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HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • AUGUST 2016
ASSOCIATION
Focusing within – however much you put in, you get back
president's
message
Jeff Bernard, National President
It was great to catch up with everyone
at the HRIA National Convention on
the Gold Coast this past May. From our
Keynote Speakers, the HRIA Events
Night, the exhibition and exhibitors, the
seminars, the Hire Industry Excellence
Awards, our international guests, the
networking… we packed a lot in.
We would like to thank all sponsors,
exhibitors, delegates and visitors who
attended and for making the HRIA
Convention a huge success. We hope the
HIRE16 – Connecting People Convention
delivered a great experience and valuable
information.
A big thank you to our 2016 candidate
from the Global Rental Alliance (GRA)
International Business Leadership
Program, Shawn Blaisdell from Bunce
Rental in Washington State for making
the commitment and journey to join us
here in Australia. After spending his first
week at the HRIA Convention, Shawn
stayed in the Sydney area and was hosted
by families from the Kennards Group to
learn and gain a better understanding of
the Australian rental industry.
Over the years the HRIA
and host companies
including Kennards
Hire and Camden Hire,
have been pleased to
showcase the Australian
hire industry to the GRA
candidates. Certainly
the feedback from the
candidates has always
been positive and the
experience has provided
invaluable learning that
can be utilised throughout
their hire careers.
HIRE16 provided a rare
opportunity for three of
the GRA candidates to share experiences
and recount how the program has
assisted them in their chosen career
paths. For Shawn it was no doubt
beneficial to chat with Peter Maginnis,
the very first GRA exchange candidate,
who has since gone on to become the
General Manager
for Makinex in
the USA. Equally
motivating must have
been seeing Ben
Sinclair (2015 GRA
candidate) graciously
accept the Hire
Industry Excellence
Awards Best New
Product (General)
award for Aim Hire
for a product Ben
researched while on
exchange last year.
As you read this article, the HRIA will
be reviewing the applications received
from the Australian hire industry to
select a representative to spend three
weeks in October this year, getting to
know the USA rental industry. The trip
will culminate with attending the ARA
Leadership Conference in Chicago; a
fantastic experience for any young hire
professional. The HRIA’s participation in
the GRA program has strengthened our
relationship not only with the American
Rental Alliance but
indeed with our
other GRA member
country peers.
The Best Practice
Survey is out this
month and I would
like to ask all of our
member companies
to make the effort to
participate to make
the Survey a more
valuable document.
By increasing the
level of participation, we increase the
quality of the data.
The detailed data collected presents
an opportunity for our members to
benchmark their businesses and gather
further insights into the key issues
James Oxenham
L to R: Ben Sinclair (Aim Hire, 2015 GRA candidate), James Oxenaham,
HRIA CEO, Shawn Blaisdell (Bunce Rental, 2016 GRA candidate) and
Peter Maginnis (Makinex, 2008 GRA candidate) at HIRE16
"The detailed (Best
Practice Survey) data
collected presents an
opportunity for our
members to benchmark
their businesses and
gather further insights
into the key issues
affecting the industry..."