2014 Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) Board Includes First Associate Class Member

CORTLAND, N.Y., Dec. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) Board of Directors, historically comprised solely of lift manufacturers, will include a representative from the lift inspection side of the business for the first time in 2014. Evan Calarco of Total Tool Ltd. (Castleton, N.Y.) was elected to serve as the Board's first Associate Class member during the annual membership meeting held in Las Vegas on Nov. 4.

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The new Associate Class of ALI membership was created as part of ALI's Lift Inspector Certification program launched in Nov. 2012. Any North American organization with at least one ALI Certified Lift Inspector on staff may join ALI as an Associate Class Member. Associate Class Members have access to exclusive industry resources, training materials and discounts. They also vote to put forth the Associate Class Member Board representative.  More than 40 companies have joined ALI as Associate Class Members in the past three months.

"The addition to our Board of an Associate Class Member who represents ALI Certified Lift Inspectors reflects well on the growth of the organization and our vision for the future," says R.W. "Bob" O'Gorman, ALI president. "There are more than 500 active lift inspector candidates currently in the program, representing more than 300 different organizations. As the Associate Class Membership class grows, the influx of new participants will help ALI penetrate deeper into the industry to better educate lift users about equipment safety. Having a lift inspection representative in the boardroom gives us a stronger voice and offers new perspectives, which enables ALI to better serve everyone."

Calarco was nominated to the Board by Associate Class members. His nomination was then approved by the general membership.

ALI's 2014 Board also includes Chairman Jerome Lentz of Challenger Lifts (Louisville, Ky.); Douglas Grunnet of Stertil KONI USA (Streator, Ill.); Gary Kennon of Rotary Lift Consolidated (Madison, Ind.); Jeff Kritzer of Bendpak, Inc. (Santa Paula, Calif.); Pete Liebetreu of Hunter Engineering Co. (Bridgeton, Mo.); Stet Schanze of Gray Manufacturing Co., Inc. (St. Joseph, Mo.); and O'Gorman.

The Lift Inspector Certification Program provides third-party qualification of vehicle lift inspectors and certifies those who demonstrate they are capable of properly inspecting vehicle lifts in accordance with the ANSI standard governing vehicle lift inspection. The program further provides a proactive alternative to support service bay safety rather than penalty-based compliance programs founded on OSHA's General Duty Clause or provincial requirements in Canada. Detailed information supporting the program can be found at www.autolift.org/certified-inspectors.

To learn more about ALI, visit www.autolift.org or call (607) 756-7775. You can also connect with ALI on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LiftInstitute, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LiftInstitute, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/LiftInstitute.

About ALI
Founded in 1945, the Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) is a trade association of North American-based lift manufacturers. ALI's mission is to promote the safe design, construction, installation, service, inspection and use of automotive lifts. In 1947, ALI developed the first Commercial Standard covering vehicle lifts published by the National Bureau of Standards. Today, ALI sponsors several national lift safety standards and offers third-party certification programs for automotive lifts and automotive lift inspectors.

SOURCE Automotive Lift Institute (ALI)