Holland & Knight Joins Forces with COMTO
March 7, 2005
Washington D.C. – The Conference of Minority Transportation Officials
(COMTO) and Holland & Knight LLP announced today that Holland & Knight has been
retained by COMTO for the development and implementation of a five-year
strategic plan. The resulting plan will refine COMTO’s purpose, mission, goals,
programs, structure and staffing, and guide the development of its activity
plans and annual budgets through 2009.
“Holland & Knight will be a vital partner in our efforts to build the ‘Next
Generation COMTO’,” said Julie Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of COMTO. “Having
nearly doubled our number of chapters in just over two years, we can clearly
benefit from the firm’s national scope and organizational expertise as we shape
our short and long-term strategies.” Holland & Knight will provide business
development counsel to COMTO and assist the organization in growing its
membership nationwide.
“We can assist COMTO in building strategic partnerships with political
constituencies on Capitol Hill and throughout the United States,” said Jeffrey
Boothe, Chair of Holland & Knight’s Transportation policy practice.
“We are looking forward to guiding the organization’s program development and
membership recruitment efforts, with a focus on targeting Small and
Disadvantaged Business Enterprises,” added Sophia Nelson, senior counsel on
Holland & Knight’s Public Policy and Regulation Team.
COMTO is aggressively expanding its membership beyond its traditional
boundaries, and proactively reaching out to all minority groups. The
organization plans to increase its membership recruitment efforts across all
types of transportation: air, rail, interstate, etc. Though already thousands
strong, COMTO’s current membership is a small portion of the minorities that are
employed in the transportation industry and the businesses that serve that
industry. Capturing a larger percentage of those minorities and businesses is a
top priority of the organization.
The strategic planning partnership between COMTO and Holland & Knight will
craft the programs and activities that will provide optimal professional
benefits to existing and prospective COMTO members. It will also create the
‘Next Generation COMTO,’ a professional organization with the infrastructure and
resources to sustain those programs and activities in the future.
About COMTO: Since 1971, COMTO has actively promoted the meaningful
participation of minority groups in federal, state, local and private
transportation operations and industries. With 35 chapters across the country,
the organization is nationally recognized for its professional
development, transportation education, scholarship, research and
Minority-/Women-/Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programs.
Contact: Beth Salvosa, (202) 663-7240