Industry leaders from Region Six contribute to ARA Certified programs
By Brock Huffstutler
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Industry leaders from Region Six contribute to ARA Certified programs

Educating today’s equipment and event rental workforce is a key strategic initiative for the American Rental Association (ARA). As part of that goal, ARA is continually upgrading its education catalog and the new ARA Certified programs are a groundbreaking achievement for the association as they represent ARA’s entry into providing industry training certifications for members.

“The ARA Certifications are a game-changer for bringing new people into the equipment rental industry and immediately showing them a career path and progression,” says past rental operator Josh Nickell, who now serves as ARA vice president, equipment segment. “As an industry, we have had to rely on apprenticeships and what we could bring together as individual companies to train new staff. It was a complex and time-consuming process. These certifications bring together the first industry standard in education to take your team from staff to pro.”

The new certification offerings include ARA Certified MEWP Train the Trainer; ARA Certified MEWP Operator; ARA Certified Sales; and ARA Certified Service. Rental operators who have reviewed the education tracks offer their praise for the quality of the content.

“Many years ago, I was an auto mechanic. We had the ASE [Automotive Service Excellence] certification and every mechanic wanted to get certified because it showed everyone that they were professionals. I believe ARA Certified will have the same effect on our employees. Everyone should encourage their staff to do this because of the pride they will have in being referred to as a professional in their field. It is a great retention tool — when an employee is engaged and proud of what they do, they don’t look at leaving,” says Doug Haas, president and CEO, Crown Rental, Burnsville, Minn., and ARA Region Six director, adding that “from what I have seen, the ARA staff is doing an awesome job with graphics and ease of use in the programs.”

“The animation and the graphics in the modules are engaging visually — that really stood out. I think the production team did a good job of making the topics much more understandable from the perspective of integrating technology into education and training so that people can grasp it conceptually and visually, and then go apply it so they can be successful,” says Steve Mau, president and owner, Brainerd General Rental, Baxter, Minn., and ARA president-elect.

Mau also is convinced that those who engage in ARA Certified programs will appreciate the rental-specific nature of the education and that the professionalism it imparts will ultimately enhance the rental customer’s experience.

“The ARA Certified programs will hit home with members because they are tailored to our industry by people from our industry, and you’re not going to find that anywhere else in any other resource,” he says. “In our industry today, with contracts that are touchless and the training we provide to our end users, customers expect an interaction that is more seamless, intuitive and professional. I think that's the opportunity that we have [with the training provided through ARA Certified programs] — to really provide a customer experience that is second to none.”

These observations from in-the-field equipment rental professionals underscore the value that ARA Certified programs deliver in the form of rental-specific certification training that simply didn’t exist until now.

“When I operated my own rental company, I would have given anything for access to this type of training. It brings together the best practices of industry leaders and titans in their fields and distills it into an intensive but interactive and engaging body of work that gives a new team member a masterclass in rental,” Nickell says.

You can learn more about ARA Certified MEWP programs at ARArental.org/MEWP, and about ARA Certified Sales and ARA Certified Service programs at ARArental.org/Certified.

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.

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