27, 2011. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
- ^ "Cedar Rapids' GreatAmerica Financial Services expands IT services unit". The Gazette. Retrieved September 14, 2018.
- ^ "Cedar Rapids City Assessor". City of Cedar Rapids. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
- ^ "GreatAmerica Financial Services Reaches $2 Billion: Celebrates 25th Anniversary".
- ^ "Cedar Rapids-based GreatAmerica buys franchise financial business IRH Capital".
- ^ "the20.com/blog/the-20-acquires-collabrance/". August 1, 2024.