Train your employees with the help of the ARA Foundation

Providing your staff continuing education and training makes for a more engaged and skilled workforce. The slower winter months are an ideal time for you to offer that training — and save money in the process — thanks to the ARA Foundation’s Employee Training Assistance Program.

This program can pay for 50 percent of the costs associated with the types of training that will build your employees’ skills and keep your operation competitive. Common training areas include:

• Technical skills 

• Mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) and telehandler training 

• Commercial driving

• Tenting 

• Hospitality services

• Management/leadership 

• Accounting/administration

• The American Rental Association’s (ARA) Certified Event Rental Professional (CERP) program

New this year, the assistance awards offered through the program have been increased from $1,000 to $2,500. “The members of the Foundation’s board of directors know the importance of training staff and are aware of the rising costs to obtain training. This increase in assistance will help offset those costs and still allow you to provide essential training for your staff,” says Marcy Wright, ARA Foundation executive director. 

The savings on training offered through the program was beneficial for Special Occasions, Corvallis, Ore., especially in an environment where rental operators want to offer valuable training to top talent while remaining cost-conscious.

“Jenny [Sperling], our general manager, has been with me forever. We had talked about her getting her CERP designation through ARA. When we closed down hard in the spring of 2020 because we didn't have anything to do, she started work on achieving her CERP. It was a great project for her to take on, and for me, knowing there was grant money behind it, minimized the financial risk. I definitely wanted to support our employees, but we still had to be cash conscious. Knowing that we had that grant coming in made it less of a risk to have Jenny continue her education. She completed the program within a couple of months, and it has been a huge win for us,” says Kyle Tegner, CERP, Special Occasions president.

Click here to access the Employee Training Assistance Program application.

The first-quarter distribution deadline is March 31.