Association of Progressive Rental Organizations | America’s Champion for Rent-to-Own

Premier Companies Wraps Up National Convention

The group strikes a pose at the 15th annual national convention in Miami, Florida.

The Premier Companies hosted its 15th annual national convention last week in Miami, Florida, where they welcomed dealers, vendors and guests to share industry news, ideas and innovations.

The event kicked off with President & CEO of The Premier Companies Trooper Earle presenting his State of the Company address. He recapped important events of 2019 and shared goals for the year to come, including the opening of their National Training Center in Texas City, Texas. Earle also demonstrated the newly released Premier Connect app which houses all Premier systems.

Trooper Earle presents Vendor of the Year to APRO Member David Kaye.

During the convention, attendees received franchise and industry updates introducing goals for marketing strategies and franchise growth in 2020. Speakers included The Premier Companies’ Director of Marketing Nancy Price, who shared highlights of 2019 and goals for 2020 with a focus on reporting and enhancements to the websites; Social Media Director Ed Garrison, who expressed the importance of Facebook for businesses; and Laura Emerson of Peak State Performance who is releasing a new video training platform.

The majority of Premier Dealers have been contributors to the industry throughout 2019. APRO Executive Director Jill McClure presented those dealers with an Industry Service Award. McClure also provided an industry update, and encouraged participation at the APRO Legislative Conference, scheduled for April 28 to 30.

APRO Executive Director Jill McClure presented the Industry Service Awards and gave an industry update.

The Awards Banquet is the most anticipated event of the convention and ended with Premier Dealer’s accepting awards and receiving recognition for their community service, Premier service, store anniversaries, sales volume, and extraordinary contributions to the Premier organization.  The President’s Award is given to an individual or organization that has forever changed Premier. Earle presented this award to Angelo Gughiocello.

“His secret to success is a man of high integrity, ” Earle shared. “He cares more about his family than he does himself. He cares about his people more than he cares about himself. He cares about his customers. Angelo is a person that’s committed to the organization.”

The Dealer of the Year was celebrated as the highlight of the evening. A huge congratulations was extended and goes out to the Nebraska team of Mike Shuler, Heath Peters and Craig Shafer who own three stores.

“We were among a very elite group of Top Performers and know that any of us were very qualified for this prestigious honor,” Shuler added. “We are very humbled to be accepting this award tonight.”

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