Metro News Release

For immediate release: September 25, 2003

Congressional Black Caucus and COMTO sponsor transportation braintrust meeting on minority recruitment

Tomorrow, September 26, the Congressional Black Caucus and the National Conference of Minority Transportation Officials will sponsor the CBC/COMTO Transportation Braintrust meeting focusing on the topic, "Minority Recruitment and Workforce Diversity in Transportation." This meeting will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the new Washington Convention Center, Room 143B, as part of the Congressional Black Caucus’ 2003 Annual Legislative Conference. "COMTO is partnering with the CBC on this critically important issue as one of the primary national advocates for effective minority representation in the transportation and transit-related industry," stated Brett M. Tyler, President, Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Chapter of COMTO, National COMTO Board Member, and Manager of Metro’s Corporate and. Retail Sales. Approximately 150 Metro employees are members of the local D.C. COMTO chapter, making it the second largest chapter in the nation, behind only New Jersey’s chapter. It was the D.C. COMTO Chapter, which along with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority sponsored the highly rated National COMTO Conference in mid-July. Representative Elijah Cummings, 7th Congressional District, Maryland, will provide the welcome and greetings. The focus of the Braintrust Meeting will be a panel discussion on strategic recruitment efforts to attract and promote minorities to the transportation industry and to senior-level management positions within the industry. Loretta Kirk, Deputy General Manager of the Greater Cleveland Rail Transit Authority and National COMTO Board Chair, will moderate two panels, both which will discuss this issue as it relates to succession planning, workforce diversity, and recruiting. Panel 1 members will consist of Rodney M. Slater, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Partner, Patton Boggs LLP, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Thomas W. Sanchez, Professor, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Alexandria, Virginia; Dr. Clarence W. Hill, Executive Director, James E. Clyburn, University Transportation Center, South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, South Carolina; Karen Price-Ward, Mid-Atlantic District Marketing Manager, Southwest Airlines, Columbia, Maryland; Andrella Bayliss, President/CEO, Computer Intelligence2, Atlanta, Georgia; and Michael Townes, President/CEO, Hampton Roads Transit, Hampton, Virginia. Panel 2 will consist of William D. Smith, President, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., New York, New York; Clyde J. Hart, Jr., Vice President, Government Affairs, American Bus Association; Gloria Jeff, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing, Michigan; James Cheeks, Standards Development Manager, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Washington, D.C.; and Gerri Mason Hall, Vice President of Business Diversity, AMTRAK, Washington, D.C. Each panel discussion will last for one hour, followed by a 20-minute Q&A. Julie Cunningham, COMTO Executive Director/CEO, will make a presentation to the CBC at 12:30 p.m., the end of the day’s discussion.About COMTO: Founded in 1971 at Howard University in Washington, DC, COMTO was created to provide a forum for senior minority professionals in the transportation industry. Since then, its mandate has evolved to include professionals at every level in transportation as well as transportation-related businesses and organizations. The Metropolitan D.C. Chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials, birthplace of National COMTO, hosted the 2003 National COMTO Meeting and Training Conference with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and its co-host Maryland chapter and represents transportation intermodalism at its best. COMTO has 27 local chapters with more than 2,200 members in major cities throughout the United States, and is widely recognized for its national and local programs; as a resource for creating opportunities in the transportation industry for minorities; and for providing scholarships, networking, training, and educational opportunities.

News release issued on September 25, 2003.