The Iowa-Nebraska Rental Dealers Association [INRDA] held its 5th Annual Meeting in-person, in mid-October, in Omaha, Nebraska. The full morning meeting and lunch provided all participants with opportunities to learn a little something and do a little industry networking.
TRIB Group Executive Director Dennis Shields kicked off the meeting, followed by a presentation on collections by Mark Kottke with National Account Systems of Omaha. INRDA’s Iowa Lobbyist, Doug Struyk of Carney & Appleby Law, and Iowa Representative Brent Siegrist [R-Council Bluffs] offered an overview of this year’s Iowa Legislative Session.
Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mid-State Distributing, Aaron Nielsen covered challenges of the appliance side of the rent-to-own industry. Nielsen also highlighted the products they can supply and what customers are asking for.
INRDA’s Nebraska Lobbyist, Matt Schaefer of Mueller Robak LLC talked about the forecast for next year’s legislative session. And Lyn Leach – President of Ace Furniture & TV Inc., dba Ace Rent-To-Own and INRDA Board Member – capped off the morning’s agenda with a keynote: How to Succeed in a Changing Rent-to-Own World.
The meeting also included INRDA’s annual business meeting, during which new board members and officers were elected for the organization, including: new INRDA President Jason Kunz of Arona Corporation, dba Arona Home Essentials; incoming Vice President Mike Shuler of S&P Rentals Inc., dba Premier Rental-Purchase; and Secretary/Treasurer Brian Luksetich of First State Financial Corp.
“The INRDA 5th Annual Meeting was, in a word, fantastic,” said Luksetich. “It’s great to get to see each other in-person again, and to talk about the industry and our spectrum of experiences over the past pandemic-filled year. A whole lot has changed, but our business seems as strong as ever!”
