January 10, 2023
Steve Ricci
Hello, American Rental Association (ARA) Region Eight members.
Well, we all made it through another year. Despite equipment and event rental companies’ chronic lack of labor and agonizingly long wait times for new equipment, just about everyone in our industry seems to have had a really strong 2022.
This past year brought us some very strong meetings around our region. Mobile elevating work platform and telehandler trainings were hosted in Idaho, Oregon and Washington; a rental business financial performance seminar took place in Oregon; and here in Montana we held our annual state-of-the-state meeting featuring an economic outlook from a former United States secretary of the interior and the latest from the Department of Transportation.
It wasn’t all business, though. There also were fun social events this past year: ARA of Washington hosted a Seattle Mariners baseball evening; Idaho members got together for some ax-throwing thrills; Minnesota rental folks engaged in some indoor marksmanship competition; and Oregon, of course, held its annual Crab Feed.
None of these events would have been possible if were not for the efforts of 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 Orlando in February at The ARA Show™. There is some great rental-specific education on tap — including the special Saturday sessions EventsU for the event segment and Future of Equipment Rental for the equipment segment — and the exhibitors on the trade show floor can help us all source new suppliers to help fill some of our needs while our normal suppliers get back up to speed.
Here’s to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023!
Steve Ricci, ARA Region Eight director
Bigfork Rentals
Bigfork, Mont.
406-837-2404
steve@bigforkrentalsinc.com
