New ARA of Tennessee board member eager to invest in the rental community
By Brock Huffstutler
Print

New ARA of Tennessee board member eager to invest in the rental community

David Lewis, vice president of rental, Stowers Rents, Knoxville, Tenn., has joined the ARA of Tennessee board of directors.

Stowers Machinery Corp., East Tennessee’s Caterpillar (Cat) equipment distributor, was launched in 1960 by three brothers — Bud, Dick and Harry Stowers — out of three locations: Knoxville, Chattanooga and Johnson City. Following more than 30 years of growth in sales volume and locations, the construction equipment-focused organization opened its rental subsidiary, Stowers Rents, in 1998. Today, the company is led by a third generation of Stowers, employs more than 400 people and operates from six full-service locations.

Although he only recently joined Stowers Rents in summer 2021, Lewis is a 34-year veteran of the equipment business, with much of that time spent within the Cat organization in rental-facing roles. 

“Before joining Stowers, I worked for Caterpillar for 14 years at the corporate level as a global rental and used equipment market professional,” Lewis says. “I supported dealers and helped them grow their rental businesses by doing operational assessments and making recommendations on things like where to put new locations, where to add new sales reps, what fleet mixes to have and when to defleet. Overall, I just helped them to run profitable rental businesses.”

Prior to his corporate-level experience with Cat, Lewis spent nearly two decades at the dealership level as an employee of Ring Power, the Cat dealer for North and Central Florida. It was with this organization that Lewis truly gained a full spectrum of experience in working with equipment, particularly on the rental side.

“With Ring Power, I went from working on the power systems side — whether it be rental, field service or truck engines — to the area of product support for heavy equipment to rental operations, which I was in for 10 years. I am fortunate enough to understand the service side, the parts side, the general line sales side, the product support side and certainly the rental operation side,” Lewis says.

Newly relocated to Tennessee and ready to put his years of equipment rental experience to use in bettering the industry, Lewis is eager to get involved in leadership opportunities.

“When I get into a new area or territory, I want to invest in the community. That’s what I am passionate about. The Cat organizations I have been involved in were all ARA members, so, I just looked up the ARA chapter for Tennessee. I reached out to Mike [Royal, president, Showtime Event Rentals, Chattanooga, Tenn., and ARA of Tennessee president] and said, ‘I’m raising my hand — I would love to serve if there is an opportunity,’” he says. 

Coincidentally, a vacancy on the ARA of Tennessee board existed. The timing was just right for Lewis to join the board and begin contributing his insight and ideas.

One area where he would like to help utilize the state chapter’s voice is the advancement of the American Rental Association’s (ARA) workforce development initiative.

“I love the ARA Job Board as a way to find some new talent,” Lewis says. “We’re always needing inside and outside sales reps, drivers, technicians — all that kind of stuff. From an employee recruiting standpoint, I would echo what probably 90 percent of our members would say, which is that employee retention and recruitment is critical. There are some learning platforms that ARA has that I think we should continue to support.”

Brock Huffstutler

Brock HuffstutlerBrock Huffstutler

Brock Huffstutler is the regional news editor for Rental Management. He writes and edits articles for ARA’s In Your Region quarterly regional newsletters, Rental Management, Rental Pulse and other special projects. Outside of work, he enjoys biking and spending time at the few remaining vintage record stores in the region.

Other articles by Brock Huffstutler
Contact author

Contact author

x

Don’t miss the latest news from the equipment and event rental industry. Click here to subscribe to In Your Region. Also, be sure to sign up for a free subscription to Rental Pulse and Rental Management magazine.

 


An official publication of the American Rental Association.
Produced by Rental Management. Copyright © 2022 Rental Management all rights reserved