BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AWARD

The ASLRRA Business Development Award Competition recognizes the Class II and III railroads that have designed and enacted the most innovative and successful business-building initiatives in the small railroad industry. Three awards are given at the Connections Convention each spring. Criteria for the ASLRRA Business Development Award can be found here. Please contact Amy Krouse at akrouse@aslrra.org with any questions.

Congratulations to our 2019 Business Development Award Winners!

      
         
 
  Dave MonteVerde, President, and Dave Blount (center), Director of Business Development, Genesee Valley
Transportation Authority accept the Business Development Award on behalf of Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad
Company. Also pictured, Chuck Baker, President, ASLRRA		  
 

Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad Company 		 
  The ‘D-L’ is one of five properties owned by the Genesee Valley Transportation Authority, operating 86 miles of rail, and built from rail abandoned by Conrail. Since its inception in 1993, through good ole’ fashioned railroading, customer service and an entrepreneurial approach, the D-L has grown in carload volume by 510% through 2018. Consistent coordination and partnership with investment resources such as the Pennsylvania Rail Authority, the Scranton Chamber of Commerce, PennDOT and more were critical to its success. Approaching customers who had not been railed served in the past, and growing current customer volume, the D-L has posted a 300% increase in frac sand, 50% increase in pressure treated lumber, a 208% increase in rock salt and 400 new carloads of paper products. Click here to view the awards video from ASLRRA 2019 CONNECTIONS Convention.  
     
 
         
       
      Todd Trammel, General Manager and Kurtis Lindsey (center), Commercial Manager accept the Business Development Award on behalf of Texas & New Mexico Railway. Also pictured, Chuck Baker, President, ASLRRA

Texas & New Mexico Railway
Shifting needs in the Permian Basin oil fields resulted in a win for Texas & New Mexico Railway. Rail delivered frac sand was shifting to truck delivery, and inbound pipeline diesel was being shipped in from other parts of Texas and Oklahoma, an unsustainable model. Outbound crude oil was exceeding the capacity of the takeaway pipelines, resulting in crude being left stranded. Partnering with UP, the idle Wink Terminal was put into service, and DOT 117 tank cars were made available. Within 120 days of project start, round trips of crude oil shipping out and diesel shipping in were beginning to roll on Texas & New Mexico Railway lines. In the first four months, 4,000 carloads of crude were shipped, creating a new long-term sustainable business, and improving the overall area economy. Click here to view the awards video from ASLRRA 2019 CONNECTIONS Convention.
     

 

 
    Shasta Duffey, Vice President Marketing & Sales, accepted the Business Development Award
on behalf of Lake State Railway. Also pictured, Chuck Baker, President, ASLRRA		  

Lake State Railway

  
During a planned outage at customer Weyerhaeuser in Grayling, Michigan, Lake State Railway identified an opportunity to help provide local lumber to a Weyerhaeuser facility in Heaters, WV. West Virginia had been severely impacted by Hurricane Florence and without local logs, the Heaters plant would have to furlough workers. The solution included partner CSX in providing advantageous pricing, CN in supplying the needed specialty equipment, and Lake State Railway locating a loading facility in Michigan. As a result, 40,000 tons of logs rolled from Michigan to West Virginia, keeping workers employed, and creating a new long-haul business for Lake State Railway. Click here to view the awards video from ASLRRA 2019 CONNECTIONS Convention.  
     

Previous Award Winners

Please click here to view a list of previous ASLRRA Business Development Award Winners.