Each year, the American Rental Association (ARA) honors individuals for outstanding service to the Moline-based association and to the equipment and event rental industry.
The awards will be presented at The ARA Show 2025 in Las Vegas. The recipients of this year’s industry contributor awards are:
- 2024 Industry Ambassador Award: Glen Benrus. Mr. Benrus served as general manager with RentalMax in Carol Stream, Illinois, from 1997-2024. The Industry Ambassador Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated long-term leadership and service to the association at the national, state, local or provincial levels.
Mr. Benrus was a rental industry leader in Chicagoland and Illinois for more than two decades, serving on the ARA of Chicagoland Board of Directors from 2001-2013 and as an officer from 2005-2010.
- 2024 Exemplary Service Award: Patti Whittaker, owner, Cardinal Rents, Charlotte, N.C. The Exemplary Service 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).
- 2024 Industry Impact Award: Mary Crosslin, co-president and chief operating officer, Alert Rental Software, Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Industry Impact Award recognizes a manufacturer supplier and/or independent manufacturer representative rental industry professional who made a significant impact on the association and/or industry during the past three years.
- 2024 Rising Star Award: Matt Mutton, president of Mutton Party & Tent Rental, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The Rising Star Award recognizes a young professional who has demonstrated leadership at the grassroots level. Mr. Mutton has been an active volunteer in the ARA of Indiana since 2012 when the chapter reactivated after being dormant for years. He joined the board of directors as secretary and went on to serve several more terms, currently serving as vice president.
These awards recognize an individual in each of ARA’s 10 regions whose leadership benefited their state and/or local association and its members over the past year: Region One: Brittany Sherwood, Tents Unlimited, Torrington, Connecticut; Region Two: Kevin Karcher Jr., InTENTional Systems, Binghamton, New York; Region Three: Patti Whittaker, Cardinal Rents, Charlotte, North Carolina; Region Four: Stephanie Layson, Party Pro Rents, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Region Five: Amanda Withee, CERP, Sully’s Tool & Party Rental, Akron, Ohio; Region Six: Dave Hehr, Contractor Solutions Trench Shoring, Altoona, Iowa; Region Seven: Katey Naylor, CERP, Bright Event Rentals, Phoenix; Region Eight: Shannon Botten, Botten’s Equipment & Event Rental, McMinnville, Oregon; Region Nine: Holly Ford, HK Sales, Irvine, California; and Region 10: Gord Ellis, Western Global, Burlington, Ontario, Canada.
