Business Member Board of Governors
March 6, 2005
Minutes
The meeting was called to order by Chair Kim Green who welcomed the members and asked them to introduce themselves. Present were:
BMBG members: Delon Hampton, Bill Lochte, Kevin Adams, John Barberis, Tom Barron, Raul Bravo, Frank DiGiacomo, Nuria Fernandez, Sharon Greene, Reba Malone, Larry Miller, Jolene Molitoris, Don Nelson, John Satterfield, Paul Smith, Jim Srygley, Gary Willms, Chuck Wochele, Franny Yuhas, Del Komejan, Claude Robinson, Stephanie Pinson, Dave Turney, Alan Wulkan, Dan Reichard and Bob Buchanan
Business members on the APTA Board of Directors: John Andrews, John Canipari, Al Engel, Joe Gibson, Jan Hull, Mike Monteferrante, Nick Promponas, Janet Rodgers, Irwin Rosenberg, Ghassan Salameh, and El Tinklenberg.
Guests: Dick White, Mort Downey, Rick Bacigalupo, Joel Abraman, Bob Brownstein, Deborah Wathen Finn, Steve Shewmaker, David Mikoryak, Lisa Bucci, Gordon Nevison, Carie Grall, Lori Lundquist, Joey Campbell, Frank Martin, Lee Kemp, Foster Beach, Barry Einsig, Chuck Badgley, and Don Yuratovac.
APTA Staff: Bill Millar, Dan Duff, Tony Kouneski. Fran Hooper, Art Guzzetti, Karol Popkin, and Mary Trupo.
Dave Turney congratulated Mr. Green on his recent appointment as President of GFIGENFARE. The Chair recognized the members of Leadership APTA that were present at the meeting.
The APTA Anti-Trust Statement was read.
The APTA Chair's Report was given by Dick White. He commented on how his attendance at the BMBG meetings had been helpful to him in learning more about business member concerns and he thanked the business members for their support to the Association. He also commented on the status of several major issues including the standards program, Buy America and PT2, and he stated that he looked forward to the continuation of a strong public-private partnership in APTA.
The APTA President's Report was given by Bill Millar. He reported on the status of reauthorization and encouraged members to carry the business message to the Hill and expressed his appreciation for the fact that business members were energized like never before. He also expressed his regrets that Hill visits for business members had not been arranged as anticipated; and he commented on recent events and conversations on the Hill regarding Buy America, and PT2. He urged members to participate in the listening sessions at this and other conferences and to let APTA know what they would support with regard to PT2. In the subsequent discussion a member asked about the process for establishing APTA policy positions, and Rick Bacigalupo talked about the broad level of representation that was included on the Buy America Task Force.
In the BMBG Chair's Report, the Minutes of January meeting were approved and the Chair reported that the Executive Committee had approved not awarding the Business Executive of the Year award in EXPO years as well as approving the new Buy America policy and funding for APTA's standards program. He asked the members present to indicate how many of the statements in the new publication on the impact of delay of reauthorization applied to them and over half of the members indicated that two of the statements reflected their position. Staff was commended on their work on the new reports.
The Chair also commented on a memo in the agenda package regarding business member concerns regarding the proposed standards program, and the response to those concerns by the SDOC. He noted that business member representation on the Council was increased, that there would be reporting transparency that procurement standards should be included in the program, and that efforts would be made to find ways to encourage transit agencies to use the adopted standards. In the subsequent discussion members commented on the process for adopting standards, voluntary vs. required standards, and who was on the SDOC.
The BMBG Nominations Committee Report was given by Bill Lochte. He reported that there were two vacancies that needed to be filled and that the BMBG Nominations Committee recommended that bus OEM Pat Scully be designated to fill the remainder of Cliff Henke's term on the BMBG. Cliff is no longer employed by NABI and has joined WeststartCalstart. NABI declined to designate a nominee for the seat. In addition he reported that Frank Martin was nominated to fill the remainder of Keith Nippes' term on the APTA Board of Directors. It was moved and seconded that Pat Scully and Frank Martin be appointed to these positions and the motion was approved.
The Government Affairs Committee Report was given by Sharon Greene. She reported on the business member activities that are taking place during the Legislative Conference. Members were encouraged to reach out to public agency officials to participate in joint Hill visits. Jan Hull agreed to help work on Hill visits for next year.
The BMBG Budget Committee Report was given by Nuria Fernandez. She noted that budget requests had been received for a variety of projects including an EXPO attendance enhancement program, disseminating the business case, the early warning system and the business market forecast. Sharon Greene reported that the Government Affairs Committee had five advocacy projects in the amount of $160,000 that they would like to see funded and that if necessary, the costs should be split with APTA. Don Nelson noted that the $50,000 amount for the early warning system could be taken out for now but that funding would be required later if the project was to proceed. The Chair requested that if members felt that any of the projects should not be funded that they let him or the APTA staff know. Jolene Molitoris reported that the Programs Committee wanted to have $8000 included for webinars and $20,000 for happy hours on Monday and Tuesday at EXPO. Members noted that the BMBG should not get into the details of each proposal, that they did not like the idea of happy hours at EXPO. A motion was made to empower the BMBG Chair, First and Second Vice Chairs, acting as a committee, to authorize outlays of up to $25,000 in each instance to a total not to exceed $100,000 annually for projects brought forward and proposed by BMBG committees after the annual budget has been approved. The motion was seconded. A substitute motion was moved and seconded to change the not to exceed amount to $25,000 and that higher amounts should come back to the BMBG for approval. The substitute motion was approved.
Al Engel presented the Business Development Committee Report. He urged the members to register for the webinar on security business opportunities on March 14 and for the US Pavilion at UITP.
The meeting was adjourned.
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