CIT Commercial Services and the California Fashion Association (CFA) announced it they will host specialized industry conference Green Is The Color of Money that will focus on strategies and innovations in financing the fashion industry.

“For apparel companies looking to grow, green, not orange, is the new black,” said Jon Lucas, president of CIT Commercial Services. “This event is geared towards apparel manufacturers and importers that want to learn from industry experts about the financial strategies, tools and products available to help them meet their business goals.”

The half-day conference and networking event will be held on Thursday, October 23, 2014 at the OMNI Hotel in Los Angeles. Topics to be covered include Bridge-to-growth financing for those in the early stages of growth; liquidity financing for significant growth potential or exit strategy; turn around financing for distress situations; financing to expand the base of a successful brand performance; traditional financing (factoring) with an eye to the future, and crowd sourcing.

Conference speakers will include Steve Brownlie, managing director, Altamont Capital Partners; Mitchell Cohen, Western Regional Manager, CIT Commercial Services; Katie Fitzgerald, manager, Business Development, CircleUp; Jon Lucas, president, CIT Commercial Services; Ilse Metchek, President, California Fashion Association; Jennifer Baxter Moser, managing director, TSG Consumer Partners; Paul D. Schuldiner, managing director of Business Development, King Trade Capital and Kati Suominen, Founder and CEO, TradeUp; Founder and CEO, Nextrade Group; founder and partner, U.S. Export Capital Group.

Earlier this year, CIT and the CFA released the “Los Angeles Area Fashion Industry Profile and 2014 Outlook.”

The California Fashion Association (CFA) is a non-profit organization established to provide information for business expansion and growth to the apparel and textile industry of California. The international mission of the CFA is to define the industry’s economic impact and to outline its global opportunities.