Bill Plamondon, president of the American Car Rental Association, was honored at the 2019 International Car Rental Show with the annual Impact Award for his dedication to serving the car rental industry.

For more than 19 years, Plamondon worked at Budget Rent a Car in a variety of executive offices. He built Budget's functions in field operations, training, and development, and acquisition and refranchising, managing more than 25 transactions and $350 million in assets.

As Budget transitioned from a franchising to an operating company, he successfully restructured the Florida operations. Plamondon worked at Budget Rent-A-Car from 1978 to 1997, most notably as president, from June 1992 to February 1997, and as chief executive officer from 1993 to February 1997. He was responsible for acquisitions integration, organizational development, and cost restructuring at the $2.5 billion company. 

"He is an amazing business person but he is an even better friend," Sharon Faulkner, executive director of the ACRA, said in an email. "As president of ACRA, Bill is an outstanding advocate for the car rental industry, he is involved, intelligent and he always makes himself available for any pressing legislative issue. There are some people who make work easier and life more fun, and Bill is one of those people." 

He is a founding member of the National Tourism Organization has also served on the International Franchise Association. 

Plamondon was presented the 2019 Impact Award by Scott Lieberman, chief administrative officer of Advantage and E-Z Rent a Car.

"Those of us [who] have had the opportunity to work with Bill understand [that] despite leading large organizations, he always remembered his beginnings," Liberman wrote in an email. "When visiting locations, Bill has never missed an opportunity to speak with the entire team. In his service to ACRA he never lost focus of the independent operator or the collection of operators that make up ACRA. Bill always considers those people impacted when making decisions and policy recommendations."