Lonnie Bickford, StorageAuctions.com

Lonnie Bickford has been the owner/developer of five Appletree Storage facilities in the Greater Baton Rouge area. As a Board Member of the Self Storage Association of Louisiana, Lonnie worked closely with representatives from the National SSA in passing multiple changes to the Louisiana Lien laws. For the last 15 years he has strived to operate his business with the best practices and processes to streamline daily operations and maximize revenue. His research and experience taught him that by scheduling auctions more frequently, delinquencies went down and collections went up. As the founder of StorageAuctions.com, Lonnie is working with Owners and Management teams to maximize revenue by using the leverage of online auctions to drive collections to new heights. 

Stephanie Tharpe, A+ Storage Management Group

Stephanie Tharpe is the president of A+ Management Group and currently manages locations in Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. She currently serves on the 2019 Board of Directors as Vice President for the Tennessee Self Storage Association. Stephanie has been a featured speaker, roundtable leader and panelist at several national and state association conferences across the country for the last six years. In 2012, she was named the Tennessee Manager of the Year by the TNSSA. With a passion to help self-storage business owners succeed, she and her partner, Tommy Pierce, President of A+ Storage of Tennessee, formed A+ Management Group in November 2018. Stephanie is an advocate for managers and has helped to bring recognition to the industry on employee compensation and employee burn out.

David Rader, Servant Fire Protection

David has worked in the life safety industry for 15 years.  He specializes in the areas of fire alarm, sprinkler, special hazards, and life safety resource management.  Prior to his career in Fire Protection, he worked as a technical specialist in the field of electronic telecommunications. David is a veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, serving honorably as a non-commissioned officer in the Military Police Corps.  

Jon Loftin, Open Tech Alliance

With over 25 years of experience in senior management roles in the self-storage industry, Jon is one of the industry’s leading access control experts. He has contributed to the success of DigiTech International, Chamberlain Access Control Products Group and PTI. Jon joined OpenTech Alliance, Inc. in 2016 as Vice President and IoE Product Owner to spearhead the development of OpenTech IoE, an intelligent platform of smart connected self-storage solutions. This platform harnesses the power of the Internet to connect various systems and devices, including INSOMNIAC CIA to streamline business operations at storage facilities.

Anne Williams, Marcus & Millichap

Anne has served the self-storage industry for nineteen years in many different capacities.  She started her career at Extra Space Storage where she started out as an Acquisition Analyst and Cell tower/Billboard Lease Manager. After two years, she was promoted to District Manager and directed the sales and operations of a fifteen property self-storage portfolio in Memphis, Tennessee. 

In 2006 Anne left Extra Space Storage and joined Marcus & Millichap’s National Self Storage Group as a real estate broker in their Memphis, TN office where she facilitates the acquisition and disposition of self-storage assets in the southeast and provides advisor y services to her clients relevant to operations, market conditions, capital markets and economic trends affecting the self- storage industry. 

In addition to working for Marcus & Millichap, Anne works for Self Storage Profits where she is a professional mentor/coach to real estate investors who want to learn how to locate, acquire and successfully operate a storage facility. 

In 2007, Anne and two other industry veterans founded the Tennessee Self Storage Association where she has served as President, Vice President , Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Chair, and Events & Education Chair.  She is currently a board member of the Mississippi Self Storage Owners Association and a member of the Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana Self Storage Associations.

Tommy, StoragePug

Tommy Nguyen is co-founder and COO of StoragePug, a self storage software company that increases occupancy and decreases delinquency for self-storage owners and operators by creating easy, effective online experiences. We help self-storage operators attract tenants, boost occupancy, and collect payments online. He's also the husband to an amazing lady, and a father to three cats.