Interstate Capital Appoints Director of Digital Marketing Strategy

Interstate Capital Corporation announces that Husam Jandal, an internationally known author, speaker, and online marketing thought-leader, has been appointed as the company’s new Director of Digital Marketing.

Mr. Jandal was the keynote speaker at the International Factoring Association’s Presidents and Senior Executives Conference in Wailea, Hawaii in January 2015. Mr. Jandal has worked with companies operating around the world, including American Express, PepsiCo, Aramco, Sanofi, Travelport, AXA, Chrysler, and Thomson Reuters as well as the Dubai government. Mr. Jandal has written a number of academic white papers and popular-press articles and taught at the S.P. Jain School of Global Management. He is currently based in Toronto, Ontario.

As a Google Partner Academy Trainer and member of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization and Web Analytics Association, Mr. Jandal is known for his result-oriented approach. His experience and knowledge will enhance Interstate’s robust digital marketing operations including its proprietary operations software, online properties, search engine marketing, social media strategy, ORM, digital content and mobile oriented services.

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable and freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 6,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables this fiscal year.  Interstate is one of the largest privately-held, non-bank transportation factoring companies in North America.

Interstate Capital Account Manager’s Art Featured at Museum

Employees at Interstate Capital have many talents and interests, ranging from photography and journalism to catering and golf. Paco Irigoyen, the lead account manager in Interstate Capital’s small trucking factoring division, is an accomplished artist with a growing following. His work, which often features unconventional materials and found objects, has been in group and solo exhibits and is in numerous private collections.

As part of the El Paso Museum of Art’s focus on up-and-coming regional artists, the curatorial department invited Irigoyen to exhibit a selected work for three months. In introducing Irigoyen and his “Artists on Art” talk last week, curator Christian Gerstheimer reported that the artist’s work caught his attention at a group show a few years ago. “I’ve been watching Paco’s art evolve,” said Gerstheimer. “He has grown as an artist and has come to specialize in depicting the human figure.”

Irigoyen’s large painting of a woman, entitled “The Gaze,” is part of his series on individuals looking directly at the viewer. “I was inspired by what someone’s gaze means and communicates in different cultures and settings,” Irigoyen said in his gallery talk. “My art focuses on communicating – I want people to talk about what a piece means to them.”

Although the quarterly “Artists on Art” talks typically draw around a dozen attendees, some 60 people of all ages and backgrounds attended Irigoyen’s presentation, including museum members, fellow artists, and Interstate Capital colleagues. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Texas Tech University in 2011, Irigoyen has worked for Interstate since 2012. “My degree taught me persistence, problem-solving, and communication skills,” says Irigoyen. “I use those skills all the time on the job helping clients grow their businesses.”

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable and freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables this fiscal year.  Interstate is one of the largest privately-held, non-bank transportation factoring companies in North America.

Local Factoring Company, Interstate Capital, Gives Back To The El Paso Community

Interstate Capital Corporation often gives back to its local community and region through charitable donations and volunteer work, but this week brings an example of the company’s commitment to an important national cause: the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure benefitting breast cancer research, survivors, and treatment. This year, business development officer Lori Ruiz celebrates eight years of organizing the Interstate Capital Race for the Cure team, one of the largest groups taking part in El Paso’s annual event.

“It’s a very important cause and one that hits home with many employees and their relatives,” Ruiz says. “Plus people like to get together outside the office and they bring along their spouses or significant others and children to have fun. Activities like these bring the company closer.” Since Interstate Capital first began taking part in the annual fundraiser, the company has always paid the entry fees for employees and their families.

Ruiz notes that since she first began recruiting employees to take part in the walk/run event, the company has contributed more than $15,000 to the cause. “A majority of our employees are women and this event helps raise awareness about breast cancer as well as raises funds,” Ruiz says. “I also think that the company’s support of the Race for the Cure inspires people. Knowing that we work for a company that cares for something as important as this cause is gratifying.”

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable factoring, freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Interstate Capital, which celebrates its 22nd anniversary in 2015, projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables this fiscal year.  Interstate is one of the largest privately-held, non-bank transportation factoring companies in North America.

Interstate Capital Announces FreeFreightSearch.Com Unit Celebrates 5th Anniversary

SANTA TERESA, NM  NOVEMBER 27, 2014

INTERSTATE CAPITAL GROUP OF COMPANIES announced today that its freight matching subsidiary, FreeFreightSearch.com, celebrated its 5th anniversary in business in November 2014.

FreeFreightSearch.com is the world’s largest FREE transportation load board. “Load boards are Internet sites where trucking companies search for loads and post their trucks, matching parties with freight to move with motor carriers with available trucks nearby”, explains Interstate’s spokesperson, Tony Furman.

The site was originally known as CheckFreightBroker.com in 2009 when the company was founded as a site where trucking companies obtained free transportation credit reports. In 2010, the company expanded into freight matching, an industry that Furman estimates is a multi-hundred-million-dollar-per-year industry.  In 2013, the company was re-branded as FreeFreightSeach.com to better identity it as a load board. The site still provides free credit reports for trucking companies, but load posting is its main draw.

Since 2010, FreeFreightSearch.com has posted over 60 million truckloads of freight, allowing more than 30,000 site members to search for loads available across North America. FreeFreightSearch.com adds over 1,000 new members every month, an annual growth rate of over 100%, and projects enrolling over 50,000 total members by year-end 2015.

FreeFreightSearch.com is currently in engaged in discussion with several nationally prominent organizations to become exclusive or semi-exclusive site sponsors. An exclusive site sponsorship deal s is expected to quadruple revenue and membership growth in fiscal year 2015. “We cannot comment about the identity of possible site sponsors until a contract is executed,” Furman added. A major announcement is expected early in 2015.

“Suppliers of goods and services to wishing to reach a 100% targeted audience of 50,000+ small trucking companies cannot overlook FreeFreightSearch.com as a place they need to be seen,” predicts Furman. FreeFreighSearch.com is a 100% advertiser supported business model.  Every other major load board, by comparison, uses a “pay-to-access” model that may cost thousands of dollars a year for membership–an expense many small and start-up trucking companies simply cannot afford.

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable and freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Interstate Capital, which celebrates its 22nd anniversary in 2015, projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables next fiscal year.  Interstate is one of the largest privately-held, non-bank transportation factoring companies in North America.  For more information, contact Cindy Graff Cohen, Director of Communications, Interstate Capital Group of Companies, at (800) 422-5995.

Santa Teresa Company, Interstate Capital, Expanding into Central El Paso

After two years of unprecedented growth, the Santa Teresa-based Interstate Capital Group of Companies is expanding and opening offices in central El Paso this month. A portion of the company’s workforce will move from its Santa Teresa headquarters to El Paso by the end of November and company leaders plan to hire additional personnel later this year and into 2015.

The expansion and move to El Paso come after the company’s most successful month in its history. In October 2014, Interstate signed 46 new clients and disbursed $83 million of growth capital, representing a 29% year-over-year growth rate. Interstate’s October funding volume equates to non-seasonally adjusted $1 billion of annual funding volume.

“It takes a lot of dedicated people and physical space to service our client base and to maintain double-digit annual growth,” says Furman. “Last year, we realized we would have to acquire additional space to accommodate our growing workforce.”

The company has secured space at 2211 E. Missouri Avenue in central El Paso, with an option to acquire more space in the same building to accommodate its future growth needs. “We plan to relocate several departments to 2211 E. Missouri later in November when tenant renovations are complete,” Furman adds. “Eventually, I believe we will employ over 100 full-time people in our new El Paso location.”

Interstate’s new space, which will serve as an operations center and outbound call center, is less than a mile east of Downtown. “After searching for a location for over a year, we sought out 2211 E. Missouri (Gateway West) because of its proximity to the growing number of attractions in the Downtown and Kern Place districts,” says Furman. The office building sits within minutes of all the major El Paso healthcare facilities, UTEP, Basset Place, The Fountains at Farah, and Southwest University Park. “We believe our employees, who live in all parts of the Borderplex, will enjoy the great location and its easy access to the freeway.”

According to its five-year plan published in 2012, Interstate projected to reach $1 billion per year in funding volume by fiscal 2017. An accelerated rate of growth in 2013 and 2014 put Interstate well ahead of plan. “Our five-year plan was very conservative and assumed zero increase in our three-year trailing historical growth rate,” reports Tony Furman, Interstate Capital president. “Our revised objective is to disburse more than $1 billion annually by fiscal 2016 or sooner.”

The company’s growth rate during the past two years is attributable to the success of several maturing strategic marketing initiatives, including its proprietary web-based lead generation technology and increasing numbers of referrals from more than 6,000 past and current clients.

Interstate Capital, founded in 1993, has become one of the largest employers based in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.  Its clients include small- and mid-sized manufacturers; wholesalers; oilfield suppliers; transportation companies, and service businesses located throughout North America. The privately held company markets working capital financing, surety bonds, logistics services, and supply chain finance technology.  Interstate also developed and owns the world’s largest free transportation load board, FreeFreightSearch.com.

For information/interviews, contact:

Tony Furman

President, Interstate Capital Group of Companies

(800) 422-5995

Interstate Capital’s Load Board Posts 50% Annual Growth in July 2014

Interstate Capital, a leading factoring and freight bill funding company, announced this week that its freight matching unit, Check Freight Broker, LLC d/b/a FreeFreightSearch.com (“FFS”), posted 50% year-over-year growth in July 2014. Launched in 2009, FFS.com has grown to become the world’s largest free transportation load board.

Transportation load boards, also known as “freight matching” sites, connect motor carriers with shippers and freight brokers through an on-line portal.  Motor carriers universally rely on load boards to search for freight in geographic locations where their empty trucks are located. FFS has posted over 50 million truckloads of freight and has registered over 30,000 members. In the month of July 2014, FFS received over 100,000 page views by members and site visitors and in excess of 7,500 new site visitors, representing annual increases of 51% and 50%, respectively, over the same reporting period in 2013.

Tony Furman, CEO of FFS, commented, “The growth rate of FFS has outpaced all our other business units in 2014, due primarily to marketing efforts intended to differentiate FFS from the costly subscription-based load boards and the ‘mom-and-pop’ boards.” FFS is a free site, supported 100% by advertisers.  Every other major load board requires subscriptions that are too costly for many new and small motor carrier fleets to afford. “FFS fills a void in the load board marketplace by targeting smaller carriers. Because they have lower overhead than large carriers, smaller carriers are usually willing to haul freight for less, which means more profit for shippers and freight brokers,” explained Furman.

FFS has set its sites on an aggressive expansion plan for its current fiscal year that began July 1.  “My goal for the coming year is to roll out a direct marketing campaign to integrate the 1,000 largest freight brokers in the U.S. directly with FFS, and to at least double the number of posted loads by June 30, 2015.  Our mission now is to increase load postings, and we make a very compelling case that every freight broker needs to post their loads on our site to maximize their exposure to small motor carriers,” Furman explained.

The site attracts over 7,500 new visitors per month, most of which are small trucking companies and owner-operators searching for freight. “We plan to exploit the value of our increased reach by adding more advertising and site sponsorship opportunities and increasing our ad rates this year,” Furman explained.Unlike other free sites; however, FFS does not make its membership list available to outside parties. FFS markets advertising and site sponsorship opportunities to insurance brokers, factoring companies, truck dealerships, truck repair shops, truck stops, leasing companies, tax preparation and bookkeeping services, freight brokers, truck accessory distributors and installers, software companies, and new and used trailer dealers.

In addition to being the world’s largest free load board, FFS is also the only load board with an optional integrated factoring platform. Motor carriers may find freight, obtain fuel advances, and obtain 100% payment upon delivery without ever leaving the site.  In addition, FFS provides all its members with unrestricted free access to over 10,000 freight broker credit reports.

FFS is part of the Interstate Capital Group of Companies. The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable financing,  freight bill factoring, invoice factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, load boards, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and trade payable auction management. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 small businesses and trucking companies throughout the  U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Interstate Capital projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables annually within the next fiscal year, earning it the distinction of being one of the largest non-bank, privately-held factoring companies in North America.

Interstate Capital Announces Formation of Community Reinvestment Committee

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies formally announced the formation of a Community Reinvestment Committee (“CRC”) and two recent financial commitments to El Paso-based non-profits. Tony Furman, company spokesman, reports Interstate Capital made recent major financial commitments to El Pasoans Fighting Hunger and the El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center.

El Pasoans Fighting Hunger (formerly the El Paso Branch of the West Texas Food Bank) transforms thousands of lives on a daily basis through the distribution of over 6.5 million pounds of food per year and provides nutritional education to the public.  “We feel an investment in the food bank serves our community at the most basic level,” explains Furman.

The gift to the El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study center takes the form of a Co-Presenting Sponsorship of the Museum’s upcoming presentation of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, to be performed by the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and the UTEP Concert Chorale at the Plaza Theater in November 2014.

The museum educates the public, particularly young people, to honor those who perished in the Holocaust and those who survived and to teach  the importance of acceptance, tolerance, the value and dignity of human life, and the consequences of abandoning these principles. The museum hopes to raise $200,000 from the performance of the Requiem, according to Furman.

Through formation of its CRC, comprised of members of Interstate’s executive management team, Interstate Capital hopes to continue its culture of giving to the community in the future and create a legacy to which other local businesses can aspire. Interstate has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of financial support in aggregate, to establish scholarship funds at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, the University of Texas at El Paso College of Business Administration, and the UTEP Franchise Center as well as providing financial assistance for other causes. Other beneficiaries of CRC funds have included YMCA, YWCA, CASA of El Paso, Junior League of El Paso, Make-A-Wish Foundation, UTEP Athletics, Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure, the Braden Aboud Memorial Foundation, Homerun for the Homeless, and countless other non-profit, civic, educational, religious, and athletic organizations.

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable financing,  freight bill factoring, invoice factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and trade payable auction management. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 small businesses throughout the  U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Interstate Capital projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables annually within the next two years, earning it the distinction of being one of the largest privately held factoring companies in North America.  Interstate is a subsidiary of American Finance & Investment Co., Inc. (“AFIC”), which recently completed the acquisition of a 60,000 square-foot office building in central El Paso, where it and Interstate Capital plan to create or move 35 to 50 new jobs for El Pasoans over the next 18-24 months.

 

 

Interstate Capital Subsidiary Begins Alpha Testing Accounts Payable Auction Platform

BidPay, Inc. (” BidPay^®”), a New Mexico-based supply-chain finance technology start-up announced today it has begun alpha testing live data in its reverse-factoring payable auction platform. BidPay^®, a trade-payable auction management firm, is part of the Interstate Capital Group of Companies. BidPay^® markets a proprietary, cloud-based SAAS portal that delivers spot liquidity to credit-constrained suppliers of the world’s leading companies.

BidPay^® CEO, and inventor of the BidPay^® technology, Tony Furman, has over 30 years of experience in the banking and supply-chain finance industries. Furman is co-founder and President of Interstate Capital Corporation, one of North America’s leading independent accounts receivable factoring firms, discounting nearly $1 billion of receivables annually for companies throughout North America. BidPay^® is a subsidiary of Interstate Capital.

BidPay^® clients are companies that have access to credit and capital markets and annual revenues in the $1 billion to $5 billion range (“buyers”). Suppliers of  BidPay^® ‘s clients may bid on the right to obtain prompt payment on qualified receivables directly from the buyer, and obtain spot liquidity without the need for external financing.

“BidPay^® is attempting to capture receivable discounting opportunities for a large segment of suppliers all over the world that are unable to obtain financing from external funding sources”, explains Furman. Many suppliers, domestic and foreign, are unable to borrow against or factor their receivables, or are otherwise cash or credit-constrained. BidPay^® is hoping to fill the financing void for those companies by electronically gathering supplier discount offers for its clients in an on-line auction platform and managing payable auctions.

BidPay^® clients earn above-market, risk-free returns on their own funds employed in the early retirement of trade payables. At the same time, credit-constrained suppliers enjoy a new, flexible, and cost-effective source of spot liquidity that reduces supplier dependency on restrictive, costly, and often unavailable external sources of financing. BidPay^®‘s has U.S. and international patents pending.

Furman estimates that worldwide demand for payable auctioning is so vast, BidPay^® will be unable to capture all of the demand. “BidPay^® will either license its platform or enter into franchise agreements with third parties to market the technology when and if demand outstrips our ability keep pace”, Furman commented. He adds, “We are evaluating strategic options to maximize the value of our IP, business model, and experience”. The BidPay^®  payable auction portal will be publicly visible when the company transitions to beta testing late in 2014. Parties interested in viewing a live demo or inquiring about future licensing and franchising opportunities should contact Ernest Eisenberg,  BidPay^®‘s President and Chief Operating Officer, at eeisenberg@interstatecapital.com.

Interstate Capital Group of Companies Announces Record-Breaking April 2014 Results

Interstate Capital Corporation, one of North America’s largest independent factoring companies, announced record-breaking results for the month of April 2014.  Accounts receivable factoring is a financial transaction between a cash- or credit-constrained seller of a receivable (invoice) and an investor (a buyer of an invoice) at a discounted rate, in which the seller obtains immediate payment from the buyer, and the buyer waits to collect payment on the purchased invoice from the seller’s customer.

On nearly $70 million of receivables purchased in April 2014, Interstate Capital posted a record 30% year-over-year growth rate.  According to Interstate Capital President, Tony Furman, “Seasonally, we see a pattern of increased factoring activity coming out of the slower winter shipping season.  April is traditionally a strong month, but by summer, we expect receivable purchases to top $75 million per month.” Interstate Capital signed and funded approximately 100 new clients in March and April, accounting for some of April’s record results; but, mostly,  Interstate’s growth is attributable to already-existing clients selling more invoices, combined with a modest increase in the average invoices size. Compared to the same periods in 2013, Interstate Capital realized 2014 growth rates of 18% and 21% in fee income and investment portfolio size, respectively.

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable and freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, truck and trailer financing, freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Holding its current rate of growth constant,  Interstate Capital projects to purchase in excess of $1 billion of receivables annually within the next two years.

 

 

 

Interstate Capital Announces “100% Fuel Advance” Feature For Truckers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA. Interstate Capital Corporation, one of North America’s leading transportation factoring companies, announced at the International Factoring Association (IFA) Annual Conference it has begun marketing  a “100% fuel advance”.  Interstate Capital president, Tony Furman, describes a fuel advance as, “a financial product that provides truckers with ‘fuel money’ as soon as freight is picked up”. Without fuel advances, truckers have to wait until after delivery of freight to be paid their freight charges. Fuel advances have become a popular financial service among credit-constrained motor carriers and owner-operators in recent years.

Until Interstate’s announcement in San Francisco, fuel advances by factoring companies were limited to about 50% of the freight charge. Interstate will continue to offer its standard (50%) fuel advance at fees ranging from $14.99 – $24.99. Furman adds,  “We think the 100% fuel advance option will be a very popular product among our smaller fleets, because of the program’s simplicity and speed of funding. The trucker gets all its money when the load is picked up, minus our fee and it’s done.” Interstate Capital has priced its 100% fuel advance product at an all-in cost that is about the same as or slightly less than what truckers pay for 50% fuel advance products elsewhere. Most factoring companies that offer fuel advances require three transactions per load: a fuel advance of about 50% when the trailer is loaded, a 30-45% disbursement upon delivery, and a final disbursement (referred to as “reserve” or “hold-back”) once the factoring company collects the freight charges from the shipper or freight broker. “That’s an awful lot for small trucking companies to keep up with, not to mention a whole lot of banking and money transfer fees”, suggests Furman.

Key to Interstate Capital’s ability to market 100% fuel advances is its proprietary technology called Freight Payables Systems (FPS) which, when integrated with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) and other licensed technologies, allows it to manage and streamline funding operations more effectively. In January 2014, Interstate Capital announced the pairing of licensed GPS technology with its FPS, and immediately followed that announcement with a 50% cut in the pricing of its standard fuel advances. “Most factoring companies do not offer fuel advances”, Furman explains.

Without factoring companies’ fuel advances, credit constrained truckers often resort to limiting themselves to hauling cheap freight posted by opportunistic freight brokers that offer quick-pay options. In terms of value, Furman explains, “We estimate our 100% fuel advance is worth about $.06 to $.08 per mile on the average long-haul load.” The alternative to fuel advances is waiting until after delivery to obtain funding from a factoring company; or waiting for weeks after delivery to obtain payment from the shipper or freight broker.”

The Interstate Capital Group of Companies is a leading marketer of accounts receivable and freight bill factoring, fuel cards, freight matching, freight broker credit reports, property broker bonds, fuel advances, trailer financing, and freight brokerage and freight payable auction management services. Founded in 1993, Interstate Capital has provided $ billions of funding for over 5,000 motor carriers and other small businesses in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.