American Recovery Association, Inc. (ARA), the world’s largest association of recovery and remarketing professionals, gathered last month on August 18–20 for its 47th Annual Convention in Jersey City, NJ. The Annual Convention was a great time to catch up with our fellow members, welcome new members, learn from speakers, discuss association and industry issues and get re-energized for the next year. While many discussions continue, our focus is still maintaining the most professional recovery and remarketing agents in the industry and in industry unity.
Speakers and Discussions
A number of industry leaders joined us at our convention to share their insights. The convention speakers included: Michael Dougherty, partner at Welman, Weinberg & Reis, who gave our Keynote; a panel of lenders, including representatives from CapOne Auto Finance, Regional Acceptance, and Ally; Nagi Palle, VP of Analytics for OPENLANE; and Ken Shilson of SubPrime Analytics. In addition, we also had discussions about OPENLANE’S recent acquisition announcement, new co-ops forming, where we stand with industry unification today, and our association’s bylaws. The best way to face discussions and issues is with openness and honesty, and these discussions gave our members a better understanding of what we will aim to accomplish in the future as we continue to learn, improve, raise standards, collaborate and do business in the industry.
New Members
ARA had a record number of new members this year, and the organization was proud to swear in the following 26 new members at the convention:
Joseph Abbas
Jon Popma
Richard Grosvenor
Steven Groves
Paul Warnert
Mark Bevill
Lincoln Gier
Patrick Stone
Robert H. Blowers
Tim Johnson
Scott Patterson
Olga Marano
Leroy Royer
Matt Freeman
Brent Doyle
Ilena Rivera
Orlando (Burt) Orefice
Nancy Barta
Brad Webb
Max Pineiro
Olson, Maria
Peggy Chapman
Gerri H. Gentry
Donna, Green
Kymberley Schmoyer
Mark T. Sloan
NARS
ARA looks forward to its next big event, the North American Repossessors Summit (NARS), on March 23–24, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. The NARS event has become an important industry-wide event since its inception in 2007. The event attracts hundreds of recovery agents and lenders every year. The NARS website – www.reposummit.com – will continuously be updated with information about the 2012 event. We hope you will be part of this monumental event next March.
For more information about ARA, please visit www.repo.org.
