Robert H. Pedersen, president and CEO, A Tool Shed, Inc., Santa Cruz, Calif., has been installed as the 63rd president of the board of directors for the American Rental Association (ARA), an international trade association serving the equipment and event rental industry.

As president, Pedersen will assume a key role on behalf of the association as an officer and lead ARA1s Executive Committee. He joined A Tool Shed full time in 1983 after receiving his degree in business management and economics from the University of California, Davis. Pedersen brings a wealth of leadership and management experience to his position on the board, which consists of 17 members, including rental business operators or manufacturers and suppliers to the equipment and event rental industry.

Pedersen has been an active volunteer having most recently completed his term as ARA president-elect. He has co-chaired the ARA Equipment Rental Shared Interest Group and has participated as a member of the ARA Executive Committee, the ARA Budget/ Audit Committee and the ARA Investment Committee. Pedersen has been an attendee and speaker at The ARA Show™, served as ARAPAC Council chair, ARA Region Nine director, ARA of California Legislative Committee member and many other acts of leadership in the equipment and event rental industry.

“I hope to empower the next generation of industry leaders to grow the association’s membership, engage in the current programs offered and become involved in government affairs on the local, state and national levels,” Pedersen says. “A good friend once told me that, ‘You leave things better than they were before,’ and I hope this will ring true with my term as president.”