January 10, 2023
Doug Haas
Hello, American Rental Association (ARA) Region Six members.
Well, we all made it through another year! Even with the lack of qualified (or unqualified) workers and the increased costs and lack of new equipment, everyone I spoke with around our region seems to have had a good year.
2022 was filled with some fantastic events put on by the state chapters. I was able to attend quite a few of these in person. Department of Transportation (DOT)-focused meetings were hosted in Nebraska and Iowa; sessions on ARA member benefits were held in Missouri and Minnesota; and hands-on train-the-trainer sessions for the ARA Certified Mobile Elevating Work Platform program were held in South Dakota and Minnesota.
There also were fun social outings all over the place this year. ARA of Missouri held a St. Louis Blues hockey evening and a Margaritaville weekend in the Ozarks; Iowa got together at Smash Park; and Minnesota rental folks had their annual Summer Cruise, an evening at the Victoria Burrow fun venue and a Topgolf outing.
None of these events would have been possible if were not for dedicated volunteer leaders. November brought many of these to Chicago for ARA’s Leadership Conference for a couple days of education and networking to inspire them to continue delivering great content for members in 2023.
As you may have noticed, this newsletter is being offered to you in a new format — a more user-friendly version that leads you to the new-and-improved Rental Management website for industry news. To help you stay connected with your rental colleagues and events happening in your state and region, these newsletters will be arriving in your inbox every month, with a rotation of special guests providing the welcome message. Enjoy it as you stay in the know.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Florida in February at The ARA Show™. The Saturday education day is something that everyone traveling to the show in Orlando should attend. There are two separate educational tracks: EventsU, for the event segment, and Future of Equipment Rental for the equipment segment. I know I am looking forward to finding some alternate suppliers on the trade show floor to help fill some of our needs while our normal suppliers get back up to speed.
Hopefully this winter won’t be too cold, and spring will come early so we can get back to renting our equipment. Happy renting!
Doug Haas, ARA Region Six director
Crown Rental
Burnsville, Minn.
952-894-7368
doug@crownrent.com
