Find out who won the American Rental Association awards

The American Rental Association (ARA) will honor the recipients of this year’s volunteer recognition awards, which will be presented during The Rental Show in Las Vegas.

The Distinguished Service, Meritorious Service, Special Service and Outstanding Leadership Awards will be presented during “Lunch with ARA” on Sunday, Feb. 10, while the Regional Persons of the Year and President’s Image Awards are presented during the regional receptions on Monday, Feb. 11.

Distinguished Service Award

Next to the Rental Hall of Fame, this is the most prestigious award ARA presents. This award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership with long-term service to the association at the national, state/provincial and local levels.

Hal Y. Roe, president of Bradley Rentals in Cleveland, Tenn., receives this year’s Distinguished Service Award. He’s being honored for his continued service and dedication to ARA since 1992, when his business opened.

Roe began his involvement serving on the ARA of Tennessee board and has served on a wide range of committees for ARA as well as the ARA Insurance board, the ARA Political Action Committee (ARAPAC) Council and ARA Foundation board. He was elected an officer of the ARA board in 2009, serving as president-elect, president and chairman  of the board. He continues to serve as an ARA Foundation Rental Executive Advisory Program (REAP) advisor, providing mentoring and guidance to others within the industry.

Meritorious Service Award

The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in a defined area of association service, such as through a committee, special project or service activity.

Terry Bryant, president of Bryant’s Rent-All of Lexington in Lexington, Ky., will receive the Meritorious Service Award for his personal activity, support and dedication in the area of public policy and government affairs. He’s been a member of ARA since 1976. In 1993, Bryant became the legislative chair for ARA of Kentucky and has remained active in the state association since that time. He’s also served on ARA’s Government Affairs Committee numerous times, including as chair, has been a continuous supporter of ARAPAC for more than 17 years and also attended the National Legislative Caucus in Washington, D.C., during that same time. Bryant is personally acquainted with his federal and state legislators and is a strong supporter of member involvement in the political process.

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Special Service Award

This honor recognizes an industry supplier who has made an outstanding contribution to the association and will be presented to Dave Garton, marketing manager for John Deere, Moline, Ill. The company is a 35-year associate member of ARA and exhibitor at The Rental Show.

Garton has worked in the rental industry and been involved with ARA since 2006, serving on the Construction and Industrial Services Shared Interest Group and Construction U Task Force. Currently he’s serving a three-year term as ARA Foundation trustee. He’s also worked with John Deere in support of The Rental Show sponsorships and donations for the ARA Foundation charity auction, which for several years has been a VIP trip to the John Deere Classic PGA tournament each July. His added touches for the top bidders, such as welcoming them at the airport, arranging visits with John Deere senior staff and bringing them to the ARA headquarters, expand the experience and he serves as an ambassador for the ARA Foundation, ARA and John Deere for these trips.

Outstanding Leadership Award

Recipients of this award have demonstrated superlative leadership at the grassroots level – state, local or provincial. This year’s recipient Darren Morize, owner of PartyTime Rentals in Poughquag, N.Y., who is being recognized for his work in reactivating ARA of New York.

The first meeting to discuss reactivating the state association was at The Rental Show 2011 and, during the meeting, Morizet volunteered to serve as president. He’s been an outstanding leader, engaging fellow members of the board of directors to actively represent the membership and established consistency with meetings to serve the members in all areas of the state. ARA of New York now has 178 members, with those companies having 77 branch locations. He will continue to serve as the association’s president in 2013.

Regional Persons of the Year

These awards honor members who have made outstanding contributions to the association and the rental industry on the regional, state, provincial or local levels.

Region 1: George Jones, Solutions by Computer, North Bennington, Vt.

Region 2: Carol Frederick, Tel-Power Tool and Equipment Rental, Altoona, Pa.

Region 3: Jim Browning, The Browning Agency, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Region 4: Willie Strange, Eagle Rentals, Seguin, Texas.

Region 5: John Fuchs, Anchor Industries, Evansville, Ind.

Region 6: The late Dennis Vis, Attema Marketing, Burnsville, Minn.

Region 7: Joseph Muench, ProCon, Las Cruces, N.M.

Region 8: Mike Blaisdell, Bunce Rental, Tacoma, Wash.

Region 9: Ted Cook, Ventura Rental Center, Ventura, Calif.

Region 10: Mike Maltby, Ingersoll Rent-All, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

President’s Image Award

This is a business facility or store award celebrating a commitment to improving the rental industry image through a remodeling, rebuilding or renovation project.

  • Aspen Rent-All, Aspen Colo. – Beth Hoff Blackmer
  • Aurora Rents, Seattle – Larry Steele
  • George’s Tool Rental, Hatfield, Pa. – Alan Wismer
  • One Stop Party Shop, Webster, Texas – Karen Keesler
  • Rental World, Harlingen, Texas – Bryan Wolf
  • Robinson’s Hardware, Hudson, Mass. – Steve Reitter

Source: American Rental Association (ARA)