Shannon Botten, president, Botten’s Equipment & Event Rental, McMinnville, Ore., has taken on the role of president for the ARA of Oregon. Botten, who has served on the ARA of Oregon board of directors since 2017, succeeds Kyle Tegner, CERP, president, Special Occasions, Corvallis, Ore.
Botten’s Equipment & Event Rental, which serves as a one-stop-shop for equipment and special occasion needs in McMinnville, was established in 2012. It is an enterprise that can be traced back to some words of wisdom from Botten’s grandmother.
“My grandmother recommended that we rent a pressure washer or two out of the front of my husband's radiator repair business,” Botten says. “If you know how rental goes, it is never just a pressure washer or two. My father, Richard Edwards, had been making the hour commute from Yamhill to Portland for years and was also excited about the idea of opening a store in our own community. One January morning, my classroom phone rang — I was a teacher by profession — and my husband's voice on the other end of the line was saying that Hertz had closed overnight in the old Mac Rental location up the street from us. A few months later, we had the opportunity to move up the street to a much bigger location where we could house our equipment on our own property and not on our neighbor's lawn.”
Since becoming involved in the ARA of Oregon, Botten has participated in ARA’s Leadership Conference, which educates and inspires emerging leaders within the industry. Botten also is a member of ARA’s Young Professional Network.
As ARA of Oregon president, Botten says she wants to “keep working with our other great board members to encourage more chapter involvement.”