Breaking News: Albuquerque auctioneer wins $10,000 Hiring Our Heroes Grant and is one final step from industry's top designationAlbuquerque, NM, April 29, 2025: Local auctioneer Gary Peterson, owner of Rt 66 Auctions, LLC, recently completed hissecond year of courses at the prestigious Certified Auctioneers Institute (CAI). The CAI program is the industry's premier training program developed by the National Auction Association (NAA) for auction professionals. He is also being honored in Washington DC this week by Hiring Our Heroes and the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation as an Outstanding Veteran-owned Business. Through the generosity of FEDEX Founders Fund and USAA they awarded Gary $10,000 to further improve his business model. The three-year CAI designation program provides auction professionals the opportunity to earn the auction industry's most respected professional designation. CAI is an intensive, executive development program offering professional auctioneers instruction and coursework in business management, ethics, communication, finance, strategic planning and marketing. In March every year the NAA conducts CAI at Indiana University in Bloomington. CAI candidates join auction professionals from across the world to learn from some of the nation's most distinguished and respected leaders in the auction industry. As of April 2024, there were approximately 650 current CAI designation holders in the world. Gary has been an auction professional since 2018, and also holds designations in marketing and is an accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate. In his 23-year service to our country, Major Gary Peterson, UASF-Retired, served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Iraq, as well as in numerous other locations across the globe. Peterson, a native New Mexican from Roswell, now resides in Albuquerque and owns used-car dealership One Community Auto, as well as RT66 Auctions. For more information on CAI, its history and its standing as the premiere training program for auction professionals, contact the NAA at (913) 541-8084 or visit www.auctioneers.org. # # # About the National Auction Association The National Auction Association represents thousands of auction professionals from the U.S. and across the world. The NAA serves auction entrepreneurs with services provided based on four cornerstones: promotions, advocacy, community, and education. Founded in 1949, the NAA's headquarters are in Overland Park, Kansas. To learn more about the auction method of marketing or find an auctioneer, please visit auctioneers.org. Submitted: 07/08/25 Article By: Rt 66 Auctions |