02 Fall 2
Cohort 21 T R A N S P O R TAT I O N & S U P P L Y C H A I N I N S T I T U T E AT T H E UNIVERSIT Y OF DENVER
2
Welcome to Denver
Cohort 21 Student Profiles
Brad Butterwick Matt Casey Judith Espino Lara Gardner Ean Johnson Bill Jones Matt McGuire Keelin McNally
Jaspreet Pannu Scott Rhodes Zach Roberts Victor Salazar Ben Strickler Lisa Svetlovics Erin Thill
Cohort 21 Brad Butterwick Canadian National General Manager of Operation Brad Butterwick is a General Manager of Operation located in Vancouver, BC. He is responsible for the safe operation of trains carrying customer products within North America, in addition to providing a safe work force for our employees in Transportation, Engineering and Mechanical. The majority of Brad’s career has been in Transportation, Engineering and Mechanical. He started his career 30 years ago in Engineering. He continued to pursue other opportunities with Transportation as a Conductor located in Vancouver, BC. He started his Management career at CN in 2001 as a Transportation Supervisor. Over time, he continued to accept roles with additional responsibility up to and including General Manager in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2020, Brad accepted a position as Chief Mechanical Officer responsible for mechanical maintenance, overhauls and locomotive availability for Canada and the United States. Brad is currently working in Vancouver, BC as a General Manager. He is looking to broaden his experience in Transportation, Finance and Marketing throughout Western Canada. All these roles have given Brad a unique perspective of the railway industry.
Cohort 21 Matt Casey Air Canada Managing Director, Commercial - Cargo Matthieu leads the commercial branch within the Cargo division at Air Canada. In this role, Matthieu oversees Global Sales, Customer Service, Cargo Marketing and Products and the Revenue Management and Business Intelligence units. With over 25 years of industry experience, Matthieu has spent the last 12 at Air Canada Cargo in various commercial roles both with Canadian and Global responsibility. Prior to joining Air Canada, Matthieu held roles in the commercial organization and Business Intelligence Services unit at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as well as various commercial and customer facing roles and marketing roles within the airline industry. Born from a francophone mother and anglophone father and raised and schooled mainly in French, Matthieu is a very typical bilingual Montrealer and proud French-Canadian. He is the father of three children (two girls and one boy), all of whom play ice sports and he himself plays adult ice hockey as well as tennis and loves to ski with the whole family whenever he can.
Cohort 21 Judith Espino Kansas City Southern General Manager Network Operation Center MX Judith Espino joined KCS in December 2006, starting her railroad career in Customer Solutions as a part time trainee while still pursuing her Bachelor degree in International Marketing. After six months, she was hired full time as a Customer Service Representative, a position she held for three years. This period allowed her to have direct contact with our customers, understand their needs, and support them as much as possible to deliver a satisfactory service experience. In 2010, Judith moved over to the Service Design team and spent a total of nine years in this department. During this time, she was promoted twice, first to Service Design supervisor and later on to Service Design Manager for the Mexico network. Working in this area facilitated building good relationships and strong collaboration dynamics with other departments such as Business Excellence and Transportation. As a result, Judith then joined Business Excellence in 2019. For over a year, she worked side by side with Transportation on different process improvement projects in multiple yards such as Escobedo, San Luis Potosi, Sanchez, Laredo, etc. By 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, Judith transitioned to the Transportation team as Superintendent of Border Operations. Reporting directly to the General Manger of the border division, she worked in the field and had responsibilities from Laredo TX to Benjamin Mendez CU and the F line corridor from Matamoros to Monterrey, including Brownsville/Matamoros gateway. Fast forward to current role, since Aug 2021, Judith is part of the Network Operations group and is in charge of the NOC in Mexico including the Crew Management office, both based in Monterrey, NL. Judith has earned an MBA degree from Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM) in 2013, an internal certification of the Lean/Six Sigma methodology in 2014, and most recently, was recognized as a Rising Star of the industry (class of 2021) by Progressive Railroading magazine. With over 15 years of experience in five different departments, Judith continues to learn and develop as a leader and a transportation professional, looking forward to the exciting future of CPKC.
Cohort 21 Lara Gardner J.B. Hunt Transport Director II, Intermodal Network Planning Lara Gardner is currently a Network Planning Director within the Intermodal Division at J.B. Hunt Transport. J.B. Hunt is founded on innovation, disruption, and service, where the mission is to create the most efficient transportation network in North America. In line with the mission statement, Lara’s primary objective is to increase equipment efficiency and utilization across the company’s growing and expansive intermodal container network. During her 14-year tenure at J.B. Hunt, she has worked within Customer Experience, Dedicated Contract Services, Intermodal Dray Operations, and most recently Intermodal Corporate Operations. Early within Lara’s career she had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience building and fostering customer relationships while working on site at a multitude of different retail, foodservice, and agricultural customers. These operational experiences also placed her varying leadership roles within the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Kansas City, St. Louis, and Northwest Arkansas. Lara is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a Bachelor of Science in Human Resources Management. After 10 years in field operations, she relocated back to Northwest Arkansas in 2021 and currently resides in Bentonville, AR. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 5-year-old son and exploring the great outdoors in the natural state.
Cohort 21 Ean Johnson OmniTRAX Vice President, Industrial Development Ean Johnson serves as Vice President, Industrial Development for OmniTRAX, one of the largest private railroad and transportation management companies in the United States. In this position, he works at the intersection of customer and community to lead the company’s economic development across its 23-property footprint. Ean is also responsible for execution of the firm’s business attraction strategy via site selection, economic development, and government sales channels. Ean also works with OmniTRAX served communities in preparation to embrace rail-related growth. Prior to his role with OmniTRAX, Ean served the BNSF Railway Economic Development organization, where he aided in the generation of over seven billion dollars in capital investment and 3,500 jobs by rail-served customers, from more than 100 projects. A native of Ohio, Ean is a graduate of Wright State University with a degree in Economics. Ean has economic development experience at the municipal and regional levels in Ohio and New York. He also worked at the United States Economic Development Administration in the state of Illinois as an economic development representative. Ean earned his certified economic developer designation from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in 2016. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for IEDC. Ean resides in Akron, Ohio with his wife Wakita, son Eiden, and Snow, their West Highland Terrier.
Cohort 21 Bill Jones TTX Intermodal Equipment Manager Bill Jones attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for Undergrad, earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Communication. Shortly after graduating from the U of I Bill began his career at TTX Company in the Automotive Department as a Logistics Coordinator, responsible for communications with Toyota and Chrysler on empty railcar supply. While working in the Automotive Department Bill attended Benedictine University to pursue an MBA with a concentration in Operations Management and Logistics. After three years in the automotive group Bill was promoted to Assistant Manager in the General Equipment group, responsible for boxcars, gondolas, and military chain flats as well as being the Pool Manager for the North American Boxcar Pool. Bill was later promoted to Manager of General Equipment where he led a small team overseeing the daily distribution and customer support needs of TTX’s General Merchandise fleet which also included CenterBeams, Bulkheads, Heavy Duty Flats cars and misc. Flatcars. Bill spent 7 years on the General Equipment team and has recently transitioned to TTX’s intermodal team where he is currently the Intermodal Equipment Manager, overseeing the weekly distribution of Intermodal Wells and assisting the railroads with any carmanagement issues that may arise.
Cohort 21 Matt McGuire DCLI Sr. Manager M&R Matt is the Sr. Manager, M&R for the Northeast Region at DCLI, the largest provider of marine and domestic container chassis to the U.S. intermodal industry. Starting as an Operations Management Trainee in 2016 with DCLI, Matt has quickly worked his way to Sr. Manager and is responsible for all Maintenance and Repair operations for approximately 10,000 domestic and international chassis. Matt is based in Elizabeth, NJ, however his time is split between various ports, rails, and depot locations throughout the Northeast region. Matt was born and raised in the small town of Easton, MD and went on to attend Towson University where he received his bachelor’s degree. In his free time, you will most likely find Matt enjoying an outdoor activity or attending a sporting event.
Cohort 21 Keelin McNally UPS Marketing Manager As a Field Marketing Manager at UPS, Keelin combines market insights, competitor assessments, internal performance metrics, and future business plans to develop targeted sales enablement strategies to grow UPS’s market share in the small and medium customer segment. Since starting her career at UPS in 2012, Keelin has co-founded a local UPS Toastmasters group and organized volunteer opportunities through her various leadership positions within internal business resource groups. She has also provided operational assistance at UPS facilities, including sorting, loading, and delivering packages during peak seasons. Keelin holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management Information Systems from Butler University. Keelin currently resides in Indianapolis, IN. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, and playing with her one-year-old goldendoodle.
Cohort 21 Jaspreet Pannu Kansas City Southern Senior Manager Jaspreet Pannu is an experienced senior manager within the railroad industry since 2013 where he first began as a Conductor. Mr. Pannu has more than 15 years of experience in progressively senior positions executing operations through a blended delivery framework in the transportation and logistics sector. Mr. Pannu has demonstrated transformational leadership focused on achieving both quantitative and qualitative results. Mr. Pannu has a proven track record of creating and implanting interdependent multi-agency safety success in some of the most challenging operating environments. Furthermore, Mr. Pannu embodies a high level of integrity and believes in inclusivity and diversity in the workplace.
Cohort 21 Scott Rhodes Port of Virginia Director of Breakbulk & Inland Terminals Scott Rhodes currently holds the position of Director of Breakbulk & Inland Terminals for The Port of Virginia. In this role, he is responsible for operations at three unique facilities: Newport News Marine Terminal is the primary breakbulk and RORO facility in the port’s network, Richmond Marine Terminal is a barge served container terminal that also hosts various warehousing and breakbulk customers, as well as the rail served Virginia Inland Port. In addition, Scott manages the tug and barge service offering provided to Port of Virginia customers between the mainline container terminals and RMT. Prior to his tenure at the Port of Virginia, Scott started his career as an Assistant Operations Manager for APM Terminals before moving to a Port Captain role with Mediterranean Shipping Company. After this stop, he managed on dock warehousing operations for the Montreal-based Logistec Corporation, followed by four years at T. Parker Host’s terminal operating subsidiary, Host Terminals. In this role, he spent time traveling to multiple operations along the East and Gulf coasts both developing and managing bulk and breakbulk terminal operations. Scott currently resides in Norfolk, Va with his wife Lindsay and their two daughters. A former collegiate swimmer at The College of William and Mary, he still enjoys participating and competing when time allows although a new found beach volleyball passion sometimes interferes.
Cohort 21 Zach Roberts J.B. Hunt Transport Director II, Intermodal – Temperature Controlled Intermodal Zach Roberts grew up in Roland, OK and attended Oklahoma State University where he majored in Industrial Engineering & Management. Zach has been with JB Hunt for 9 years and currently leads their Temperature Controlled Intermodal operations. He has been married to his beautiful wife Mallori for 7 years and has 2 children, Hadley and Nolan. Zach and Mallori enjoy traveling to Colorado to ski and spend most of their weekends at home enjoying time around the pool, going to the farmer's market and hanging out at the park.
Cohort 21 Victor Salazar Alianza Trayecto International CCO Victor Salazar, born in Monterrey, Mexico in April 1967. Married with four sons, two daughters in law and two grandsons. He has lived the last 30 years in the southern border cities of Laredo TX and Nuevo Laredo Mexico. Victor has been involved in the transportation industry for 40 years in areas like: Fleet Maintenance, Operations, Finance, Sales, Driver’s development, Safety and Security. As the global supply chain has evolved during the years and its global and local challenges with it, Victor has focused to develop effective teams, promote teamwork, and align procedures and IT software with the company strategies.
Cohort 21 Ben Strickler Hub Group Senior Vice President of Logistics Ben Strickler is currently serving as the Senior Vice President of Logistics at Hub Group, a Transportation Management Company, focused on providing high quality solutions with long-term value. Hub Group’s mission strives to continuously elevate our clients supply chain processes to drive success. As the acting Senior Vice President of Logistics at Hub Group, Ben is responsible for the development, execution and growth associated with Managed Transportation Services. Some of his notable collaborations include Harbor Freight, Lowe’s, Big Lots, Kimberley Clark, Nestle and TJX. Before leading Hub Groups Managed Transportation Services, Ben served as the Associate Vice President of Dedicated Sales for Hub Group’s 2017 acquisition of Estenson Logistics, a dedicated contract carrier. His contributions contributed to the establishment of a go to market pricing and commercial strategy that fit in within Hub Group’s existing suite of transportation services.
Cohort 21 Lisa Svetlovics Schneider National Intermodal Network Director Lisa Svetlovics is a Network Director in the Intermodal division at Schneider National. She is responsible for maximizing driver and asset utilization while meeting the service expectations of her customers. She currently has accountability for the West Coast markets but has experience with all markets in the Intermodal network through various roles she has held during her career. The majority of Lisa’s career has been spent in Intermodal. She started at Schneider 24 years ago in Ohio kicking off her career as a Transportation Specialist and over the course of the next 6 years moved up in the organization becoming a Driver Manager and eventually an Account Service Manager. In 2005 Lisa moved to Green Bay, WI to work at the Schneider corporate office. After arriving in Green Bay, Lisa became an Intermodal Equipment Manager managing the division’s trailing assets. Lisa really enjoyed working in the Intermodal side of the business and would remain in that division for the next 17 years. However, she continued to broaden her experience by moving into other roles such as Tractor Manager, Market Manager and even spent 2 years as a Revenue Management Director. Each of these roles has given Lisa a unique perspective of the business setting her up well for the Network Director role she has held for the last 5 years in which she manages all aspects of the business for her area.
Cohort 21 Erin Thill Hub Group Vice President, Program & Change Management Erin Thill is the Vice President of Program and Change Management at Hub Group, a transportation management company delivering an optimized blend of intermodal, truckload, and logistics services to meet customers’ individual shipping needs. Erin grew up in a small town in Northwest Illinois and played multiple sports resulting in a successful collegiate volleyball career. Erin began her career working for a Commercial Real Estate company before joining Hub Group in 2015. During her tenure at Hub Group, she has worked with Customer Success, Account Management, and Business Transformation teams. Erin currently oversees a Customer Success team that delivers a streamlined onboarding experience for customers to ensure successful new business execution across departments. As part of Erin’s role, she enjoys implementing innovative technology solutions to drive improved productivity and developing a positive user experience for Hub Group’s customers.