RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2019
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Tuesday's schedule also included the annual APRO Awards
Luncheon and Business Meeting, sponsored by LG Electronics
Corp, USA, that featured keynote speaker Kerry Lebensburger,
chief revenue officer of Ashley Furniture Industries. Lebensburger's
presentation offered a sobering look at the industry, what the future
might hold and how to achieve resilience. His presentation was a
crowd-pleaser on many accounts and will be available for streaming
soon.
The awards portion of the luncheon was a communion of rent-to-
own's finest getting recognition for their achievements. This year's
slate of noteworthy honorees include Phillip Bumbry, Emerging
Leader; George and Angie Ramel, Norm Smith Vendor of the Year;
Jonathan Rose, Heritage Award; Dan Singh, Steve Kruse Award of
Honor; Gopal Reddy, President's Award of Excellence; Mike Tissot,
Chuck Sims Rental Dealer of the Year; David P. David, Ernie Talley
Lifetime Achievement, and John Cleek, Jr. accepting the State
Association of the Year award on behalf of the Missouri Rental
Dealers Association. Additionally, Florida, Missouri, Ohio and
Pennsylvania were recognized in the new Presidents' Circle award
recognizing state associations with outstanding leadership,
community involvement and legislative advocacy. APRO goes the
extra mile to keep award winners in the dark until the awards
ceremony to add that extra element of surprise.
"I sat there thinking it was quite the coincidence how much the
person being described had in common with my life," shares Singh,
recipient of the Steve Kruse Award. "As they went on describing the
individual, I thought, 'Hey, I did that too…and also that…wait, this is
starting to get weird.' And then my name was announced! I was not
expecting to win at all, and I'm honored even to be considered."
While the APRO Awards Luncheon and Business Meeting took
place, the Small Batch Managers' Experience simultaneously
opened. The store managers registered for this special track met for
their very own peer group meetup before gearing up for the afternoon
of education breakout sessions. These sessions were led by some
of the best-known individuals in the industry and boasted rooms full
of insight and knowledge from wall to wall.
FEELIN' LUCKY IN KENTUCKY
