EMAIL INTERVIEW – Matt Worth and Ken Sinclair

Matt Worth, VP & GM, Noesis, a LeaseQ company
Email: mworth@noesis.com
   
Matt Worth has 20 years of experience in professional services leadership and has worked in Software as a Service (SaaS) since 2001. Prior to joining Noesis Matt served as Vice President Professional Services Market Lead at E2open, aiding the supply chain SaaS provider in its successful journey to IPO. Matt also served as Vice President of Professional Services with Perfect Commerce, a leading provider of SaaS e-procurement solutions. Matt spent the first eight years of his career performing strategy and process consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Andersen Consulting. He holds a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Rice University. To learn more about Noesis, a LeaseQ company, please visit: https://www.noesis.com/site/

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Sinclair:  Tell me a bit about Noesis, a LeaseQ company, and your role?

Worth:  Noesis is a commercial financing marketplace for mechanical and electrical equipment.  In November 2016, LeaseQ acquired Noesis to add specialized expertise in the utility industry to its expansive online equipment finance marketplace. Noesis and LeaseQ work together to match companies looking for a loan or lease, with equipment sellers and leading financial lenders, to get the best financing terms and rates available, retain cash and grow more rapidly. Industry leaders in controls, lighting, and HVAC have chosen this solution to accelerate sales by offering monthly payment options to their customers.  The Noesis financing marketplace empowers equipment vendors with capabilities that no other lending source can provide, including instant online quotes, access to 100+ lenders that cover credits from A-D, and best in class sales tools that help vendor sales teams highlight energy efficiency benefits to building owners.

As GM at Noesis, I wear a lot of different hats, ranging from setting strategic direction to customer relationship management.  My favorite part of the job is working with sales leadership at equipment vendors that are adopting financing programs for the first time.  I help them incorporate the new solution into their sales process and realize the improvements to customer service and sales.

Sinclair:  Can you explain the role of equipment financing in the commercial building equipment industry?

Worth:  When owners are forced to replace failing building equipment, it is commonly seen as a necessary evil that will consume capital budget that had been earmarked for something else.   Equipment financing can alter that calculus. Building owners no longer have to settle for the lowest cost, “like for like” replacement equipment.  They can use equipment financing to acquire more expensive but more efficient equipment that will save them money and provide them return on their investment.  In that light, equipment replacements are transformed from a dreaded sunk cost to a cash flow generating investment.

Sinclair:  What are the benefits of using equipment financing to secure building controls, elevators, HVAC systems and other necessary building equipment?

Worth:  There are three primary benefits to using equipment financing for building equipment:

• Acquire the asset now and realize the immediate benefits, as opposed to waiting for next year’s budgeting cycle
• Preserve capital budget to use on investments in growing the business
• Generate positive cash flow.  When building owners invest in more efficient equipment, it is common for the monthly savings to exceed the monthly finance payments.  In most cases, energy efficiency projects have an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) that exceeds the building owner’s IRR hurdle rate.
  

Sinclair:  How can buildings use equipment financing to keep up with trends in building automation and energy efficiency?

Worth:  Equipment financing allows building owners to turn equipment replacements into investments in their facility.  Investing in sophisticated building automation solutions can help building owners increase cash flow, earn higher rents, raise occupancy rates and improve occupant productivity.  Those benefits translate to bottom line improvement. 

Sinclair:  Can you give us an example of a building project that’s been successful in using equipment financing?

Worth:  We recently helped a commercial office building owner in Dallas.  Tenants were complaining to ownership about comfort levels, and occupancy was at risk.  Instead of just trying to repair the old mechanical systems, the building owners elected to invest in upgrading the Building Automation System and convert VAV boxes to Direct Digital Controls (DDC).   The upgrade cost $225,000 but entailed savings of over $120,000 per year and payback of fewer than two years.  Financing helped the customer fund and implement the project immediately, and their monthly energy savings were more than double their monthly finance payments.

Sinclair:  Any other pieces of advice for our readers? Where can they contact you for more information?

Worth:  Building owners don’t necessarily have to wait for existing equipment to fail before they consider replacing it.  Upgrading your building’s systems is a good business investment, and with financing, within easy reach. You can contact me directly at mworth@noesis.com and learn more about us by visiting: https://www.noesis.com/site/