Thanks to participating in the Compensation and Benefits Survey, offered by the American Rental Association (ARA),

• Maria Corvallis, manager of Peter Corvallis Productions in Portland, Ore., is $500 richer and
• Kip Vaile, owner of Rental Works in Arlington, Va., received a free, full registration to The Rental Show.

While “more than surprised” at winning this prize, Corvallis says that was a wonderful addition to why she took part in this valuable survey.

Vaile had the same reaction. “Thank you so much! It’s unusual for me to win one of these drawings,” he says.

For Corvallis, the Compensation and Benefits Survey and upcoming report are valuable tools to guide her business. “As a second-generation rental business operator who is working in these economic times, you have to focus on things that are going to be helpful to your business. I always have been impressed with the compilations that ARA does,” Corvallis says.

“These reports give me a great understanding of where I am in the scheme of things and how I compare with my peers. I have used this [Compensation and Benefits Report] in the past, and I am now at a point where I need to take a look at wages and compensation and benefits to see what I need to do, what I need to improve on and whether I am sitting right,” she says.

She looks forward to receiving her free report, a benefit of participating in the survey, because it “is a tool for business development and strategy” — one that has even more significant value “because it isn’t coming from a business analyst but from the companies who are in rental, who know what you are doing and dealing with on a daily basis,” she says.

Once she receives the online report later this month that she will be able to aggregate by the criteria she selects, she will be eager to see how she compares, noting that it is “reassuring when you are doing the right thing and eye-opening when you need to improve certain areas.”

As far as the $500 cash prize, “that was the best surprise,” she says. “That wasn’t even on my mind when I participated in the survey.”