Held in-conjunction with TRALA’s Annual Meeting, the NationaLease Spring Business Meeting was the first of many member-focused meetings in the calendar-year. The 2021 NationaLease Spring Business Meeting 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,” said Dean Vicha, President of NationaLease.

“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 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.

Matt Clark, Chief Operating Officer of Corcentric, shared an update on the many changes, initiatives and successes of Corcentric, followed by Rob Garcia, Senior Vice President of Supply Management, Sean Storey, Vice President of Capital Equipment, and Joe Gallick, Senior Vice President of Sales, each giving updates and a look ahead for each of their respective areas.

Jim Meil, Principal for ACT Research, 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 Spring Business Meeting wrapped up with a dinner where 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,” said Vicha.

NationaLease’s 2022 Spring Business Meeting will be held April 3-6, in Aventura, FL.

Founded in 1944, NationaLease is one of the largest full-service truck leasing organizations in North America, with over 900 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada and a combined customer fleet of over 165,000 tractors, trucks and trailers. The company provides comprehensive fleet management services for private fleets and transportation service providers.