Exemplary Service Award: Ron Holbert

This award recognizes an individual or group that has made a significant contribution in a defined area of association service (such as government affairs, education, technology, or workforce development).

Ron Holbert, owner, JoRonCo Rentals, Bakersfield, Calif., is engaged in many community events and was invited to speak at a press conference for the cancelation of a large annual event due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). He used this opportunity to represent not only the event rental industry, but the live event industry as well. His remarks included statistics from the American Rental Association’s (ARA) weekly COVID-19 surveys that reflected the enormous revenue loss the event rental industry is experiencing and his desire that the event rental professionals be allowed to be part of the solution.

Holbert has been an active ARA member. His service on ARA’s Event and Tents Task Force from 2013 to 2016 was exemplary. He chaired this taskforce from 2014 to 2016 and was the driving force behind the “Why Didn’t I Think of That” session, whose ideas became the foundation for ARA’s 150 Ways to Make Money in Rental. Without Holbert’s leadership in developing this session, it would not have been a success. He spent hours calling members who submitted entries to learn about their idea.

Holbert attended ARA’s Leadership Conference in 2012 and 2014 and joined the ARA of California board in 2013 as a director-at-large. He became the board treasurer and a member of the legislative committee in 2014. Moving up the ranks, Holbert has served as vice president, president and now past president of this active state chapter. He is an active participant in the board meetings and has assisted in planning many of the California meetings and events, including the very successful Clay Shooting event in August of 2018.

He is an ARA Foundation and ARA Political Action Committee (ARAPAC) supporter. Holbert received the Region Nine Person of the Year award in 2018.