Greater Phoenix SCORE Event Educates Businesses About IFG Alternative Financing Solutions

BETHESDA, MD--(Marketwire - February 19, 2010) - The Interface Financial Group (IFG), North America's largest alternative funding source for small businesses, announced Phyllis Rector, principal at IFG, spoke about IFG's working capital and alternative funding solutions for business at a special Greater Phoenix SCORE event Thursday, February 18, 2010 at the Scottsdale Arizona Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort.

The event also honored Maryanne Weiss, president of Gustare Ltd. Weiss is the current chairman of Greater Phoenix SCORE and a Skills Commissioner for the State of Arizona Dept. of Education. Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell presented Weiss with an Extension of Remarks Certificate of entry of the "Woman of the Year" award into the Congressional Record. Banking and business guests learned about the IFG working capital solutions for B2B business customers.

Other participating speakers at the "Meet the Smart Teams" from Greater Phoenix SCORE event included Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell, 5th district, Arizona, who presented the Congressional Record certificate to Maryanne Weiss; Deborah Bateman, executive vice president at National Bank of Arizona; Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Arizona; and Phyllis Rector, principal of IFG, who hosted the event.

Maryanne Weiss, an inspiration to many people in the Phoenix community, also received the first-ever National Bank of Arizona's Women's Financial Group's first inaugural "Woman of the Year" award. Her work with the business community in Arizona has been exemplary with a focus on mentoring and supporting business owners by helping them establish themselves, grow their businesses and reach their full potential in their professional and personal lives. She has successfully demonstrated her commitment to connecting and collaborating with others to positively impact the community.

"This event, and the SCORE program, is cooperation at its finest grass roots level, helping to get small businesses going again by fitting alternative financing into the mix," said IFG Principal Phyllis Rector. "It is more important than ever for small to medium-sized businesses to know what forms of financing are available to them. Partnering with SCORE has enabled IFG to share valuable information about alternative financing with local medium-sized businesses. Factoring invoices is going to be a major financial alternative for businesses to stabilize and grow as we come out of this recession." Greater Phoenix SCORE Smart Teams is a program to help improve the bottom line for businesses in metro Phoenix.

Phyllis Rector has been with The Interface Financial Group in Phoenix, AZ since 2007 and has spent most of her working career in financial services. She is involved in various leadership roles at St. Barnabas on the Desert, Chair of Missions Coordinating Committee and founder and co-chair of Auction/Dinner/Dance for outreach, raising $84,000 in early 2008.

Invoice factoring is a form of funding that assists small businesses as they need funds, since the money received is based on accounts receivables, and there are no obligations like there are with loans. This financial strategy is ideal for businesses with customers who pay 60 to 90 days out, as it leverages small businesses' accounts receivables. IFG makes arrangements to purchase a company's invoice, or invoices, pays immediately, and in essence, loans money until the company's customer's invoice is paid.

IFG looks at the creditworthiness of the client's customers and can fund within as little as 24 hours. IFG is finding that single invoice factoring is a popular new tactic, allowing companies to factor one invoice at a time. The company does not expect to buy 100 percent of a company's receivables, and there are no minimum or maximum sales volume requirements.

IFG's recent private label factoring products include: Export Factoring, providing factoring services for companies who export from the United States and Canada; P.O. Funding to finance purchase orders when a company receives a purchase order and needs to purchase supplies to fulfill the order; and Inventory Financing, a solution promoting a company's growth by funding them when they must expand and purchase inventory.

About Greater Phoenix SCORE

Greater Phoenix SCORE is a non-profit educational organization, comprised of an all volunteer group of local -- working and retired -- men and women. The organization offers successful business people, who might be interested in helping others live their entrepreneurial dreams, start a business, make their existing business more effective and more profitable, or help create jobs.

The more than 100 volunteer counselors of Greater Phoenix SCORE are experienced business owners and managers who volunteer their experience and knowledge to help potential and existing small business owners achieve success.

Client service is the objective of Greater Phoenix SCORE and its volunteer business counselors are dedicated to providing the best possible service. Face-to-face, by telephone or online, the counselors of Greater Phoenix SCORE are able and willing to aid in the success of small business. SCORE counselors provide you with in-depth, industry-specific business assistance to help evaluate a business idea or plan, resolve business problems, stimulate business growth and ensure long-term stability.

About The Interface Financial Group (www.ifgnetwork.com)

The Interface Financial Group (IFG) is North America's largest alternative funding source for small business, providing short-term financial resources, including invoice factoring (invoice discounting). The company serves clients in more than 30 industries in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand, and offers cross-border transaction facilities between the U.S. and Canada. With more than 140 offices across North America and over 35 years of experience, IFG provides innovative invoice factoring solutions by offering short-term working capital to growing businesses. Single invoice factoring, or spot factoring, is an extremely fast way to turn receivables into cash.

IFG was founded in 1972 to provide short-term working capital to help small to medium-sized businesses grow. The IFG organization operates on a local level, providing clients with local knowledge and experience and business expertise in numerous diverse areas in addition to accounts receivable factoring, including accounting, finance, law, marketing and banking.

Contact Information: Media Contacts: Kristin Gabriel MarCom New Media T: 323.650.2838 E: Phyllis Rector T: 480-609-7044 E: Headquarters: The Interface Financial Group, Inc. 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 1430 Bethesda, MD 20154 T: Toll Free: USA -- 877.210.9748 T: Toll Free: Canada -- 877.340.6893