ARA Requests More Aid for Equipment and Event Rental Businesses
In continued efforts to assist members of the American Rental Association, the association has sent an additional request for federal funding to Congress.
A proposed two-fold approach asks for an incremental $300 billion to make additional Economy Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and that these funds be processed by the banks that are currently processing Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans to facilitate efficiencies and timeliness in funding.
“More than 90 percent of our membership is comprised of small businesses and without further assistance, many of them may be forced to close their doors permanently,” said Tony Conant, ARA CEO.
In March, ARA sent a letter to Capitol Hill petitioning for financial provisions to be added to what has come to be the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. While many businesses in the equipment and event rental industry benefitted from this funding, financial burdens still exist for many.
“Equipment and event rental businesses are capital intensive, buying equipment and supplies from other small businesses as well as from larger suppliers,” said John McClelland, ARA vice president of government affairs and chief economist. “These purchases are often financed through loans and other credit arrangements. The inability of ARA members and other small businesses to make payments on their loans or credit facilities will soon lead to a second financial crisis within the small business community.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.