The Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) at its Annual Membership Meeting in Orlando, Fla., inaugurated Whitmore Rail Director of Railroad Sales Bruce Wise as President, for a two-year term beginning on Jan. 1, 2017.
Current President Trent Marshall, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer-Maintenance-of-Way at Progress Rail Services, will continue to advise as Past President for the next two years. Marshall will replace current Past President John Fox, Vice President Marketing and Sales NARSTCO. Fox has been on the REMSA Board of Directors since 2009 and served as REMSA President from 2013 to 2014. “His leadership has been integral to the growth of association over the past eight years,” said REMSA Executive Director David Tennent.
Wise, who has served as Whitmore Rail’s Director of Railroad Sales since 2011, is responsible for overseeing the company’s global railroad operations of the company. He serves a member of the AREMA Technical Committee 4 – Rail.
“Trent’s term as President was a resounding success for our organization,” said Tennent. “His leadership and creativity helped launch several membership value initiatives that have paid dividends to our members. I wanted to personally thank Trent for his service. We are looking forward to continuing to grow our organization and push our industry forward with Bruce Wise as President.”
REMSA also unanimously elected two new Directors to its Board. Nate Bachman, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Georgetown Rail Equipment; and Greg Spilker, Vice President, Encore Rail Systems, will officially join the Board on Jan. 1, 2017, each serving two-year terms. REMSA also thanked Phil Pietrandrea, President, UNITRAC Railroad Materials, whose term on the Board of Directors expires at the end of this year.
“We are pleased to welcome Nate Bachman to our organization and former REMSA Board Director Greg Spilker back for another term,” said Tennent. “However, they will have big shoes to fill as we are saddened to see John Fox and Phil Pietrandrea leave us. We thank them for their dedicated service to REMSA.”
REMSA is a non-profit trade group representing more than 350 railway engineers, contractors, consultants and maintenance-of-way suppliers across the country. The $5 billion railroad maintenance-of-way industry supports more than 35,000 jobs nationwide. REMSA held its Annual Membership Meeting in conjunction with the AREMA Annual Conference and Exposition.