Blaine Rivers, manager/vice president, Ram Rent-All, Monroe, La., decided to run for a seat on the ARA of Louisiana board earlier this year because he knows the value of having different viewpoints and sharing ideas.
“I know there is a lot of good that can come from having different perspectives on the board from all across the state,” he says. Rivers saw it when his father, Jay, who owns the company, was on the ARA of Louisiana board and served as president from 1994 to 1997. He also saw it when attending state chapter meetings with his dad.
“I enjoyed going to meetings with my dad and meeting other people, who, over the years I had heard their names. They would stop by the store from time to time. It gave me an interesting perspective,” he says.
Since being elected to the board in January, Rivers says he is “not trying to shake things up, but maybe a younger perspective might be helpful for certain things. Just getting different stores from across the state to talk with each other and share ideas is a big point for me. It is a way to help each of us learn,” he says.
Rivers grew up in his family’s rental business, which has been serving the construction and general tool markets for more than 30 years. He learned how to drive forklifts and tractors even before learning how to drive a car. He also has gained a lot of different experiences over the years.
“After I graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in history, I entered the Air Force as I was trying to join one of their Special Forces groups. When I was not able to complete this Special Forces training, I was sent home. When I came back, a friend offered me a job in south Louisiana for a company that installed high-density shelving and other storage products. I started in the field and moved to operations manager of the entire division and traveled a lot to different job sites, even going to Spain several times to work on projects at U.S. military bases. But then my job changed. I had fun while I was working down there, and it was good to work for a different company and learn a new skill set. However, when I came home to visit, it became more and more apparent that my place was here — that I could serve a much greater purpose here than I would anywhere else,” he says.
He returned to the family business full time in February 2019, working side-by-side with his father and the other 12 employees in the company. It was a move he has never regretted and one that has demonstrated to him the need and value of connecting with other rental operators.
That is why as a new board member, he would like to enhance communication among members and build participation in the state chapter.
“I would like to see more member involvement and reach out to some smaller stores that are out there. ARA offers so many tools and educational opportunities and a lot of perks. If they could realize all the tools you could gain from it, it would really help them out and help the rest of us out, too,” he says.
Rivers is glad he returned to rental to serve his customers, “who are salt-of-the-earth good people,” he says. “I like the fact that we have the tools to help them out. A lot of our customers are homeowners. If they have something that goes wrong or need to work on a project at home, they can rent the tool from us and get their job done. There are a lot of contractors who rent from us, too. I enjoy working with the machinery and helping people figure out their problems and what tool would be best to suit their needs.”
Now, as a member of the ARA of Louisiana board, he is ready to serve. “I have grown up in the business and have been working here full time for quite a while, so I have a decent amount of experience. I want to help out wherever I can,” he says.