02/05/2025
Lets all Congratulate Patti Whittaker.
ARA Exemplary Service Award
The "ARA Exemplary Service Award" is an award given by the American Rental Association (ARA) to recognize individuals or groups who have made significant contributions through their service to the association and the equipment and event rental industry, highlighting outstanding volunteer work within the sector.
Patti Whittaker, owner, Cardinal Rents, Charlotte, N.C. was selected to receive the 2024 American Rental Association (ARA) Exemplary Service Award.
The Exemplary Service Award recognizes an individual or group that has made a significant contribution in a defined area of association service (such as government affairs, education, technology or workforce development).
Whittaker has championed ARA’s Women in Rental initiatives. She was instrumental in achieving a record number of attendees for a one-day group Women in Rental Career Development Program certification class held in North Carolina in March 2024. ARA’s Women in Rental Career Development Program is a six-course program featuring modules on increasing your visibility at work, the Imposter Syndrome, dealing with stress, pressure and burnout, and more. Participants receive a certificate of completion once all six courses are completed.
Whittaker’s inspiration for the event came during The ARA Show™ 2024 in New Orleans when, while attending the Women in Rental breakfast, it was mentioned that up to that point only 74 people across the U.S. had taken part in the newly minted certification program. Feeling that this number was astonishingly low, Whittaker quickly began to formulate an event to get industry members in her home state of North Carolina Women in Rental-certified. The event was planned and hosted in Belmont, N.C., in just over a month. 34 women were certified together that day — nearly half of what had, up to then, been achieved nationwide. Networking and excitement were prevalent throughout the event, which helped to increase the profile of the Women in Rental Career Development Program.
Whittaker has served on the national ARA Women in Rental Committee and remains a firm believer in the promotion of this group to women in North Carolina and throughout the industry. In addition, she also serves as president of the ARA of North Carolina and is committed to her duties of steering the chapter’s board of directors while promoting its meetings and events.
Region Three Leadership Impact Award
Region Three: Patti Whittaker, Cardinal Rents, Charlotte, N.C.
recognize an individual in each of ARA's 10 regions whose leadership benefited their staariete and/or local association and its members over the past year
