Posts Tagged ‘Member Highlight’
While it might seem highly unusual for our “Member Highlight” to feature a sitting ARA President, we felt it was important to showcase how dedicated Dave has been to serving everyone. Not only has he committed countless hours and personal expense into continuing his education to better serve our association, but Dave has also taken a series of safety classes to improve the quality and diversity of our field agent training modules. There is no doubt that our training program is one of the best.
On top of all he is doing as our President, Dave spent considerable time playing Santa for various charitable organizations in his community. It is always heartwarming to see the pictures and hear the stories of how the children and families appreciate the way he keeps his wonderful Santa Claus figure all year. That is how committed Dave is!
We realize our members are facing challenging issues to their very existence. Our entire Board is dedicated to creating a better future for our entire industry, but Dave is working overtime behind the scenes to form new partnerships and find strategies that will directly benefit your bottom line. In fact, you will be receiving a series of emails outlining some of these plans over the next few weeks, and Dave has been instrumental in bringing them all to pass.
This month we’d like to highlight Patrick J. Altes, the newest addition to the ARA Board of Directors, after our recent merger with Time Finance Adjusters. Patrick started in the repossession business in 1974, shortly after high school, as a part-time employee at his father’s repossession business. Initially, he had planned to get a “real job” after graduation, however, as many of us know, his dad, Harvey C. Altes, was quite a legend in the industry and Patrick was quickly drawn into the family business.
Patrick was able to pick up some of his father’s skills along the way and the father-son duo worked together working for some interesting non-repo-related clients on investigation and research, including nationally-known attorneys and celebrities. For many years they worked as researchers for CBS TV’s “48 Hours” TV show.
Over the years, Patrick developed the “international” aspect of his repossession agency, Falcon International while also working with Time Finance Adjusters, helping his sister, Nicki Merthe, with the management of that great organization. Patrick’s main role there was that of an industry advocate. He has been a writer, blogger, and point-of-contact for the mainstream media, to advocate for the professional repossessor and the worth and value of their services. Patrick has fought hard against practices, like contingent repossession work, which he believes to yield dangerous, unprofessional results that don’t best serve the lender, their proxies, or the consumer. After having done this for so many years with TFA, it is especially exciting for him to now partner with the “new” ARA in being a united, single voice for the industry.
In his free time, Patrick is a musician and worship leader at his church and has been involved with the music for over 27 years. Patrick still does photography and a little video production work and has been married to his favorite person, Sharon, for 37 years. They have 5 tremendous grandchildren. They work hard to be a big part of their lives, hopefully in a positive way. Patrick believes that will be his legacy, undoubtedly more enduring, and important than whatever else he has done or will do in the world.
AJ Bruce, son of Paul Bruce, Jr., has always had a passion for weapon design and application. Even in his childhood, AJ was enthralled with the Military Channel. This fascination manifested not only in AJ’s unfolding career, but in his strong character as well.
AJ received his Master’s Degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey this past spring. AJ worked his way through college, doing whatever necessary to achieve his goal. This competitive outdoorsman stunned employers when he and four other seniors from his class entered their project in a demonstration against schools from all over the country. AJ’s team won the bid and were deemed the “A team,” resulting in him obtaining three job offers from military contractors before his graduation. (more…)
Marcelle Egley-Sparks, owner of ABA Recovery, is a true inspiration. Aside from managing the daily stress and responsibilities of being a business owner, Marcelle dedicates her free time to her local Awana program. Through the Awana program, Marcelle is able to mold and influence young lives by mentoring the children and instilling strong leadership characteristics in them. Marcelle has always been a wonderful role model within our industry and the children of her Awanas group are lucky to have her as a mentor. Thank you, Marcelle, for all that you do for us and for your community.
Jim Hall is one of those men who go above and beyond in every aspect of life. Jim has given innumerable hours to growing and improving our association and industry as a whole. We are very proud to call Jim an ARA board member and friend. We would like to specifically thank Jim for his contribution to NARS 2016. Jim, in addition to his NARS committee duties, organized and facilitated the NARS 2016 AT&T Stadium Tour. From coordinating with the stadium to making sure the tour and transportation went smoothly, Jim prepared and planned every step of the way. Thank you, Jim, for all the work that you have done for ARA and NARS. We truly appreciate your loyalty and dedication to ARA and our industry. Without Jim, and the rest of the 2016 planning committee, NARS would not be the successful event that it has become.
Mississippi Auto Recovery’s Martha Randall and a few of her young at heart friends were looking for a creative way to raise funds for their church — thus the Delta Rockers were born. The Delta Rockers, all dancers aged 60 and up, took off and became quite the sensation. Covered in sequins, the Delta Rockers perform at no charge for non-profit groups, veterans groups, nursing homes, cruises and fundraisers of all sorts. The group puts on a wonderful show that involves a variety of music and costume changes. We’re sure these ladies mystify any audience for whom they perform.
We are so proud of Martha and her fellow Delta Rockers for the wonderful work they are doing.
DeAnn grew up in the repossession business and is a third generation participant in our industry. She works with her brother in managing the day-to-day operations of Preferred Adjusters, Inc. in Austin, TX. Although the business is her main job, her true calling is riding horses. She is an accomplished rider in several equestrian disciplines, including Dressage, Show Jumping and Hunter. One of her most rewarding life experiences is teaching others the skills of horsemanship. Over the years her most special students have been autistic children. DeAnn has been able to share her equestrian skills to help change the lives of these children.
On August 7, 2015, DeAnn was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. Since that time, all of life’s little pleasures are a struggle. She has lost her job at the stable and is unable to ride. With all of the other issues she is dealing with, the loss of the joy of working at the stable is one of the hardest to face.
In her community, DeAnn has always been known to be the one to call if you are having personal issues or need a friend. If someone needed a place to stay or help with the daily challenges of everyday life, she was there for them to lean on or to lend a sympathetic ear. Now, it is this very same community that is giving her the lift that she so desperately needs. Her network of support includes all of her Facebook friends as well as a local support group of women who have dealt with, or are currently dealing with, breast cancer. Some of her very close friends have started a Go Fund Me page (https://www.gofundme.com/deannjuliano) to help her cover the cost of treatments and living expenses since the loss of her riding income.
We all have DeAnn in our prayers and hope that the positive prognosis that her doctors have given holds true. As of today, she has undergone four of her six chemotherapy treatments and still faces radiation, surgery and another round of treatments that will last another eleven months. We all know DeAnn is an incredibly strong and determined spirit and we know she will conquer this.
Thanks for all that you do, DeAnn! You are such a blessing to our association, community and industry.
This month we feature a rising star within the American Recovery Association, Brent Hoel from Charleston, West Virginia. As a third-generation ARA member, Brent has grown up in the industry, attending conventions with his father and getting ready to take the reins of the family business. After graduating from Fairmont State University with a business degree, he has continued to build on a strong legacy with his memberships in YPRC, TFA and Eagle Group XX. As one of the first members of YPRC, he recognizes the responsibility and opportunities ahead for his generation: “I’m trying to become more hands on, since we are going to be the ones in the positions to make changes and decisions. I’ve been around these organizations for so long, but never really had a voice.”
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The Rust family sure has something to brag about – Tyler Rust, the son of Double Eagle Services’ Tim Rust, has been named an Udall Scholar. The Udall Foundation awards prestigious scholarships to five college sophomores and juniors for their commitment to issues related to American Indian nations and the environment.
“Because tribal public policy is heavily dependent upon maintaining tribal lands, a solid background in earth sciences will help me not only to understand tribal environmental issues but also to help solve them,” said Rust.
Tyler is currently a junior studying geology and geospatial technology at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He entered this particular field of study to protect and develop tribal public policies with an eye to environment concerns, sustainability and stewardship of the land. Tyler will be spending the summer studying in Turkey.
We are incredibly proud of Tyler and the work he is doing.
This month’s member highlight is focused on MVRecovery’s Luke Smith. Luke has been nominated by the Illinois chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) as a candidate for their very prestigious Man & Woman of the Year fundraising competition.
Luke’s goal is to raise as much money as possible to help improve the quality of life of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease or myeloma. We are very proud of Luke’s accomplishments within our own industry, but also for the passion that he has shown within the LLS community. For more information on how you can help Luke, click here.
