Transportation & Infrastructure Update from DC to Your Retail Location
Breakout Session
August 11, 2020
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM

 
Joins us for a moderated panel discussion about agribusiness transportation and infrastructure issues.

Sponsored by:

1 CCA CEU - Professional Development

Moderator:  Amy Cornell, ACI President 

Speaker:  Richard Gupton, Agricultural Retailers Association

Richard Gupton, possessing more than 20 years of public policy experience, serves as ARA’s senior vice president of public policy and counsel.  Gupton represents the Ag retailers’ and distributors’ interests before the legislative and executive branches of government, working to ensure that important Ag retail-distribution issues receive fair consideration on Capitol Hill. He also manages ARAPAC, the association’s political action committee.   Prior to joining ARA, Gupton served as deputy director of agricultural finance for the Independent Community of Bankers of America (ICBA). Before ICBA, Gupton spent six years on Capitol Hill working in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives as Legislative Counsel, advising members of Congress on a wide range of policy issues such as agriculture, environment, transportation, and energy.  

Gupton is a graduate of Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, and holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is licensed to practice law in North Carolina, the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Speaker: Bryan Paskewicz, Ray-Mont Logistics


Bryan Paskewicz, Account Executive, Ray-Mont Logistics, Munster, IN. Graduate of Calumet College of St Joseph. Experienced National Accounts Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the transportation/trucking/railroad/parcel industry. Maintains and grows the containerized international agricultural export supply chain throughout North American at the Ray-Mont Logistics Company. Coordinated service design at the Canadian National Railway with carload, transload and intermodal operational, sales and marketing teams. Hobbies include spending quality time with family and reading. Skills include Negotiation, Import, Export Operations Management, Freight, Sales and Marketing. 

Speaker:  Chris Creighton, Indiana Department of Transportation

Prior to being named Chief of Staff at INDOT in June of this year, Chris served in Governor Holcomb's office since the beginning of the administration. He was Deputy Legislative Director from 2017 to 2018  and was State Legislative Director from 2018 to 2021. In these roles, Chris served as one of the Governor's chief lobbyists, policy advisors, and liaisons to the Indiana General Assembly. He also oversaw all executive branch agency legislative efforts. Previous to his service in the Holcomb administration, he was Legislative Director at the Indiana Department of Health under then Governor Mike Pence and former Health Commissioner and Surgeon General Jerome Adams.  Chris started his career as a Senate Republican Intern during the 2010 legislative session. This opportunity opened doors to do work for the Indiana Republican Party in Communications, the Indiana Senate Majority Campaign Committee as Statewide Field Director and Campaign Manager for President Pro Tem David Long, and at Hathaway Strategies as a Project Manager.

Chris is originally from Bremen, IN where he graduated from Bremen High School in 2006. He received his Associate's Degree from Holy Cross College, a Bachelor's Degree from Indiana University-South Bend, is a graduate of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in Indiana.  Chris married his wife Katie in 2017. They are new residents of McCordsville. Together they have a five month old son, Grant, and dog, Autry. In their spare time they enjoy spending time with family, friends, and rooting on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.  

Speaker:  Brendan Keener, Midwest and Bluegrass Rail


Brendan Keener is the Manager of Business Development and Government Affairs and Midwest and Bluegrass Rail, which operates two shortline railroads in Indiana, as well as others in the Midwest. Brendan is an Ohio State graduate who has been in the rail industry for eight years, starting with the Ohio Rail Development Commission, and eventually transitioning to his current role in the private freight rail sector. He resides with his wife in Central Ohio.