As Business Evolves, Clarity and Purpose Propel GreatAmerica Financial Services Forward

It’s clear that GreatAmerica Financial Services (GreatAmerica) isn’t afraid of change. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based financing solutions provider has demonstrated, time and again, a willingness to pivot toward (and anticipate) the evolving needs of dealer partners and end-user clients.

Certainly, evolving to serve is a claim made by many financial services companies, not to mention dealers and just about every business sector. In this case, it’s not merely lip service. GreatAmerica executed several strategic plays in the past year alone to remain relevant to its client partners while anticipating market opportunities. Here are just a few:

• Most recently, GreatAmerica announced it entered into an agreement to purchase Heritage Bank, an Iowa chartered banking institution that, if approved, will create GreatAmerica Bank National Association. One goal is to furnish more equipment financing options for SMB clients.
• It added team members with expertise in syndication to assist more customers on large credit exposures while still leveraging its best-in-class servicing platform.
• Earlier this year, the company tossed its hat into the additive manufacturing space in recognition of the $20 billion opportunity it sees for the 3D market.
• In the summer of 2024, GreatAmerica sold its interest in managed IT arm Collabrance, connecting it to managed services specialist The 20.
• PathShare HR Services tripled its staff, becoming part of the new GreatAmerica Advisory Services division, responding to growing customer needs and expanding to include other business-related services, such as sales leadership training.

Helping to bring these moves into focus is Mitch Leahy, GreatAmerica’s vice president and general manager of the Office Equipment Group (OEG). He sat down with ENX Magazine to provide perspective on these actions—except the Heritage addition, which at press time was pending regulatory approval—and laid out the vision for how GreatAmerica can continue asserting itself as a leading provider to the office technology dealer realm.

How did GreatAmerica perform during the most recent fiscal year, both overall and from an office imaging equipment standpoint? How did expectations compare with results for the office industry?

Leahy: Fiscal 2025 was again a record year in terms of originations for GreatAmerica in the aggregate and was a year of enhancements for the Office Equipment Group. This channel still contributes more than 60% of the originations annually, and it remains the largest component of originations and profitability for GreatAmerica. As part of that, we saw continued growth in other areas within the organization, particularly in specialty markets, which includes construction, manufacturing, franchise, health care and others. In this area, we continue to see positive trends that help us diversify our portfolio beyond office technology.

Overall, we increased our number of customers during the fiscal year and made several improvements to both internal systems and external integration capabilities. We also hired more than 100 new GreatAmerica team members across the organization, bringing us just shy of 800 employees. As someone who started as employee number 240 seventeen years ago, it’s been rewarding to see that growth. Coming out of COVID, we had an aggressive growth target for the year, which we came just short of achieving. However, given the headwinds, such as interest rates and challenges our customers faced in getting their clients to upgrade, we were satisfied with our performance.

Our key performance indicators, which ensure our teams are meeting customer expectations and service standards, have all improved. We also continued to collect and act on customer feedback to make sure we’re measuring what matters. In terms of internal culture, all of our engagement survey scores improved year over year in 2025, and we’re happy with our overall progress.

What were some of GreatAmerica’s greatest triumphs over the past 12 months? What resonated the most with you?

Leahy: One highlight was the success we’ve had in areas outside of office technology. GreatAmerica has been very intentional in its growth strategy, not through portfolio acquisitions but by identifying customer or relationship sets that can bring expertise into the organization. We’re dedicated to becoming fully immersed in any industry we enter, offering education and expertise.

In our Connected Technology Group, which is more IT-focused, we hired eight new team members in September of last year. They bring decades of expertise and relationships, helping us deepen partnerships and engage larger technology providers and manufacturers. We also experienced some leadership transitions. I’ve been in a new role within the past 12 months, as has Jennie Fisher. Despite these changes, our mission and vision remain the same: to help our customers achieve greater success and strive for excellence.

Fiscal year 2026 will mark our largest investment in the office equipment channel through partnerships like the one we have with ENX and sponsorships of dealer peer groups, customer and manufacturer events. We remain deeply involved and invested in this channel for the long term.

Are you seeing any leasing trends? What challenges are confronting your dealer partners?

Leahy: If you look at the Monitor’s recent top 100 leasing trends, you’ll see that post-COVID, there was a significant spike in lease originations across channels. In 2025, aggregate growth dropped to around 2.5% for all leasing and financing companies—a dramatic decline from earlier years. Some of our customers have shared that they still have underused machines in the field, so end-users are reluctant to upgrade when existing equipment still feels new. This has delayed some upgrades. We’ve also seen larger transactions shrink due to device consolidation and end-user environments not yet fully returning to the office.

We’re watching the impact of tariffs on the channel and how that cost sensitivity might influence customer programs. We’ve had discussions with customers looking to pass those increased costs on to end-users.

— Mitch Leahy, GreatAmerica Financial Services

Additionally, we’re seeing early indications of a shift from A3 to A4 devices. It’s too early to make firm predictions, but we’ll continue to monitor how that trend affects revenue and profitability.

What messaging have you shared with your dealer partners regarding tariffs, and has it impacted their originations?

Leahy: We’re closely monitoring the situation. Since we’re downstream from those selling equipment and solutions, we expect they may need to pass increased costs on to their customers. We’ve heard mixed feedback depending on backlog and how the year started for each company.

We’re watching the impact of tariffs on the channel and how that cost sensitivity might influence customer programs. We’ve had discussions with customers looking to pass those increased costs on to end-users. Our technology—particularly through e-automate—supports that when there’s an arrangement with the end-user to do so. Our pass-through billing feature lets dealers easily add charges to existing invoices without additional work. It streamlines invoicing, collections, cash posting and remittance. We’ve already onboarded a few partners using this feature, and the feedback has been positive.

How has the former PathShare evolved during the past two years?

Leahy: Historically, PathShare had a narrow focus—leadership development, strategic planning with EOS and sales training. In the last year, we created GreatAmerica Advisory Services and tripled the team’s size, and now PathShare HR Services fits within a larger suite of expanded offerings, which go beyond human resources. We’ve added fractional sales leadership, stepping in during transitions to support customers. We also launched workflow analysis, building on work we did a few years ago to help customers identify and resolve process bottlenecks.

Going forward, we’ll continue to listen to customer feedback to expand our advisory offerings. Many of our customers, both in office equipment and other sectors, face similar challenges and we see great potential in broadening the services we provide.

Last summer, GreatAmerica sold Collabrance to managed services roll-up The 20. Given Collabrance’s growth, was this a product of GreatAmerica shifting priorities?

Leahy: Over the 15 years we operated Collabrance, the service model shifted significantly with the rise of cloud services, vendor consolidation, à la carte solutions and cybersecurity. We asked ourselves whether we could grow and support it in a way that met customer expectations. Ultimately, we felt our customers would benefit more from a partner who could specialize in that space. That’s how The 20 entered the picture.

Earlier this year, GreatAmerica entered the additive manufacturing market. What factors drove that decision?

Leahy: This has been on our strategic radar for seven to nine years. As we talked to dealers partnering with manufacturers offering 3D printing, we saw potential. The new addition to the team is part of our specialty markets group. I see it as kind of a cousin to the office technology space. While few BTA channel players are currently selling 3D printing, it’s a diverse and growing market, including automotive, health care and manufacturing, where we already have experience.

We’ve seen more opportunity in those segments, which tend to focus more on end-user financing. The additive manufacturing market is valued at over $20 billion and is projected to grow 21% annually through 2030. With the combination of hardware, software and consumables, the market aligns well with our platform and billing capabilities. We felt confident in our internal knowledge and are ready to invest in supporting that growth.

What will be the keys to garnering a greater market share in the leasing realm moving forward?

Leahy: Everyone in this channel is essentially trading volume back and forth. While there’s concern about the decline in print, many of our customers are actively diversifying, and we’re helping them do that with solutions beyond print and mail. We’ll continue to monitor portfolio quality, especially as economic uncertainty raises delinquency concerns. This channel is very heavy toward fair market value, so managing end-of-term and resale values is critical.

Consistency in offering competitive programs and executing them well is key. Our customers value ease of use, so we’re investing in technology for both our team and theirs to simplify operations and focus on higher-value activities. Most importantly, we maintain a high level of trust in the dealer channel and are committed to the long game—we won’t compromise our values for short-term gains. We’ll be here to support our partners, no matter the economic conditions.

There are a lot of options out there in the financing world. What is it about GreatAmerica that’s really kept it in a lead position in the Office Equipment Group sector?

Leahy: A customer I spoke with recently mentioned our consistency as a key differentiator. We operate in a team-based environment where specific team members support specific customers. This fosters strong, personal relationships that we truly value.

From a tangible perspective, we consistently show how we add value—whether through program execution, flexibility in unique scenarios or technology integrations that can increase efficiency and decrease error rates. Our customers trust us because we deliver. Operational execution must be flawless because our customers put their own customers in our hands. We take that responsibility seriously and will continue to invest in our people and relationships while remaining competitive and responsive.

Is there anything on the horizon from a program or partnership standpoint?

Leahy: Nothing I can share at the moment. We’re actively engaged with several partners on the technology capability side, and Advisory Services will continue to strengthen relationships as we expand our solutions. Hopefully, we’ll have a few announcements by the end of the year.

What will a successful Q4 2025 look like in your estimation? What are some of your goals?

Leahy: Our annual goal is to strengthen relationships with both dealers and manufacturers by developing programs that create win-win scenarios. We’ll continue to invest in technology to automate workflows and improve speed and accuracy. Depending on how tariffs evolve over the next 6–12 months, we aim to help customers implement necessary changes efficiently, largely through technology. We’re also working on increasing the adoption of existing offerings and rolling out new ones. If we strengthen relationships, empower our team and focus on customer needs, we’ll achieve the numbers we’re seeking when the dust settles on 2025.