United Rentals' Plummer Named One of Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America

GREENWICH, Conn. — United Rentals executive vice president and chief financial officer William “Bill” Plummer was named one of the 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America by Black Enterprise magazine. Plummer, who was named to his post in 2008, is responsible for creating business and financial metrics to further drive the equipment rental company's growth. Plummer works closely with CEO Michael Kneeland and is an integral part of United Rentals' senior management team.

Plummer, in addition to his obvious financial responsibilities, has played a major role in helping United Rentals develop technology and processes to meet its objectives. “Being involved in day-to-day operations seemed like an opportunity to me,” Plummer told RER in a 2010 interview. “The logistics side of the business, how the company delivers equipment, picks it up, flows it through its service processes, and links it with the information systems you need for reporting. When I began, I just assumed United Rentals — a big company doing millions of transactions a year — would have to be world-class in the logistics side of the business. I figured it had to be UPS, Fedex and United Rentals right there with them. But it wasn't.”

Plummer set about trying to bring United Rentals into that class and played a huge role in the company's operational improvements. For more on Plummer's philosophy and his contributions to United Rentals, visit http://rermag.com/business_technology/business_info_analysis/united-rentals-growth-20101101/index3.html.

Prior to joining United Rentals, Plummer was chief financial officer of Dow Jones & Co. He has held senior management and financial positions with Alcoa, General Electric Capital and Mead Corp.

Based in Greenwich, Conn., United Rentals is No. 1 on the RER 100.