Garton has worked in the rental industry and been involved with ARA since 2006, serving on the Construction and Industrial Services Shared Interest Group and Construction U Task Force. Currently he’s serving a three-year term as ARA Foundation trustee. He’s also worked with John Deere in support of The Rental Show sponsorships and donations for the ARA Foundation charity auction, which for several years has been a VIP trip to the John Deere Classic PGA tournament each July. His added touches for the top bidders, such as welcoming them at the airport, arranging visits with John Deere senior staff and bringing them to the ARA headquarters, expand the experience and he serves as an ambassador for the ARA Foundation, ARA and John Deere for these trips.

Outstanding Leadership Award

Recipients of this award have demonstrated superlative leadership at the grassroots level – state, local or provincial. This year’s recipient Darren Morize, owner of PartyTime Rentals in Poughquag, N.Y., who is being recognized for his work in reactivating ARA of New York.

The first meeting to discuss reactivating the state association was at The Rental Show 2011 and, during the meeting, Morizet volunteered to serve as president. He’s been an outstanding leader, engaging fellow members of the board of directors to actively represent the membership and established consistency with meetings to serve the members in all areas of the state. ARA of New York now has 178 members, with those companies having 77 branch locations. He will continue to serve as the association’s president in 2013.

Regional Persons of the Year

These awards honor members who have made outstanding contributions to the association and the rental industry on the regional, state, provincial or local levels.

Region 1: George Jones, Solutions by Computer, North Bennington, Vt.

Region 2: Carol Frederick, Tel-Power Tool and Equipment Rental, Altoona, Pa.

Region 3: Jim Browning, The Browning Agency, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Region 4: Willie Strange, Eagle Rentals, Seguin, Texas.

Region 5: John Fuchs, Anchor Industries, Evansville, Ind.

Region 6: The late Dennis Vis, Attema Marketing, Burnsville, Minn.

Region 7: Joseph Muench, ProCon, Las Cruces, N.M.

Region 8: Mike Blaisdell, Bunce Rental, Tacoma, Wash.

Region 9: Ted Cook, Ventura Rental Center, Ventura, Calif.

Region 10: Mike Maltby, Ingersoll Rent-All, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada.

President’s Image Award

This is a business facility or store award celebrating a commitment to improving the rental industry image through a remodeling, rebuilding or renovation project.

• Aspen Rent-All, Aspen Colo. – Beth Hoff Blackmer
• Aurora Rents, Seattle – Larry Steele
• George’s Tool Rental, Hatfield, Pa. – Alan Wismer
• One Stop Party Shop, Webster, Texas – Karen Keesler
• Rental World, Harlingen, Texas – Bryan Wolf
• Robinson’s Hardware, Hudson, Mass. – Steve Reitter