A chief executive officer post is among the job opportunities available in this week's classifieds!

More than 100 board members and support staff heard from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and other speakers during the 2010 APTA Transit Board Members Seminar and Board Support Employee Development Workshop, July 17-20 in Eugene, OR, hosted by the Lane Transit District (LTD). The senator discussed the role of public transportation in creating jobs and supporting the U.S. economy.

The board members heard about environmental issues from a panel including moderator Fred Hansen, former general manager of Portland’s Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon; Lynn Peterson, chair, Clackamas County Board of Commissioners; Rob Zako, a transportation consultant in Eugene, OR; John A. Somers, director, transit business development, for Clean Energy; and Bernard Blanchet, regional representative, Region VII, APTA Transit Board Members Committee, and borough councilor/board member, Societé de transport de Montréal, QC.

Doran Barnes, executive director of Foothill Transit in West Covina, CA, spoke about the final report of APTA’s blue-ribbon panel on workforce development. He explained that, with a nationwide convergence of high levels of interest in an environmentally sustainable economy and public transportation, many new jobs will become available in the field. The World War II and boomer generations will eventually retire, he said, so “now, not in five years, is our time to listen to what is important for a next generation workforce.”

Mary Spilde, Ph.D., past chair of the American Association of Community Colleges and president of Lane Community College in Eugene, offered remarks about the importance of community colleges in preparing the workforce and how transit agencies can partner with such institutions “to assure that the public transportation industry has the workers it needs to meet your mission and that together we also do great things in service to our communities.” She added: “I believe in education for the top 100 percent.”

Other major sessions included “Telling Our Story,” moderated by APTA Chair M.P. Carter and including remarks from LTD Board Vice President Greg Evans, M.Ed., Region VI regional representative to the APTA Transit Board Members Committee; “Crisis Management for Board Members”; and presentations by the Eno Transportation Foundation and National Transit Institute. LTD hosted tours of its Emerald Express (EmX) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)  A surprise guest—Mike Bellotti, college football analyst for ESPN and former head coach for the University of Oregon—presented remarks on leadership, team building, personal development, and coaching.

Sessions at the Board Support Employee Development Workshop included “Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders” and “Flourishing in the Workplace: Living from Your Truest Yes.” LTD hosted a tour of its board facilities.

Photo by Huelon Harrison Keynote speaker Mary Spilde, Ph.D., center, speaks with APTA Chair M.P, Carter, left, and Gloria Leonard, chair of the APTA Transit Board Members Committee and a board member with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

 

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