Sharon Neely

Chief Deputy Executive Director 
Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

Sharon Neely has over 35 years of transportation experience in management positions. Ms. Neely has had a long involvement with public transportation, legislation, and funding issues in Southern California.

Ms. Neely is the Chief Deputy Executive Director of Strategy, Policy, and Public Affairs for SCAG. She is responsible for policy support, legislation, public affairs, media and Board communication/agendas. The Southern California Association of Governments covers 190 cities, 6 counties and 19 million residents. Ms. Neely was instrumental in the passage of AB 1403 eliminating a $1 million cap on Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) allocation of TDA sales tax funds in place since 1979.

Ms. Neely also served as the Director of Transportation Policy for the ACE Construction Authority in Los Angeles County, California for eight years. She was responsible for local, state, federal and community relations for the $1.4 billion ACE Project and helped secure $1 billion for the freight infrastructure project.

Tim Lovain

Vice President and General Counsel 
Denny Miller Associates

Mr. Lovain is Vice President and General Counsel of Denny Miller Associates, a government relations consulting firm in Washington, DC. Before joining Denny Miller Associates in 1984, Mr. Lovain served as a legislative assistant to Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA), legislative director of New Directions, a citizens' lobby on international issues, and chief legislative assistant to Representative Helen S. Meyner (D-NJ). He also served as an active-duty Coast Guard officer for three years.

Mr. Lovain served on the Alexandria, VA City Council from 2006-2009 and represented Alexandria on the Transportation Planning Board of the National Capital Region.

Chuck Baker

Partner
Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell

President
National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association

Chuck Baker is a Partner at the Washington, DC transportation government affairs firm Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell (CC&H), where he represents clients such as the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRCMA) and the American Short Line & Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA). Mr. Baker is a member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition for America’s Gateways & Trade Corridors (CAGTC).

For the NRCMA, Mr. Baker also serves as its President. In this capacity, he handles the association's core issues and programs, including its federal government affairs program in front of both Congress and the Administration. Prior to joining Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell, Mr. Baker worked with the Surface Transportation Policy Project in Washington, D.C. Mr. Baker has also worked in the office of Senator (then Congressman) Ben Cardin (MD) and for Deutsche Bank Securities as an investment banker specializing in Corporate Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions in San Francisco, CA.

Mr. Baker is a native of Baltimore, MD and a graduate of Rice University in Houston, TX.

Lauri Brady

Director, Site Operations
Prepass - ACS

Lauri J. Brady is the Director of Site Operations for PrePass, an intelligent transportation service of HELP, Inc. and provided by ACS Transportation Solutions. PrePass is an electronic screening system that allows qualified motor carriers to pre-clear state weigh stations and inspection facilities. Ms. Brady interfaces with federal, state, and local governments and the transportation industry to ensure optimal PrePass operations. Her duties entail new state sales, contract negotiations, maintaining state relationships, managing site performance, and providing any state or federal assistance needed. Ms. Brady has been with PrePass 10 years and works out of the CVO office in Phoenix, AZ.

Prior to her move to ACS, Ms. Brady managed the Motor Carrier Division for the State of Arizona. From 1985 to 1992, Ms. Brady served in the United States Air Force where she rose to the rank of Captain. She began her military career as an F-16 maintenance officer then became an instructor at the Air Force Officer Training School. Ms. Brady holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Kerry Cartwright

Director of Goods Movement
Port of Los Angeles

Kerry Cartwright is the Director of Goods Movement at the Port of Los Angeles. He was appointed the director of this newly created division at the Port in October 2007. Prior to joining the Port of LA, he was the Manager of Transportation Planning at the Port of Long Beach for over 10 years. His duties and responsibilities include: the planning and conceptual design of landside access improvements, regional transportation planning, funding, and transportation policy. He has over 24 years of experience in traffic engineering and transportation planning, and is a registered Traffic Engineer in the State of California and a registered Professional Engineer in Canada. He serves on numerous regional and statewide transportation agency technical and policy committees. He received the Southern California Association of Governments’ “Regional Champion Award” for 2009.

Mr. Cartwright is also involved in global logistics in the academic arena: he is an instructor for the Global Logistics Specialist® program at California State University, Long Beach. Kerry obtained a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada. He has also obtained Global Logistics Specialist® certification at California State University, Long Beach.

Joni Casey

President & CEO
Intermodal Association of North America

Joni Casey is the President and CEO of the Intermodal Association of North America, or IANA, by which it is commonly referred.  IANA is a national trade association that advocates the interests of intermodal freight transportation providers, suppliers and customers.

The Association’s 950+ corporate members include: railroads, ocean carriers, intermodal truck operators and over-the-road motor carriers, intermodal marketing companies and third-party logistics providers, equipment manufacturers and leasing companies, other industry vendors, and associates.  IANA’s constituents transport the vast majority of the nation's intermodal cargo shipments both domestically and internationally.

Ms. Casey is a thirty-year veteran of the transportation industry, having been employed for most of that time in the Washington, D.C. area, by trade associations representing motor carriers, 3PLs, and intermodal operators.

She began her career as an economist for the American Trucking Associations and was the first Executive Director of the Intermodal Conference of ATA, before leaving to become the CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association.  Ms. Casey joined IANA as its President and CEO in 1997.

She is a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and holds B.S. and MBA degrees, from the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. 

Ms. Casey is active in a number of professional organizations and has served on various industry committees and Boards including the Executive Committee of the Transportation Research Board; the University of Denver’s Intermodal Transportation Institute; the Global Maritime and Transportation School of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy; the Board of Advisors of the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland; and the Business Advisory Committee of Northwestern University.  She has also received numerous service awards and recognitions throughout her career.

Robert Ledoux
Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Florida East Coast Railway

Robert Ledoux is vice president, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Florida East Coast Railway. He has more than 25 years of legal and management experience in corporate law and business and transportation transactions.

From 1981 to 1987, he worked as a budget analyst for the Department of the Navy. Mr. Ledoux then served for five years as Corporate Counsel & Secretary for Planning Systems Inc., in McLean, Virginia. He spent the next six years as Senior Attorney and Assistant Secretary for Software AG of North America, Inc. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Ledoux worked as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary with PSINet, Inc.

Prior to joining FEC, Mr. Ledoux worked at CSX Transportation, Inc. for nine years in various legal positions including Assistant General Counsel for public project initiatives, engineering, passenger services, and Intermodal.

He graduated with a BS degree in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire, a JD degree from George Mason University, and an MBA from Virginia Tech. Mr. Ledoux is affiliated with the Virginia State Bar, the Maryland State Bar, the Florida State Bar and the American Corporate Counsel Association.

Mr. Ledoux currently is Vice President of the Florida Railroad Association which promotes rail transportation solutions in Florida.  In addition, Mr. Ledoux is on the International Committee of the Florida Chamber.  This committee works on driving new trade (export and import) in Florida.  Mr. Ledoux is the President of the Board for Theatre Jacksonville.  This is the lnogest running community theatre in Southeastern United States.

Mr. Ledoux is an active member of the State Relations Policy Committee and Public Affairs Management Committee of the Association of American Railroads.  These committees work on transportation policies at the State and Federal level.

John Greuling

President & CEO
Will County Center for Economic Development

John E, Greuling is the President and CEO of the Will County Center for Economic Development (CED) and Will County Chamber of Commerce—a position he has held for ten years. Among his priorities are business recruitment and retention/expansion, managing the development of the largest Inland Port in North America and the development of the Illiana Expressway and the South Suburban Airport. Greuling, a native of Oak Park, Illinois has been an economic development practitioner for 35 years. Prior to joining the CED he was Chief Operating Officer and Vice President for Business & Economic Development for InterMountain/RKH, a corporate affairs firm based in Denver specializing in government relations, strategic communications and business and economic development. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Economic Development for the Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce in Greensboro, North Carolina; Executive Director for the Southeast Denver/Douglas County Economic  Development Council from; Director of the Colorado Office of Business Development; and Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development of the Bloomington-Normal Area.

A graduate of Illinois State University, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy in 1974, he received his Master of Science in City and Regional Planning from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1976. Greuling is married (Michelle) and lives in New Lenox, Illinois. Interests include music, running, travel and Labrador Retrievers.

Paul Hubler

Director of Community and Government Relations 
Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority (ACE)

Paul Hubler is Director of Community and Government Relations at the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority (ACE), a public construction authority responsible for building grade separations and safety improvements along freight rail mainlines in eastern Los Angeles County. Mr. Hubler is involved in regional and national policy challenges, issues and collaborative solutions arising from the movement of goods through the nation’s leading trade gateway in Southern California.

Mr. Hubler has worked in Sacramento, Calif. and Washington, D.C. as Deputy Chief of Staff for Congressman and former State Senator Adam Schiff (D-Pasadena), handling transportation, environmental and other issues.

Bill Johnson

Director
Port Miami

As Director of the Port of Miami, Bill Johnson oversees the top container port in the State of Florida and the 11th largest in the nation.  Under his stewardship, the Port Miami has maintained its leadership position as the busiest cruise port in the world with more than four million passengers traveling through its terminals each year.

Appointed Port Director in 2006, Johnson has presided over a period of significant change and investment in port operations and facilities. In concert with the state and federal governments, the Port of Miami has embarked on the largest capital improvement program in its history.  Projects include construction of a seaport tunnel to improve port access and the minus-50 foot deep dredge project that will make the Port of Miami one of only three U.S. seaports on the Eastern Seaboard that can accommodate the world's largest container vessels. 

The Port of Miami is recognized as one of Florida's, and the nation's, leading ports in safety and security.  The Port of Miami is the second largest economic engine in Miami-Dade County, producing over $18 billion in annual economic impact.

Jim LaBelle

Vice President
Metropolis Strategies

Jim LaBelle is Vice-President of Metropolis Strategies, a business-led civic organization created in 1999 by the Commercial Club of Chicago to promote sound growth for the Chicago metropolitan region.  He provides leadership on regional development and transportation planning, funding and governance issues. 

Jim co-authored The Metropolis Plan: Choices for the Chicago Region in 2002 and was the principal author of The Metropolis Freight Plan: Delivering the Goods in 2004.  He helped draft and negotiate legislation creating the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, and legislation to reform and fund the Regional Transportation Authority.

Jim was an elected Lake County Board member for 20 years, including three terms as County Board Chairman and one term as President of the Forest Preserve District.  He led in addressing intergovernmental issues including passage of the Illinois Stormwater Management Act, Local Solid Waste Management Act, and creating new county capital improvement, affordable housing, and brownfield redevelopment programs. 

In the late 1980’s Jim was Assistant to Illinois Governor James Thompson for local government, transportation and economic development. 

He previously served as Executive Director of Business Leaders for Transportation, Executive Director of the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference, General Manager of North Point Marina, Director of Project Development for Skipper Marine Development, Administrative Assistant for the Village of Carol Stream, and president of a real estate and consulting business.  

Jim holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University, and a B.A., magna cum laude, from NIU in political science and business administration. 

Jim and his wife Jan live in Zion, Illinois and have five sons.

Mark Policinski

Executive Director
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments 

Mr. Mark Policinski joined the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) as executive director in November 2003. Prior to starting with OKI, Mr. Policinski held senior level positions in the private sector including CEO of the Brown Publishing Company and vice president of The CoStar Group.

Before moving to Cincinnati, Mr. Policinski worked in Washington D.C. as a senior economist for The Joint Economic Committee on Capitol Hill and as the associate deputy secretary with the U.S. Department of Commerce under President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Policinski has served on many public and private sector boards. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors for the Mill Creek Council of Communities, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Association of Regional Councils and the National Association of Regional Councils. He is president of the Executive Directors Council of the National Association of Regional Councils. He is also a judge for the Annual McCloskey Business Competition for the University of Notre Dame.

OKI is a council of local governments, business organizations and community groups with a board consisting of 117 people of which 80 are elected officials. OKI is federally mandated and funnels about $40 million in transportation funds to construction and planning projects throughout its eight-county, three-state region.

Eric Shen

Director of Transportation Planning
Port of Long Beach

Eric Shen is the Director of Transportation Planning for the Port of Long Beach, California. He was appointed by the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners in October 2007. He oversees the planning, design and development of present and future transportation strategies that support the Green Port Policy programs to reduce air pollution from goods movement. Eric is instrumental in securing full funding for the $950-million Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project in 2010. Under his leadership, the Port also successfully pursued and secured over $40 million of State and Federal grants for completing the $84-million Green Port Gateway Rail Improvements Project.

Before joining the Port, Eric was the Transportation Planning and Development Manager in the City of Pasadena (CA). He was the principal author of the City’s award-winning General Plan Mobility Element (2004) and Pedestrian Plan (2006). As a consulting engineer, Eric worked on several mission-critical ITS integration projects in the US and abroad.

Eric is currently the Chair of the Ports and Channels Committee and a member of the Marine Group Executive Board of the Transportation Research Board. He was selected to serve on several National Cooperative Research Project panels (NCFRP-05: Partnerships for Funding Freight Infrastructure Investment; NCFRP-24: Preserving and Protecting Freight Infrastructure and Routes. NCFRP-44 Factors Influencing Freight Modal Shift.  NCHRP 20-59(34) Methodologies to Estimate the Economic Impacts of Disruptions to the Goods Movement System). He was selected to the advisor panel for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Manual of Transportation Engineering Studies (2nd Edition) and Trip Generation Handbook (3rd Edition).

Eric also volunteers in many organizations with his signature collaborative and strategic leadership style. Eric is a WTS-LA Board of Director and a WTSLA Scholarship Foundation Trustee. He is an adjunct faculty in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Sol Price School of Public Policy. He also is the ITE/USC Student Chapter faculty advisor. As a trained Boy Scout America Assistant Scoutmaster, Eric is in charge of a group of active parent volunteers and successful boy-led scout troop.

Eric received a Bachelor of Science with honors and a Master of Science in civil engineering, both from the University of California, Irvine. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Alabama and California (Civil) and a Professional Transportation Planner (PTP), certified by the Institute of Transportation Engineers in Washington DC. 

Rachel Vandenberg

Vice President
AECOM

Rachel Vandenberg is vice president at AECOM, where she is responsible for the company’s North American intermodal practice. In this role, Rachel advances the development of goods movement infrastructure across marine, rail, and highway networks; leads the company’s comprehensive “Green Ports” initiative; and supports clients in defining solutions for joint rail operations.  

Rachel’s tenure with AECOM spans more than 20 years, during which she has provided engineering and project management for transportation projects across multiple modes. Her background spans the management of technical and financial studies, environmental studies, design, and construction of freight, highway, and public transportation projects for a diverse client base that includes state departments of transportation, self-help counties, local transportation agencies, Class 1 railroads, and port authorities.  Her recent projects include development of the North Carolina Maritime Strategy, a comprehensive assessment of port, waterside, and landside infrastructure needs to support the state’s maritime trade. For nearly two decades Rachel has been a project manager or principal in charge of engineering and construction management services for Southern California’s Metrolink commuter rail system, which operates jointly with UP and BNSF freight trains on some of the nation’s busiest rail corridors. Rachel also served as director of administration for the Alameda Corridor Engineering Team, where she implemented project controls, standards, and procedures to support the on-time, on-budget completion of the 20-mile consolidated freight rail corridor serving the San Pedro Bay port complex.

A licensed professional engineer, Rachel earned her civil engineering degree from UC Berkeley and an MBA in Real Estate and Finance from the Anderson School at UCLA.  Before joining AECOM, Rachel worked in San Francisco, CA as a transportation engineer at Caltrans. Ms. Vandenberg is based in AECOM’s Los Angeles, CA office.

In addition to her involvement with the Coalition for America’s Gateways and Trade Corridors (CAGTC), Rachel is an active member of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way Association (AREMA) Committee 16, Economics of Railway Engineering and Operations. She is also working with the American Roadway and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) to build its Ports and Waterways Council as a means to advocate for transportation connections and improvements at America’s seaports. Rachel serves on the board of the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and WTS.