HEMET, Calif. — Laird Burns, former owner of Allied Equipment Rentals, Glendale, Calif., and Vince Graves, former owner of Perris Valley Rentals, Perris Valley, Calif., recently opened a new rental company in Hemet, Calif., in Southern California's Inland Empire region. The new rental center, on two acres of land, is called RentSmart Equipment Rentals.

Burns began his rental career in the 1970s, working for his father, Ray Burns, in Idaho at Gem State Rentals. He moved to Southern California in 1985 to work for Sam's U-Drive, owned by late industry legend Sam Greenberg. Burns bought his own rental company, B&H Rentals in San Fernando, Calif., in 1991 and in 1995 he acquired four branches from Rental Service Corp. and renamed that company Allied Equipment Rentals. He sold that company in September 2002.

Graves sold Paris Valley Rentals to Rebel Rents in 1995.

RentSmart features all new equipment. “We're experiencing good, short-term success,” Burns told RER. “People are coming in and we're having fun.”