Presentation Brief & Bio:
Tim Cropper
Sr. VP & Chief Customer Credit Officer
CIT Commercial Services
THE STATE OF THE RETAIL ENVIRONMENT: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Bankruptcy. Insolvency. Dark stores. Debtor-in-possession financing. This session brings together a panel of experts from various financial segments of the housewares industry. They will address the current state of the retail environment and offer their opinions about how you can be prepared for what is coming next.
Hear their thoughts about early warning signs of retailer financial problems and ways to protect your company. They will also give guidance about what you can do after your products are on the retail shelves and the invoices are late. Note: The session will NOT offer predictions or forecasts about specific retailers.
In his position at CIT, Tim Cropper oversees all customer credit decisions. His areas of expertise include evaluating creditworthiness of retailers, trends in the retail industry and managing risk.
Prior to assuming his current role in July 2007, Cropper was a team leader and client credit manager for CIT Commercial Services' Southeast Region, based in Charlotte. In that position, he led a team of portfolio managers that oversaw lending accounts that ranged from $20 million to $500 million in annual sales. These companies were primarily in the apparel, textiles, furniture, home furnishings and housewares industries. He joined CIT in 1993 as retail credit manager for CIT Commercial Services' Southeast Region.
Previously, Cropper was an account executive with responsibility for his own portfolio of accounts. He joined Barclays Commercial Corporation in 1980 as a credit officer. He began his career at Collins & Aikman Corporation, a textile company, as a credit analyst.
Cropper earned a Bachelor's degree in business from the University of Akron and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
