The American Rental Association announced Frederick Dupy, Leon Kothmann, Rick Long and Sam Castillo are recipients of its volunteer recognition awards to be presented at the ARA Show in Anaheim, Calif., in February.
The Distinguished Service Awards, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership with long-term service to the association at the national, state, local and provincial levels, will go to Frederick Dupy, president of American Party Rental in Austin, Texas.
Dupy has been active on local, state and national levels for nearly two and a half decades. Dupy served on the Texas Rental Association board, the Heart of Texas Rental board, TRA committees, ARA General Tool & Equipment Shared Interest Group, and the ARA Foundation Board of Trustees. He has received awards such as the TRA Person of the Year in 1998 and 2013 and Region Four Person of the Year in 2003 and 2011. He has been TRA president twice, in 2001 and 2018-2019.
The Meritorious Service Award, recognizing an individual who has demonstrated exemplary leadership in a defined area of association service, will be given to Leon Kothmann of Leon Kothmann Insurance Agency, Arlington, Texas.
Kothmann serves Texas as an ARA Insurance preferred agent, but it was his response to Hurricane Harvey that provided a larger impact on ARA insurance clients in Texas, the ARA Foundation and the rental industry. After the hurricane, Kothmann was in contact with insured members from early in the morning until late at night to check on the well-being and health of his clients. He helped find an RV for a family to live in while their home and rental store recovered from flood damage; and assisted a client who developed health issues after the hurricane. Through his suggestions, a new ARA Foundation Employee Disaster Relief Grant was established to help rental business employees who had homes and personal lives impacted by natural disasters. The grants began with Hurricane Harvey and have continued through natural disasters across the country including California wildfires, Iowa tornadoes and other hurricanes on the East Coast.
Also, Kothmann’s diligence in educating and preparing his clients for a disaster like Hurricane Harvey resulted in a surprisingly low loss for ARA insurance. He advised clients on the importance of obtaining certificates of insurance and preparing for the potential of flooding for those near flood plains.
The Special Service Award, which recognizes a rental industry supplier who has made an outstanding contribution to the association, will be presented to Rick Long, president of Power Equipment Plus, Sand Lake, Mich. Long has played an active role in the ARA of Michigan as an event organizer, education presenter and leader of a legislative bill. He is an Associate Member Director on the ARA of Michigan board, and has organized their annual fall training sessions. Long has also been active in planning the ARA of Michigan winter conference, lining up speakers and presenting at the conference itself.
Recently, Long was active in getting the Personal Property Tax Bill through the Michigan legislature to eliminate personal property tax for rental stores in the state. Long sent emails and made phone calls to members explaining the benefits of the bill, which passed the Michigan Senate 37 to 0.
Power Equipment became an ARA member as an independent manufacturer’s representative in 2011.
The Outstanding Leadership Award, for an ARA member who has demonstrated superlative leadership at the grassroots level, will be given to Sam Castillo, sales manager at Tates Rents, Boise, Idaho.
Castillo has led the way on key issues and committees on state and national levels as he continues to grow his volunteerism within ARA He currently serves as ARA of Idaho president and was a driving force in getting a theft of services bill signed into law in April 2017. Castillo counted 47 meetings and hearings he attended or set up and more than 250 emails exchanged to get the bill passed. Idaho is one of only a few states with a theft of services law on the books.
Castillo is growing his role in ARA of Idaho through work on the national side, attending ARA’s Leadership Conference, ARA’s Young Professionals Conference and ARA’s National Legislative Caucus. In 2016, he joined the Government Affairs Committee and served on the committee chair from 2017-2018 as he helped develop ARA’s legislative and regulatory agenda.
