A Letter from the ARDA President
Dear ARDA Members, Sponsors, and Supporters,
We are entering the 119th year of the American Railway Development Association. That is incredible when you stop to think about it. As our mission statement states, we exist “to foster the industrial, real estate, natural resources, market development activities and environmental concerns of the North American railroads.” The rail world has changed over the past 119 years, but we as an organization stay committed to supporting and growing the rail industry. As part of this commitment, ARDA is excited to host two dynamic events in 2025: The Executive Forum, taking place February 3rd-5th in Atlanta, GA, and the Annual Meeting, set for mid-July in St. Louis, MO. Please mark your calendars to reserve these dates and plan to attend. Our most recent events in Minneapolis and Fort Worth generated great momentum for our organization thanks to the excellent leadership of Alanna Strohecker, our Board of Directors and our Section leadership. Thank you, Alanna! We are also very thankful for the outstanding support we receive from our management company, Twelve One Collective. Thank you, Ashley and Claudia!
We have the opportunity leading up to these two events to expand our visibility through increased activity on our LinkedIn page and also as you advocate for ARDA within your work communities. Our membership is a rich collective of experiences, skills and expertise, representing many companies. The time spent together at our events is our chance to build relationships with the shared goal of elevating the rail industry. The theme we will focus on in 2025 is Confluence – bringing ideas and people together.
As many of you know, ARDA exists financially through the strong support of its sponsors. We are very grateful for the individuals and organizations who enable us to organize and plan events which bring us all together. Please consider joining the ranks of sponsors who have allowed us to carry on the mission of ARDA for so many years. Please take a moment to review our Sponsorship Pledge Form, and feel free to reach out with any questions.
Can you think of individuals or organizations who could add value to our work and who could also benefit from the networking and speaker content from our events? We will be contacting you later this month as part of our membership drive beginning in mid-October. There will also be communication regarding registration and hotel-block info for the Atlanta Executive Forum. We are extremely excited to host this event in Norfolk Southern’s new corporate headquarters. It will be a fabulous start to ARDA’s 2025 cycle of events.
Again, we collectively have such great reach and experience in the rail industry. Let’s pull together to make 2025 our most innovative and impactful year yet. Please share with us your suggestions, comments or concerns regarding ARDA so we can grow our membership and increase the value of our time together. ([email protected])
This will be a great year. I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.
Chris Ingraham
President - ARDA
