Samantha Ruttura, 34, president, Our Rental Pumps, Farmingdale, N.Y., comes from a family that has been involved in the construction industry for more than 100 years, but she decided to branch out and launched her own company specializing in concrete placing and equipment rental.
“Starting Our Rental Pumps allowed me to continue in the same industry but support various contractors and their projects in a way that comes naturally to me. As a child, I dreamt of being a part of that contracting business, but as I grew older, I realized I wouldn’t be utilizing my best skills there. The rental business allows me to work closely with various contractors, supporting them and their projects. It’s rewarding to know we can help support these major projects, even if the equipment rentals are only a small part of the entire scale of work,” Ruttura says.
Our Rental Pumps is certified as a women-owned business enterprise (WBE) in New York state, New York City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
“This is a benefit to customers working on government-funded projects as they receive credit towards required MWBE (minority- and women-owned business enterprise) utilization goals,” she says.
The company offers rentals on equipment including concrete pumps, telebelts, excavators, mini excavators, skid steers, screening plants and telehandlers, and serves as a dealer for the Con Forms systems and equipment, Fritz-Pak, the Schwing line of pumps and parts, Magni telehandlers, Putzmeister and Liebherr parts.
Target customers are heavy civil and commercial contractors in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut areas and the company currently has 10 employees.
Our Rental Pumps joined the American Rental Association (ARA) in 2020 and Ruttura currently is a member of ARA’s Young Professionals Committee.
“Associations have always been important to me. Growing up, my dad was always really involved in the concrete industry and our summer trips were to the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) convention and to visit his peer group. I saw the relationships that he made that spanned so much further than just a work colleague,” she says.
“I learned about ARA during the pandemic and joined. The education ARA provides is unparalleled to any other association I am a part of. I’m really enjoying getting to know other like-minded people around the country and learning from them. There is so much we can learn to improve our mindsets and companies from other members,” she says.
Ruttura thought she might want to be a veterinarian or a teacher when she was growing up and says finding ways to educate middle and high school age students about the opportunities within the equipment and event rental industry could be beneficial.
“There are always opportunities in the office with administrative roles, but for ambitious, people-oriented students, the idea of using their career to help others by working in the rental industry could be very rewarding,” she says.