WOODLAND, Calif. — Rental industry veteran Dale Blackwell of Aba Daba Rents, Sacramento, Calif., last month was elected president of the California Rental Association, effective immediately, for the 2003-2004 term.

Other new officers include Laird Burns of EquipCo, West Hills, Calif., vice president; Rusty Parr, AV Party Rentals, Newhall, Calif., treasurer; and Paul Arbon, U-Rent, Camarillo, Calif., secretary. Former president Larry Pedersen, A Tool Shed, Campbell, Calif., will serve as chairman of the board.

Re-elected board members include Arbon, June Harvey, A&H Rents, Riverside, Calif., and Paul Powers Jr., of Powers Equipment, Salinas, Calif. Newly elected board members are Ken de Vries, All Star Rents, Fairfield, Calif.; Robert Pederson, A Tool Shed, Campbell, Calif.; and Patricia Sarris, A Party Center, San Rafael, Calif.

In other CRA news, the association last month announced a business alliance with Boulder, Colo.-based RenTrain, an electronic publishing company that has developed a computer-based training and education system for the equipment rental industry.

Under the terms of the agreement, any CRA member who signs an annual subscription contract with RenTrain will have a percentage of that fee automatically rebated to CRA. CRA executive director Chuck Maltese said the agreement is not just for one year — as long as the rental company maintains its membership with CRA and renews its subscription with RenTrain, the rebate is renewed annually.

“Our goal is to make the equipment rental process safer, more efficient and more profitable,” said RenTrain CEO Jim Ziegler. “The alliance between CRA and RenTrain will help us do that.”

RenTrain is building a database that will provide end-users of rented equipment with detailed safety application and operation information gathered directly from the manufacturers that build that equipment.

Ziegler is the former owner of Boulder-based Rental City and a past president of the American Rental Association.

According to Maltese, the two organizations formed the alliance in response to a growing number of requests from CRA members to provide information on how to use the Internet in the most effective manner possible. Maltese said the RenTrain product is designed for Internet beginners as well as experienced Web enthusiasts. RenTrain executives demonstrated the product at a number of CRA territory meetings in recent months.