Held in-conjunction with the Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) Annual Meeting last week, NationaLease's spring business meeting was the first of many member-focused meetings in the calendar-year. It also was special to many NationaLease members, as it was the first in-person meeting in nearly 18 months.
COVID-19 brought unprecedented changes to the way we do business, including the dynamics of in-person meetings. COVID-19 was declared a worldwide pandemic just before last year’s meeting and put in-person meetings to a halt.
“We had to adjust the way we do business and find ways to stay connected to our members virtually,” says Dean Vicha, NationaLease president. “As essential as virtual meetings were during the pandemic, the technology isn’t without its shortcomings. The onset of numerous virtual meetings highlighted exactly what’s so effective about in-person meetings — stronger relationships.”
Building relationships was a theme throughout the spring business meeting. Vicha gave members a brief look back at 2020 and an overview of the exciting things on the horizon for NationaLease in 2021 and beyond.
Corcentric COO Matt Clark shared an update on the many changes, initiatives and successes of Corcentric, followed by the NationaLease trio of Rob Garcia, senior vice president, Supply Management, Sean Storey, vice president, Capital Equipment, and Joe Gallick, senior vice president, Sales, each giving updates and a look ahead for each of their respective areas.
Finally, ACT Research Principal Jim Meil closed the first day of meetings with an economic forecast and a review of the results of a study on the electric vehicle market. The second day started with a presentation of an award to Lacy Teague of Salem NationaLease for 10 consecutive years reaching Masters Club.
The program continued with Joe King, president of Fleetrock on the partnership with NationaLease and several initiatives that are currently underway. The rest of the afternoon was blocked out for individual meetings between the members and the NationaLease management team to reconnect and focus on the ways NationaLease can help members to grow their business, the organization says.
The Spring Business Meeting wrapped up with a dinner where Dean Vicha acknowledged the winners of the 2020 Exceptional Service Award and Leadership Circle.
“The NationaLease Spring Business Meeting served as a comeback for in-person meetings where we have the ability to build stronger, more meaningful business relationships,” says Vicha.
