Tri-City Railroad hires former Union Pacific manager as new COO and Vice President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tri-City Railroad hires former Union Pacific manager as new COO and Vice President
Richland, WA - March 3rd, 2015 -Tri-City Railroad Company, is excited to announce the hiring of former Union Pacific short line manager John Miller as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. With current business advancements, John’s knowledge, leadership, and 40 years of rail industry experience will be key in propelling Tri-City Railroad into its next phase of development and growth.
John started his career with the Milwaukee Road Railroad in June 1974 in the internal auditing department and transferred into the Accounting Department in 1978. John became Manager – Budget and Responsibility Accounting in March 1979 and in addition assumed the Disbursement Accounting function in 1983. John was responsible for the consolidation, preparation, and monitoring of the company’s $400 million operating expense budget, preparation of the company’s book cash forecasts, and all accounts payable functions of the company, including invoice processing, general ledger account reconciliation and accounting for material and supplies inventory. John was a key member of the team involved in the five-year business planning process that culminated in the development of the successful plan of reorganization from bankruptcy. The Milwaukee Road was then acquired by the Soo Line Railroad in 1985 and John was the primary accounting person responsible for coordinating the transfer of accounting functions from one railroad to the other. At Soo Line John was responsible for Disbursements and Billing and later Property Accounting. In 1986 John took a position as Director – Finance and Accounting for Lake States Division where he was responsible for the accounting function for a separate 1800 mile $85 million profit center. Lake States was put out to bid and was eventually acquired as Wisconsin Central Railroad. John took a position with WC in 1987 as its Director –General and Property Accounting and developed and implemented its general ledger and associated peripheral systems. He was responsible for the preparation and consolidation of
financial statements and the preparation of the company’s operating and capital budgets. John moved to California in 1990 and worked for Southern Pacific Railroad until it was acquired by Union Pacific in 1996. John held several positions at SP and at the time of the merger John was the Director of Budgets for Distribution Services. While at UP john moved into the Short Line Marketing Group in 1999 as Manager – Short Line Development and has held that position until accepting his current position with TCRY. While working in the short line group John managed the relationships with approx. 60 short line railroads, including commercial rate negotiations, equipment agreements, branch line sales and leases, and developing business jointly with UP’s short line partners.
John graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh in 1974 with a BBA in Accounting and received a MBA in Finance from DePaul University in 1985. John is married with one daughter who is graduating from the University of Nebraska – Omaha in May and desires to continue her education at the Washington State University School of Veterinary Medicine. John likes to read, enjoys golf, and likes to travel with his family, especially on cruises. Being from Wisconsin he is an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers.
Tri-City Railroad is a locally owned short-line railroad operating on the former Hanford Department of Energy rail line, owned by the Port of Benton. Tri-City Railroad operates and maintains the rail line through a long-term lease agreement with the Port. Serving the Tri-Cities for over 15 years, Tri-City Railroad’s red, white, and blue locomotives make daily runs from Richland to Kennewick interchanging with the Union Pacific. For additional information about Tri-City Railroad, please visit www.tcry.com.
Contact: Rydel Peterson
rydel@tcry.com
509.460.0523
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