congressional committees or regulatory agencies because they represent a large group of employees,” he explained. Tat can go a long way in proving why more support is needed. Te first few years consisted of laying down the groundwork of
the council, including setting up the bylaws and recruiting mem- bers, something that was not very difficult for Paul, as he knew many of the major players in the bus industry from his career reporting on both school transportation and public transit. “Many of those people were also involved with APTA [the
American Public Transportation Association], and some were even on the Associate Board of Governors,” said Paul. “We were recruiting people right, left and center.”
“Vendors are very influential members when testifying before congressional committees or regulatory agencies because they represent a large group of employees.”
— Bill Paul
Currently, there are approximately 60 members of the council,
and, although some members compete against each other, meet- ings remain neutral as the different representatives discuss how they can work together to benefit the work done by the state directors and the industry as a whole. “It is one of the few times that competitors work in conjunc-
tion to support NASDPTS and the school bus industry to ensure the industry is strong while keeping the cargo it carries safe,” said David Harden, IC Bus’ assistant vice president of bus sales for North America and the current chair of the Supplier Council, who is currently focusing on increasing membership. “Tis will hopefully raise the awareness of the organization, which in turn should help to bring more members, which ultimately leads to more support for NASDPTS and the industry itself.” Other members, like Bob Rubin of Easy Way Safety Services, see
the group as both a direct link to other vendors as well as a pipeline to the state directors. He said he believes more exposure of what they do will maintain a continued interest in the Supplier Council. “As a volunteer organization, we must keep our name and mes-
sage in front of the vendor community,” said Rubin. “Te goals of the council are to continue our relationship with school districts, to help provide funds for the districts and to build a cohesive group on the vendor side for the future of the Supplier Council.” ■
www.stnonline.com 27
Oct10_STN.indb 27 9/14/10 12:17 PM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88