The American Rental Association released its list of 10 young professionals under the age of 40 to watch<\/a> as they manage rental businesses and lead industry activities at the local, state and national level. We\u2019re proud that seven of the eight North Americans listed are Point of Rental users! Congratulations to everyone who was named, especially our friends and partners who we\u2019ll call our magnificent seven:<\/p>\n Wes Clark<\/strong>, 35, was going to be a football coach until he took a job from his father-in-law at Rocky Hill Equipment Rentals<\/a> in Selma, Texas while attending college and realized he enjoyed working around the equipment and the people. He started at the bottom, working in the wash bay, and has worked his way to become vice president of the company, which specializes in rock equipment and provides service throughout Texas.<\/p>\n Stephen Creamer<\/strong>, 31, is in charge of using and training others on ABC Rental\u2019s<\/a> rental management software in Rosedale, Maryland. He knew from a young age that he wanted to work in a field that was exciting and different, but he never would\u2019ve guessed he\u2019d be working in the rental industry. He\u2019s a big advocate of integrating technology into the rental business: \u201cPeople my age and younger have grown up with it since we were children \u2013 it\u2019s not something we were introduced to. As we take on larger roles in the rental industry, we are going to bring that utilization of technology with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Hewett<\/strong>, 36, has been working at ABC Equipment Rental<\/a> in Tulsa, Okla. since he was 14 years old. At one point, he wanted to be a major league baseball player, but, as he put it, \u201cThere\u2019s a certain point that comes sooner than later when you know that\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d Since starting in the rental industry, he hasn\u2019t looked back, becoming the VP of ABC Equipment Rental and the president of ARA Oklahoma.<\/p>\n Mike Maltby<\/strong>, 34, swore he wasn\u2019t going to go into the equipment rental industry. After working in an office and as a salesman for an insurance company, however, he \u201cdecided working for dad wasn\u2019t so bad.\u201d Ingersoll Rent-All<\/a> mostly rents to homeowners and contractors; Maltby, now running the counter at the store and acting as the Ontario director for the Canadian Rental Association, sees the industry growing in the future. \u201cRenting equipment lends itself to my generation and those who are younger. We don\u2019t want to own some of these things, we can\u2019t store it and we don\u2019t know how to work it. Usually someone has been on YouTube, knows what they want and has no interest in buying the equipment.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan Morris<\/strong>, 35, started as a shop help, eventually started training others, and kept pushing for a management position. In February 2013, he became the general manager of all six Kennebec Equipment Rental<\/a> locations in Maine. He\u2019s most excited about \u201cgetting all six of our locations to work more closely together and follow the same protocols and policies rather than acting as six separate businesses.\u201d That includes getting everyone using Point of Rental software!<\/p>\n Erin Stubbs<\/strong>, 32, graduated from Mississippi State University with a business marketing degree and took a job in the furniture industry before realizing she wanted to be \u201chome\u201d at Busylad Rent-All<\/a>. She\u2019s now Busylad\u2019s special event coordinator. She\u2019s also active with ARA; her father, Buddy, was the association\u2019s president in 2009 and she really became aware of the rental industry\u2019s economic impact during visits to Washington, D.C. with him.<\/p>\n Ryan Thomas<\/strong>, 28, is a third-generation equipment rental man, having grown up at BJ\u2019s Rentals<\/a>, which still has employees that remember driving him around in Bobcats when he was a baby. After graduation from SMU with a double major in finance and economics, he rejoined the family business. Now he\u2019s an area manager for the 11-location Southern California general rental store company, which also specializes in floor care, with concrete grinding and floor polishing equipment.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean the other three young professionals are any less amazing, however. Read a synopsis below or check out a more complete bio in the ARA article<\/a>.<\/p>\n Travis Burton<\/strong>, 22, was \u201craised to live and breathe the vision and value of our family business.\u201d From cleaning chairs, crockery, and party rental equipment to becoming the plant controller at Barossa Valley Hire<\/a> and coordinating events with Barossa Function Hire, he\u2019s managing dozens of employees and deadlines. Barossa has three divisions, including general equipment, access equipment, and a party\/event hire business. Burton hopes to expand in the future, adding multiple branches across South Australia.<\/p>\n Casey Keller<\/strong>, 33, knew he wanted to manage a hardware store back when he was in high school \u2013 he just didn\u2019t know what that meant. After graduating from Millikin University, he covered office duties, then became assistant manager of the lumber department, and is now the store manager at K&K True Value<\/a> Hardware, which has a rental company as part of its business. Keller, the president of the ARA of Iowa, targets do-it-yourselfers and homeowners with his rental business.<\/p>\n Tom Kimber<\/strong>, 39, entered the industry by placing an ad seeking part-time work in his local New Zealand paper while attending university. By the time he graduated, he was an assistant manager at a local rental shop. He progressed from assistant to branch to area to regional to operational manager when Kennards Hire<\/a>, one of the largest hire companies in Australia, bought his business. Kimber stayed on and has now become the general manager of New Zealand for Kennards Hire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ARA releases “10 young professionals to watch under 40” list The American Rental Association released its list of 10 young professionals under the age of 40 to watch as they manage rental businesses and lead industry activities at the local, state and national level. We\u2019re proud that seven of the eight North Americans listed are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":16664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[352,353,354,355,356,357,358,359,271,360],"class_list":["post-16662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rental-industry","tag-10-under-40","tag-ara","tag-australia","tag-canada","tag-customer-recognition","tag-magnificent-seven","tag-new-zealand","tag-rental-industry","tag-rental-management","tag-united-states"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t