2024 Rental Hall of Fame inductees announced
Each year, the American Rental Association (ARA) honors individuals for outstanding service to the association and the rental industry. This year’s inductees into the Rental Hall of Fame, the industry’s highest honor, will be recognized at The ARA Show™ 2025 in Las Vegas.
ARA created the Rental Hall of Fame in 2000 to honor those individuals who have changed the trajectory of the equipment and event rental industry. Each year, nominations are accepted to recognize outstanding industry leaders who have made a substantial and lasting impact on the industry’s success and growth at the national or international level.
This year’s three inductees include Bick Jones, Peter Lancken AM, and David Wilcox II. Here is more information on the newest inductees:
Bick Jones, Total Tent Solutions, Houston
Jones entered the event rental industry in 1986 after building a successful career in banking. As he and his partner at the time, Emily Maduro were looking for a small business to purchase, their broker showed them an event rental business. After researching the industry, they discovered ARA and its resources, detailing the beginnings of event rentals. Their newfound knowledge made the pair purchase Cannonball Party Rental in Dallas in February 1986.
Jones’s financial acumen and knowledge of growth strategies — together with the experience of Cannonball’s staff — made the venture a success.
Jones went on to serve in leadership roles with Ducky-Bob’s Party and Tent Rental in Carrollton, Texas; California-based Classic Party Rentals; Classic Tents in Torrance, Calif.; PEAK Event Services in Woburn, Mass.; Marquee Events in Dallas; and CommuniLux in Dallas, a subsidiary of InProduction, Chicago.
The experience Jones accumulated through his roles as general manager, chief operating officer, and CEO at these organizations made him a highly sought-after expert in the event rental industry.
Testimonials from many industry colleagues reveal that Jones was generous in sharing his experience in business management and his ideas for innovative rental showroom and warehousing concepts.
During his rental career, Jones served on numerous ARA committees, task forces, and panels, including the ARA Investment Committee, the ARA Information Committee, and the ARA Show™ Task Force. He received the ARA Rental E-Web Award for party in 2004 and has been a speaker and panelist at The ARA Show™ numerous times.
Following his official retirement in May 2022, Jones has lent his experience on a part-time basis to his son, with whom he bought a tenting business, Total Tent Solutions, in Houston in 2020.
Peter Lancken AM, Kennards Hire, Seven Hills, New South Wales (NSW), Australia
Lancken’s rental career began in 1978 with GKN, an Australian scaffolding company. He later moved to the U.S. to set up and grow a rental business for GKN in southern California. Over a four-year period under his management, Lancken created a $50 million business that grew to a network of 38 branches.
When GKN divested its business in Australia in 1994, Lancken negotiated a deal with Andy Kennard to buy the balance of GKN. Soon after, Lancken took on the role of managing director of the Kennards Group, which was still a small business at the time.
When Lancken joined Kennards in 1995, no other rental company in Australia had national representation. Lancken pursued his vision to create a national footprint with the Kennards Hire brand and develop a network of branches around the country. Under his leadership, Kennards Hire has won the Australian “Hire Company of the Year” recognition twice, and the company’s network has grown by more than 70 branches.
Lancken has served as president of the NSW Hire Association and was a founding director of Australia’s Hire and Rental Industry Association (HRIA). He became involved in ARA in the 1990s and has strongly supported the ARA Foundation. In 2003, he was a founding member of the Global Rental Alliance, which was formed to raise the profile of equipment rental worldwide while increasing the membership value of the respective associations. The Global Rental Alliance included Brazil, New Zealand, Belgium, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Lancken was also instrumental in creating an international exchange program for young people in the industry. Kennards hired and hosted the first Global Rental Alliance exchange program participant, and the program has since enabled many young people to travel abroad to further their rental education.
In recognition of his service, Lancken received the ARA Meritorious Service Award in 2007 and the ARA Distinguished Service Award in 2014—the first person outside of the U.S. to receive the distinction. In 2020, he received the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his significant service to the equipment hire and rental industry.
After stepping down as CEO of Kennards Hire in 2009, Lancken joined the Kennards Hire board and held the role of Chairman from 2012-2017. He remains a non-executive director of the Kennards Group.
David Wilcox II, General Rental Center, Frankfort, Ky.
Wilcox became involved in the equipment rental industry in 1977 when he started General Rental Center with his father, David Wilcox Sr. He was a charter member of the ARA of Kentucky who attended the chapter’s first meeting, served on its board of directors and remains involved through the present day.
Over the years, Wilcox has recognized the need for the equipment and event rental industry to have input from governmental policy and legislation. He spearheaded regular trips of Kentucky members to the U.S. Capitol to advocate for pro-rental policies and was a longtime participant in ARA’s National Legislative Caucus in Washington, D.C.
Wilcox served as ARA Region Five director from 1996-1999 and served on several ARA committees and task forces at the national level. He was elected ARA vice president in 1999, moved up to serve as the association’s 41st president in 2002, and chaired the board in 2003.
Some of the achievements that highlighted Wilcox’s term on the ARA national board of directors include the hiring of Christine Wehrman, who served as ARA CEO from 2000-2016, the formation of ARA Region Nine (encompassing California, Hawaii and Nevada), the streamlining of the ARA Board of Directors structure to make service more attractive for volunteers, and the adjustment of The ARA Show™ format and schedule to provide greater emphasis on new product offerings, education and networking opportunities.
Seeking to energize up-and-coming rental operators and realizing the importance of attracting young people into the industry, Wilcox also helped establish ARA’s Next Generation of Rental Owners, the precursor to today’s Young Professional Network.
In recognition of his service to the industry, Wilcox received the ARA Region Five Person of the Year Award in 1990 and the ARA Distinguished Service Award in 2005.
