March 14, 2023
Andrew Heesacker, ECP-SM
Hello, American Rental Association (ARA) Region Seven members!
It was so nice to see so many folks from our region in Orlando for The ARA Show™ in February. It was a fantastic show. Every aspect — the education, the trade show, the networking and the events, including the well-done and well-attended Young Professional Network Reception and Women in Rental Breakfast — was excellent. I had a great time at the show and heard wonderful feedback from others in our region.
It also was thrilling to see Colorado’s Jim Ziegler inducted into the ARA Rental Hall of Fame. Even though Arizona’s Brady Castro couldn’t attend the show in person to receive his Leadership Impact Award for our region, I know how excited he was to be honored in this way.
Our state chapters have been busy with events. The ARA of Arizona just offered an awesome social at the WM Phoenix Open. Read more about it in this issue. The event sold out very quickly and was a hit with all who attended.
The ARA of Colorado is also planning an emerging leaders dinner April 15. For those in Colorado, watch your emails and be sure to send folks from your operation to this event. It will be a great way to introduce your team to ARA, learn about volunteer opportunities and discover other ways the chapter can help those in your operation grow and develop both personally and professionally.
If you were at the show and stopped in at the ARA Resource Center booths, you learned about all the new training opportunities ARA has just launched. Be sure to take advantage of these for yourself and your team. They can really make a difference in your operation. Here’s a quick look at just a few of the offerings:
- The redesigned Certified Event Rental Professional (CERP) program. This 23-course, ARA-exclusive program for event rental operations focuses on front-of-the-house topics: fundamentals of the industry, customer service, sales, tabletop, inventory and marketing. The new program takes a deep dive into all these areas. If you sign up before the end of March, you can receive 20 percent off the price. Use promo code CERP2023. Click here to learn more about the program.
- The new Safe Tenting program. This includes the new tent ballasting tool that was created in partnership with the Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) Tent Rental Division. This tool is designed to quickly and easily determine the minimum weight requirements to safely anchor or ballast nonengineered tents. There’s also a new tent ballasting video series and other offerings. Read the story in this newsletter and then click here to learn more.
- The new Introduction to Rental courses for the event segment and the equipment segment. This six-course certificate program, which is tailored for each rental segment, offers a comprehensive overview for new employees: an introduction to event rental, safety, business profitability, customer service, soft skills and working and learning in the industry. Click here to learn more.
- The new ARA Certified Sales & Service training. The Certified Sales program provides knowledge through training courses such as customer service, digital marketing, sales skills and more. The Certified Service program educates users in electrical systems, diesel engines, gas engines, hydraulics and other topics pertinent to maintaining rental equipment. Members of my staff and I have taken these training offerings. We all learned a lot. I highly recommend them. Click here for more information.
- The new monthly ARA Prioritize Safety videos. Available in English and Spanish, these two-minute animated videos focus on essential safety tips for the rental industry, from personal protective equipment (PPE) and chemical safety to defensive driving. Each video is accompanied by two questions to test the viewer’s knowledge. Click here to learn more.
As I said, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Go to ARArental.org to learn more about offerings that can help you, your employees and your business.
I hope everyone has a great 2023. For our region, it looks like we will have a strong year.
Until later,
Andrew Heesacker, ECP-SM, Region Seven director
Arvada Rent-Alls, Arvada, Colo.
720-280-5773
aheesacker@arvadarentalls.com
