Rent-to-own News - New York Dealers commit to grassroots politics, Special Olympics

More than 50 rent-to-own dealers and vendors convened Thursday in Verona, New York for the twice annual New York State Rental Dealers Association Meeting -- the organization's third meeting since re-organizing last year -- asserting a new proactive attitude toward politics, public image and community involvement.

NYSRDA President Dave Edwards welcomed dealers and vendors representing 21 companies to the meeting at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino, kicking off a packed agenda of educational and networking opportunities that stressed the importance of cultivating the positive image of rent-to-own in the community.

New York Rental Dealers and Vendors at the NYSRDA meeting in Verona, New York.

Many dealers credit Edwards as instrumental in re-organizing the association and in re-focusing its stance from reactive to proactive. While that may be true, New York is also the home state of Sen. Charles Schumer -- sponsor of a pending bill in the U.S. Senate that would negatively impact the industry through federally mandated price controls.

A strong and unified rent-to-own voice in New York backed by an energetic and involved association is key, Edwards said.

"The value of this meeting is the relationships built and the relationships shared," said Edwards who is also president of the 63-store SEI Aarons. "There's power in the number of people we have in this room. With a united front, we are better able to respond to challenges as they arise, rather than react."

NYSRDA membership director Rick Vadnais updated attendees on the resurgence of the association, which now represents 30 member companies and 268 store fronts in New York State. While 80 percent of those store fronts are part of the Rent-A-Center or Aaron's companies, the political clout of the independent dealer remains the association's greatest strength, Edwards said.

NYSRDA President Dave Edwards with membership director Rick Vadnais.

"The voice of the small guys is what politicians really want to hear," said Andrew Morenus, owner of seven Home Necessities stores in New York and Pennsylvania. "They don't want to hear from Rent-A-Center, they want to hear from the small guy on the corner with a store in their district."

To that end, conference attendees unanimnously approved a set of bylaws and set membership dues for the association at $100 per year per store. NYSRDA members also agreed to subsidize costs for some of its members to attend the APRO Legislative Conference next year.

"In the past it's been more reactive to bills, but when the negative bills died, the association died," said Dave Lockwood, a first year Premier dealer with one store. "Now it's more of a long-term deal, more proactive. United, we can see what's coming up ahead."

Joe Romano, chairman of the NYSRDA Government Affairs Committee, updated attendees on the grassroots e-mail campaign started just over a month ago.

Romano said his committee has targeted seven New York Congress members including Rep. Carolyn Maloney -- chair of the House Financial Institutions subcommittee. That committee, which includes four additional New York Congressmembers, is the one that will hold hearings on the industry supported legislation -- H.R. 1767.

Romano said he is actively arranging meetings with representatives to urge a hearing on the bill and move it forward, hopefully to a floor vote in the U.S. House.

Neal Johnson, president and CEO of Special Olympics New York, with Special Olympics athlete Katherine Glover and Special Olympics Director of Development Susan MacBryde.

"There has been some noise down in Washington about having a hearing on this bill," Romano said. "This is very exciting. It's a critical time for us to get in touch with our representatives and keep New York a rent-to-own state."

Bob Bloom, President and CEO of ColorTyme spoke to attendees on the importance of attitude over aptitude. His talk, titled, "Your attitude determines your altitude" stressed the impact attitude can have on a company culture, whether good or bad.

"We hire for attitude," Bloom said. "We train for aptitude."

In a further example of NYSRDA's committement to the community, attending members gave unanimous approval to a partnership with Special Olympics of New York, in which dealers agree to allow customers to participate in the organization's "Sponsor an Athlete" fundraising program.

The program will be conducted through an icon sales program in the 268 NYSRDA member stores throughout the state with a goal of raising $100 per store between August and October for a total of $27,000.

Customers will be offered the option to purchase paper Olympic torch icons for $1 or more in each store. The icons will then be displayed in the stores with other signage indicating NYSRDA's committment to the one of the most well-established and acclaimed charitable organizations in the U.S.

"This is a home run not only for the association, but a great partnership for the industry for years to come," Edwards said. "This ties into our overall vision for New York and fullfills what we were looking for in a chartiy, to help kids."

SEI Aarons and NYSRDA have worked with Special Olympics of New York before, donating $500 to the organization last August.

Click here for the APRO photo gallery of the meeting.

Click here for Charles Smithgall podcast.

Click here for Bob Bloom podcast.
 

mevans@rtohq.org