Maria Chiang, FGI Finance Senior Vice President of Business Development, Named New York Institute of Credit’s 2009 Executive Woman of the Year

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By

acknowledging excellence in business, leadership and a commitment to

fostering the growth and success of other women in business, the NYIC

Women’s Division hopes to inspire women to succeed and help other women

achieve success in business and in life.

“Maria Chiang is truly a leader within the industry. Her entrepreneurial

spirit and knowledge of her business has proven to set her apart,” said

Harvey Gross, managing director of the New York Institute of Credit.

“She continuously demonstrates her passion and commitment to further the

role and support for women within the financial world. It was a

unanimous decision to select Maria Chiang as our 2009 Executive Woman of

the Year.”

When asked how she felt about being selected as “Executive

Woman of the Year” Maria replied, “I

am so honored to have been chosen by the NYIC and it’s

Directors for this prestigious award. The NYIC is very well-known for

being the driving force behind training and education within the

industry.” She continues, “Harvey

Gross, the current President of the NYIC, consistently goes above and

beyond his call of duty to help industry players forge profitable

business relationships. I am very proud to accept this prestigious award

from such a fine organization.”

As SVP of Business Development at FGI Finance, Maria focuses on

strengthening relationships with other lenders and intermediaries, and

exploring business opportunities between FGI Finance and other potential

clients and partners nationwide. Her success has been built on her

industry expertise and her ability to develop personalized business

solutions. This, combined with her ability to foster and maintain strong

personal relationships, has been the key to her success. Maria has been

coined a “networking queen”

by her colleagues and has made “working the

room” an art.

Prior to FGI, Ms. Chiang was Director of Marketing at Access Capital in

New York City for eight years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in

International Languages and Business at the University of Scranton in

Scranton, PA.

Maria Chiang is very active in a number of industry trade associations

including the Commercial

Finance Association (CFA), International

Factoring Association (IFA), the Association

for Corporate Growth (ACG), and the Turnaround

Management Association (TMA). She has served as a Board Member in

the New

Jersey Chapter of the TMA for the last 8 years and is currently

Co-Chair of the Events Committee. She is also a member of local

associations such as the Commercial Finance Association, the Garden

State Credit Associates, and the New York Institute of Credit. In

addition, she has run a Golf 101 event for the last four years that

teaches men and women in the industry how to play golf and how to

leverage the activity to conduct business.

The

New York Institute of Credit (www.NYIC.org)

was founded in 1918 as the New York Chapter of the National Institute of

Credit (NIC). In 1957 NYIC was granted an absolute charter as an

educational corporation by the Board of Regents of the State of NY. As a

non-profit organization, NYIC has always attempted to bridge the gap

between business theory and business practice. As a result, the faculty

of NYIC consists of educators who are primarily credit executives or

prestigious and articulate accountants or lawyers who are appreciative

of the value of a close alliance of the professions.

FGI

Finance is a global commercial finance firm that helps middle market

companies around the world by providing them with loans and financial

services to grow their business. FGI works with international service

providers, and manufacturers, in addition to parent companies and their

subsidiaries based in the US as well as in 30 countries around the world.