Hello, Region Six members. I hope business is going strong for everyone this summer. Indicators are positive that we all will be getting back to normal through the rest of 2021, even seeing the return of event rentals and the road to recovery for that segment.
The American Rental Association (ARA) staff has been busy working on new educational programs, staying on top of advocacy for our industry in Washington, D.C., and promoting rental careers to potential employees through the new ARA Job Board.
In the past few months, I have visited with several rental operations in Minnesota and Iowa, participated in many ARA state chapter board meetings and attended an in-person ARA of Iowa meeting on Department of Transportation (DOT) rules, which was well-attended and very informative. In all these visits, the No. 1 theme I heard is the lack of employees. Make sure you sign up for your five free 90-day postings on the ARA Job Board with the promo code ARA-5Free.
Speaking of finding employees, I recently spoke on a panel with SkillsUSA, a program offered through high schools and colleges that enables students to work in specific industries and also compete with other students with the skills they learn. Similar to how the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program focuses on agriculture, SkillsUSA concentrates on the trades. We as rental store operators could benefit from workers under age 18 being allowed to work for us via SkillsUSA. I will keep you informed as this project moves forward on how well it works.
My wife and I are planning on visiting more stores in Iowa, Missouri and Kansas through the summer. We look forward to seeing your operations and talking with all of you about how ARA can help your business.
Finally, remember that registration is now open for The ARA Show™ in Las Vegas. You can find the show schedule, hotel links, travel information and get registered at ARAshow.org.
Have a great summer!
Doug Haas, ARA Region Six director
Crown Rental
Burnsville, Minn.
952-894-7368
doug@crownrent.com