From the Editor: Julie Sneider — 15 years of journalistic integrity

Progressive Railroading Senior Editor Julie Sneider retired April 1 after gracing us with 15 years and three months of journalistic integrity and impactful work.

Julie joined us in December 2010 after stints with the Waukesha Freeman, a Wisconsin daily newspaper, and the Business Journal Serving Greater Milwaukee, a weekly. I met Julie at the Business Journal, where we worked together for a half-dozen years.

For Progressive Railroading, Julie has reported on/written about a range of rail and transportation industry companies and organizations — including passenger railroads (Amtrak, in particular) and freight railroads big and small. She’s covered a range of rail-related regulatory and legislative issues, the kind with the potential to significantly impact the industry. And she’s written extensively about workforce development issues as industry employers attempt to convince talent from historically undertapped resource pools to consider rail as a career option.

Julie also has been instrumental in helping us shine a light on up-and-coming (and other infrequently acknowledged) railroaders by developing and shaping our awards programs. In 2013, Julie helmed the launch of Rising Stars, an annual program through which we recognize 25 professionals under the age of 40 who are making a difference in the North American rail realm.

She’s also been the driving force behind another annual recognition program: Women of Influence in Rail. This year’s edition, which features 55 honorees, was published in our March issue. The Women of Influence program led to the development of another recognition initiative, per Julie’s suggestion, this year: the Rail Mentor Awards. That new program is being helmed by Associate Editor Bridget Dean and will be featured in our June issue.

Meanwhile, Julie has managed our Daily News effort for more than a decade, helping to keep our readers current every business day.

Since she’s been part of the Progressive Railroading team, Julie has helped ensure that we stay true to our aim of putting rail industry issues and trends into clear and current context. For that, I am eternally grateful.

Thanks for all the great work, Julie. Thanks for making a difference. For being part of us.

Celebrating this year’s ‘Women of Influence’ class

On March 31, Progressive Railroading hosted “Women of Influence in Rail: Celebrating Leadership, Innovation and Impact,” a virtual event honoring the women featured in this year’s Women of Influence in Rail class.

In addition to recognizing this year’s 55 honorees, the event featured a panel discussion moderated by Julie Sneider. The panelists: Jo Strang, senior vice president of safety, regulatory and environmental policy for the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association; Linda Laurello, chairman of Delta Railroad Services; Carol Rose, VP for STV Inc.; Elizabeth Hucker, AVP of sales and marketing for CPKC; and Erika Bruhnke, chief sales and growth officer for RailPros.

The panelists thoughtfully discussed a range of subjects, from selling rail to the next generation of workers to navigating leadership challenges to (my favorite) seeing the inherent value in (and making the case for) building more inclusive teams. Inclusive teams beget diversity of thought, which can beget ideas beyond the usual-suspect ones. Thank you, Senior Director of Events and Education Wendy Dietzler and your team, for developing the event. And thank you, Julie, for moderating the discussion with aplomb.