Annual Meeting Set for January 29 30 in Arizona

TEGMA’s Board of Directors has set January 29 and 30, 2009 as the date for the association’s annual meeting.  The meeting will be held at Marriott’s Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona.  The meeting general sessions will be held on Thursday afternoon, January 29, and Friday morning, January 30.  The hotel room rate is $249 per night.

Speakers already confirmed for the meeting include:

• Darius W. Gaskins, Jr.  Gaskins, a partner at Norbridge, Inc., provides senior counsel on regulatory and public policy issues in the transportation and energy industries.  He is well-known for his tenure as president and CEO of the Burlington Northern Railroad from 1985 to 1989.  It was during this time the BN developed and began trading Certificates of Transportation or COTS.   He will look at current rail issues, including structure and trends.
• Randall Jones, deputy administrator, Federal Grain Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Jones will provide an overview of changes in the inspection system and current issues.
• Bill Lapp, principal, Advanced Economic Solutions.  The firm provides economic and commodity analysis to a broad range of clients in the food, financial, and producer communities.  Lapp is a former chief economist for ConAgra Foods.  He will review the supply and demand situation for grains and related issues.
• Dave Lehman, director, Commodity Research and Product Development, CME Group.  Lehman will review the performance of the agricultural markets and discuss potential contract changes.
  

Additional meeting speakers will be announced shortly.  The 2009 meeting will mark the first time in perhaps 50 years that TEGMA has not held its annual meeting in conjunction with the National Grain Trade Council or its successor, Commodity Markets Council.  Further details for the meeting are available on-line at www.tegma.org.