APTA Business Members Discuss Priorities and Opportunities

Approximately 130 APTA business members met in Rio Grande, PR, Jan. 23-26, for APTA’s 2024 Business Members Annual Meeting.

APTA Chair Michele Wong Krause and President and CEO Paul P. Skoutelas joined Business Members Board of Governors (BMBG) officers Buddy Coleman, chief customer officer, Clever Devices; Ray Melleady, executive vice president, United Safety & Survivability Corporation; Raquel Olivier, president/CEO, Olivier Incorporated; and Eve Williams president/chief executive officer, Dikita Engineering, in welcoming the most diverse group of attendees ever.

Discussions and sessions focused on defining key business member priorities, supply chain and manufacturing challenges, and approving business member activity fund activities for the year.

The BMBG approved a budget for business member committees that included extensive advocacy, workforce development and small-business initiatives, as well as funding for speakers at major APTA meetings; supporting transit ballot initiatives and pREES conferences; and a number of small-business; student member; and diversity, equity, and inclusion networking functions.

Eight public transit agency CEOs joined the meeting to discuss capital opportunities at their organizations and to promote better understanding of the procurement processes at many transit agencies.

In addition to meetings and educational sessions, the conference included a half-day of public service, planting trees in the hurricane ravaged El Yunque rainforest, and a half-day tour of public transportation facilities and equipment in San Juan.