Each week, we will profile an innovative leader who was selected for the 2024 edition of Az Business Leaders magazine. Today, meet Teresa L. Mandelin, executive director of Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation and John M. Martin, real estate leasing manager at Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation.
READ MORE: Click here to read the 2024 issue of Az Business Leaders
Teresa L. Mandelin
Executive director, Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation
Background: Mandelin is a well known figure in the SBA community. Mandelin has been in banking for over 30 years, specializing in SBA lending since 1993. Currently managing the economic development corporation for the Gila River Indian Community, Mandelin is working to develop loan products and training for small businesses owned by community members throughout Arizona. Mandelin holds a BS in finance from ASU and is a Scottsdale High School alum.
Source of pride: “Providing capital to a small business to help it grow is my greatest accomplishment. I have assisted many small business from startup all the way to becoming No. 1 in its field. Helping that owner fulfill his dream makes me feel my work has meaning beyond corporate profits.”
Professional advice: “Be willing to go where the opportunity is available and to put in the work needed to take advantage of that opportunity. Work life balance is not measured in minutes or hours but in the commitment to being present in the moment.”
Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation
Providing economic diversity for the Gila River Indian Community, Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation is focused on responsible commercial development and cultivating its small business community. The team at Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation has been working to attract development, within its 372,000 acres, that meets with the Community’s core values to preserve, protect and restore the natural environment for use by current and future generations of the Community Members.
Being located adjacent to the Santan Freeway, the Community is interested in leasing land for development that considers both the economic and cultural well being of its residents. Leased land proposals are vetted for product mix, job generation, sales tax and overall contribution to the Community and its members. A strong development process was implemented in fall of 2020, to make the leasing of land for development a more formal and timely process. According to Real Estate Leasing Manager John M. Martin, “Smart development utilizes the Community’s natural resources in a sustainable fashion to deliver economic diversity, promote self-sufficiency, and protect the cultures of the Akimel O’otham and Pee Posh. A successful project must anticipate the future while honoring the past.”
In addition to attracting outside developers, the economic growth of the Community is dependent upon the growth of its small business and farming operations. New loan and literacy programs are being developed to provide capital and operational assistance to both new and existing businesses. Under the guidance of its Executive Director, Teresa Mandelin, Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation is building programs that cultivate and grow the Community’s businesses. “This Community is committed to helping its members grow their local economy to promote self-sufficiency and take advantage of its unique location adjacent to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States,” according to Ms. Mandelin.
Pima Leasing & Financing Corporation
5350 S. 48th St., #245
Chandler, AZ 85226
520-796-2454
theplfc.com
