(Leadership Circle, Continued from pg 1)
the day-long meeting, co-hosted by member company SunLine Transit Agency and CALSTART, in Thousand Palms, California.
CALSTART Board of Directors John Boesel CALSTART Michael G. Britt, Sr. United Parcel Service Jack Broadbent Bay Area Air Quality Management District Caroline Choi Southern California Edison Karen Hamberg Westport W. Brian Olson Quantum Puon Penn Wells Fargo Jeffrey Reed, Ph.D. Sempra Energy Paul Rivera, Ricardo Dipender Saluja Capricorn Investment Group Paul Smith New Flyer George Survant Time Warner Cable Chairperson Steve Trichka BAE Systems
follow-up summit to the 2012 one in Sacramento. This year’s summit, to be held on March 7, will be attended by key decision-makers from the Governor’s office who will listen to recommendations on updating the ZEV Action Plan. Crowfoot urged stakeholders to make our technologies tangible to policy makers in Sacramento in 2014 by committing to go to Sacramento a few times during the coming year. The Leadership Circle is a member benefit reserved for Full Service and Board of Director member companies. The next meeting will be June 10 at Ricardo Inc. in Van Buren Township, Michigan.
Industry Leaders at HTUF 2013
The meeting kicked off with welcoming remarks from SunLine Transit General Manager Lauren Skiver and CALSTART President and CEO John Boesel. The two featured panels of the day focused on zero and near-zero emission vehicles with one panel emphasizing light-duty and the other medium-and heavy-duty. Speakers included representatives from BAE Systems, Ford Motor Company, Gateway Cities Council of Governments, General Motors, Los Angeles Metro, New Flyer Industries, Southern California Edison, SunLine Transit and Toyota Motors. Time was also allotted for discussions about policy trends in California, the Northeastern states and on the federal level. Wade Crowfoot, Senior Adviser to California Governor Jerry Brown, was the keynote speaker and, in a lively discussion, he addressed the Governor’s Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan, cap-and-trade investments and nearterm direction for vehicle and fuel policy. Related to ZEVs, he encouraged interested parties to plan to attend a
F e b r u a r y / M a r ch 2 0 1 4 ▪ P a g e 4
(US VIP, continued from pg 1)
The organizing meeting brought together a core group of companies and fleets to discuss and commit to becoming charter members and supporters of the multiyear initiative. Charter level participants will contribute funding for the effort and determine markets, strategies and which technologies and fuels to prioritize. The strong commitment from the first group was sufficient to move the initiative forward. Next steps include finalizing the US VIP Charter member agreement, researching first potential market targets and setting a follow-on meeting to make decisions on the first two incentive regions to work. Future meetings are open only to contributing members, but additional charter members are still welcome. Join the initiative! Contact Bill Van Amburg (bvanamburg@calstart.org or 626-7445650) or Kevin Beaty (kbeaty@calstart.org or 626-744-5603) to secure a seat at the decision table that will create new incentive markets.