ARA announces Rental Hall of Fame names

The American Rental Association (ARA) has announced the names of the next two rental industry veterans to enter into its Rental Hall of Fame.

Angus W Mercer and Allen L Morehead will be formally inducted during the keynote session at The Rental Show in New Orleans in February 2015.

ARA created the Rental Hall of Fame in 2000 to foster an appreciation of the historical development of the rental industry and the leaders who have made the industry what it is today.

Angus W Mercer has dedicated more than 40 years to the rental industry. He was president of Contractor Service and Rentals (CSR), and is thought of as a founding father of the rental industry, as CSR was one of the first to offer the option to rent rather than buy equipment.

Mercer built CSR to eight stores in North Carolina and South Carolina that generated US$21 million (€16.5 million) in annual rental and sales in 1981, when he sold the company to Grace Equipment.

In 1990, he began Mercer Equipment with his sons-in-law and served as chairman. The company was sold to United Rentals in 1997, when it had annual sales of US$14.5 million (€11.4 million).

Allen L Morehead of Ace Rents became involved in the rental industry in 1970, when he began working for T. Charles McCourt – a 2014 Rental Hall of Fame inductee – at Ace Rents.

The two soon partnered and ultimately opened six rental stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Mr. Morehead also was one of the founders of Rental Service Supply, which later was named RSS Distributors.

He has also served several terms on the ARA board of directors and was one of the pioneers of ARA Insurance.