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LEWISTOWN, Mont. - Michael Heitmann of Cut Bank, Mont., was named Montana's champion auctioneer and bid caller for 2007 during the Montana Auc-tioneers Association convention and bid calling contest, conducted in conjunction with the Montana Winter Fair, on Jan. 26 in Lewistown, Mont.
Five professionals judged him and rated him on several qualities in-cluding bid-calling ability, presence, poise and ability to sell items in a timely manner.
Then, Heitmann was named best of the competition in a field of 12 professional auctioneers from around the state.
As Montana's champion auctioneer and bid caller, Heitmann will represent the state at the National Auctioneers Assoc-iation (NAA) conference in July in San Diego, Calif. He was awarded the Dale Strommen Memorial traveling trophy and a silver belt buckle along with $300 prize money.
Heitmann won the Montana contest just two weeks after winning the state auctioneering championship in Colorado. He plans to compete and represent both states at the International Auctioneers Compe-tition conducted at the National Auction-eers Association conference.
Heitmann has been an auctioneer since his freshman year in college and makes his home between Cut Bank and Colorado Springs, Colo., where he also works for Homeland Security at U.S. Northern Command/NORAD as an aerospace operations watch officer.
He decided to keep his auctioneering skills active while stationed in Colorado Spring and began working as an independent contract auctioneer for prominent Colorado auction companies.
In both 2004 and 2006, Heitmann was the first runner-up auctioneer in the Colorado championship competitions and second runner-up in the 2001 Montana Auctioneers Association championships.
He owns his own auctioneering company in Montana, MH Bar Enterprises. He also serves as the official auctioneer for the Denver Chapter of Marine Corps scholarship foundation.
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