Achievements
2024 NIPRA ANNUAL REPORT
LEADERSHIP
Held NIPRA monthly board meetings throughout 2024. NIPRA executive committee meetings were held each month in 2024. Emails were sent to all area state legislators supporting INDOT staffing and state match funding. NIPRA supported the City of Fort Wayne and partners in planning and development related to the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. grant. Took part in a conference call with the City of Fort Wayne, MORPC and the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission planning for Midwest Connect. Attended a meeting on Ohio Corridor I. D. grants at the Toledo Amtrak Station hosted by TMACOG and All Aboard Ohio. Coordinated with Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) to promote passenger rail service in Indiana. Voted three new board members onto the NIPRA board of directors. Steve Coxhead continued as NIPRA board liaison with IPRA and the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC). Attended All Aboard Ohio passenger rail update in Lima, Ohio. Coordinated with students from Purdue University studying passenger rail in Indiana. Friends of NIPRA award presented to Steel Dynamics Inc. for support of NIPRA and passenger rail in Indiana. Marty Blake, Multi Modal Director with INDOT, served as guest speaker at a NIPRA board meeting. Coordinated with Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA) on the growth and development of passenger rail in the Great Lakes states. Sent a letter of support to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for the Amtrak supplemental funding request of $25 million. Attended the Northeast Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC) Transportation Planning Open House. Contacted Steel Dynamics Inc. for support of state match funds against FRA Corridor I. D. grants in Indiana. Donated $250.00 to the National Infrastructure Bank (NIB). Contracted with Clover Marketing to develop a data driven marketing plan. Held Rally for Rail on Sunday, October 27, 2024, at Baker Street Station attracting over 300 attendees. Participated in an online seminar, sponsored by the High Speed Rail Alliance, “Bringing Better Passenger Rail to the Crossroads of America—Indiana”.
MEETINGS
Attended several public meetings on the US 30 Corridor Project. Participated in an online meeting with Senator Rodney Pol, Indiana Senate representative on the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC). NIPRA board meetings and executive committee meetings were held monthly throughout 2024. Participated in board meetings of Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA). Met with an Illinois university graduate student studying passenger rail in Gary, Indiana. Attended the Greater Foort Wayne Inc. Third House Luncheon meeting at the Allen County Memorial Coliseum. Participated in Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA) Zoom meetings. Met with Mayor Steve McMichael of New Haven. Conducted the Annual NIPRA board meeting where selected board members and officers were elected for the year. Attended Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislative Breakfast on the Indiana Legislative Session. High Speed Rail Alliance luncheon in Chicago, Illinois. Met with leaders from Hilliard, Ohio at Baker Street Station. Attended Public Transit Plan Review, offered by NIRCC at Citizens Square, Fort Wayne. Met with Melissa Beber of Greater Fort Wayne Inc. for support for Midwest Connect. Met with new Mayor of Fort Wayne, Sharon Tucker. INDOT staff attended several NIPRA board meetings. Several board members attended the Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Annual Meeting. Two NIPRA board members attended the Northeast Indiana Regional Chamber Meeting. Met with the chairman of the Indiana House Ways and Means committee and Representative Dave Abbott at the State House. Attended a meeting with Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker, MORPC representatives and several mayors from cities in Ohio. Fort Wayne Airport Authority Strategic Plan transportation input meeting. Quarterly meetings with INDOT staff. NIPRA Planning meeting at Citizens Square. Met with Mayor of Warsaw and Council Member and MACOG staffer. Met with Mary Martin of Senator Braun’s office. Mayor Costas and Ty Warner of Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission in Valparaiso, Indiana. Zoom meeting with Britni Eisenmann and Tate Linden of Railtowns.org. Erin Berghoff of Senator Todd Young office and Mary Martin of Senator Braun office. Rally for Rail prep meetings at Baker Street Station. Mayor’s executive staff and NIRPC transportation director at Gary City Hall, Gary, Indiana. Lena Reynolds of Environmental Law and Policy Center at Baker Street Station. Online Rail Users Network (RUN) Annual Conference. MIPRC Annual Meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota and presented on Midwest Connect project. Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislative Preview Luncheon. Britni Eisenmann of Railtowns.org served as guest speaker at NIPRA board meeting.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Journal Gazette OP-ED on Midwest Connect by Geoff Paddock. The Local article “Pass Rail Plan Continues to Develop”. Letter to the Editor praising NIPRA leadership. Fort Wayne Business Weekly OP-ED by Geoff Paddock. Website contact from Inkfree News on Midwest Connect impact on Warsaw, Indiana. Fort Wayne Business Weekly article, “Rail Group Celebrates $500,000 award”. Geoff Paddock and Fred Lanahan taped PBS TV Prime Time Interview. City of Fort Wayne press release on Midwest Connect and selection of HNTB as vendor. Geoff Paddock interviews on TV stations 21 and 33. Journal Gazette article on selection of HNTB for helping to prepare Midwest connect service development plan. Reporter call and interview from Western Ohio News. Fred Lanahan, 5 Questions on NIPRA on The Journal Gazette Perspective page. Website contact from the Herald Star, Steubenville, Ohio. OP-ED in Journal Gazette, “Train of Thought” by Geoff Paddock. Midwest Connect article in The Weirton Daily Times of Weirton, West Virginia.
2023 NIPRA Accomplishments Report
LEADERSHIP
Paul Spoelhof of the City of Fort Wayne agreed to apply for the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant from the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) NIPRA reached out to HNTB Corporation about preparing the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant application to the FRA. Mid-Ohio-Regional Planning Corporation (MORPC) agreed to partner with NIPRA and Fort Wayne to apply for the Corridor I. D. Grant NIPRA signed a contract with HNTB Corporation to apply for the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant Paul Spoelhof agreed to represent the City of Fort Wayne as a member of the board, previously liaison status. Steven Coxhead, Indiana Commissioner on Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) joined the NIPRA board as liaison with MIPRC and Indiana passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) Elected Larry Thompson as a new board member of NIPRA. Met with Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) management to maintain support for NIPRA and the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant application to the FRA. With NIPRA funding the application work by HNTB, the City of Fort Wayne submitted the Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant to the Federal Rail Administration Elected Andrew Yaney of Steel Dynamics Inc. as a new board member of NIPRA. Revised the NIPRA board travel policy to improve travel reimbursement. Representative Dave Abbott, Geoff Paddock and Fred Lanahan met with Rep. Jeff Thompson, chairman, Indiana House Ways and Means committee at the State House Elected Elise Jones of Greater Fort Wayne Inc. (GFI) as a new board member of NIPRA. Maintained memberships with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. and the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana NIPRA board and selected supporters (including, State Sen. Johnson, State Rep. Abbott and Erin Dove staff for Sen. Braun) toured the rail mill plant at Steel Dynamics Inc. in Whitley County Participated in Zoom meeting with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Ohio and her staff. Met with Ms. Sandy Spang and staff of TMACOG, regional planning organization for metropolitan Toledo, Ohio, and David Zavac of Congresswoman Kaptur’s office.
ADVOCACY
Presented on Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant at Fort Wayne Tourism Master Plan meeting. Consult with INDOT passenger rail staff & IPRA leadership regularly Met with Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana to promote support for passenger rail service. Met with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. to ensure support for passenger rail service to Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana. Met with Mayor Sharetta Smith of Lima, Ohio to promote support for Midwest Connect passenger rail grant effort. Met with HNTB & MORPC staff on Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant. Met with MPO staff from communities along the Midwest Connect Corridor. Met with area state legislators to promote support for passenger rail service. With partners from MORPC secured over 100 letters of support for the Midwest Connect corridor I. D. Grant Reached out to mayors of communities in Indiana along our proposed passenger rail line to keep them informed of progress. Met with Tanner Spencer, Congressman Jim Banks staff. Coordinated with Amtrak government relations staff.
MEETINGS
NIPRA board meetings were held monthly. NIPRA executive committee meetings were held monthly. Two board members participated in Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) meetings. Quarterly meetings were held with INDOT passenger rail staff. Attended multiple INDOT ProPel US 30 meetings. Participated in several Lakeshore Rail Alliance meetings. Attended two Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislative meetings. Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana Annual meeting All Aboard Ohio Annual meeting. Multiple webinar meetings on the proposed National Infrastructure Bank Online meetings with the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) Online meeting with Congressman Rudy Yakym of South Bend. Met with staff members of US Senators Todd Young and Mike Braun Attended Midwest Regional Rail Conference in Toledo, Ohio Participated in Indiana Passenger Rail Round Table meeting in Indianapolis.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Online story in “The Local” on Corridor I. D. Grant Media event to announce Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant submission to the FRA; speakers, Mayor Tom Henry, Councilman Geoff Paddock and NIPRA President Fred Lanahan “The Journal Gazette Newspaper” story on Midwest Connect Corridor I. D. Grant submission to FRA. Fred Lanahan. president of NIPRA, interviewed on WOWO Radio about Midwest Connect grant application. Letter to the editor in “The Journal Gazette” praising NIPRA advocacy for passenger rail NIPRA president interviewed at Baker Street Station by TV 57 (ABC) of South Bend, Indiana Fred Lanahan and Geoff Paddock of NIPRA executive committee interviewed by TV 57 from South Bend, Indiana Several local TV news stories on the award of Corridor I. D. Grant by the FRA to Fort Wayne for the Midwest Connect project. Journal Gazette Newspaper front page story on award of Corridor I. D. Grant for Midwest Connect Fort Wayne Business Weekly article on award of Corridor I. D. Grant for Midwest Connect Interviewed by reporter from Post Tribune newspaper of Northwest Indiana followed by story on award on Midwest Connect
NIPRA Accomplishments Report for 2022
Leadership
Added a new board member Betsy Kachmar and elected her as Secretary Craig Blume was elected the new NIPRA Treasurer Recognized retiring board members Holly Munoz, Dorothy Hagan, Adam Welch & Curt Sylvester for their service Steve Coxhead, MIPRC Commissioner and IPRA board member, agreed to become a NIPRA board liaison Paul Spoelhof (previously a liaison) agreed to be board member Changed banks for improved service & interest NIPRA ordered 100 All Aboard Indiana “made in the USA” T-shirts Reprinted Investing in the Future brochures Reinvigorated NIPRA Facebook page – 2,378 followers Advocacy Supported Senate Bill 13, Indiana Passenger Rail Commission Jack Daniel, NIPRA V.P. testified in favor of Senate Bill 13 at the Senate Homeland Security and Transportation Committee NIPRA coordinated with Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance to market “All Aboard Indiana” Coordinated with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. on promoting passenger rail service for Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana Per NIPRA request Mayor Tom Henry of Fort Wayne met with Governor Holcomb to promote passenger rail service in Northern Indiana Mayor Tom Henry wrote a letter, at NIPRA request, to the regional vice president of CSX Railroad promoting cooperation on restoring passenger rail service to Fort Wayne and Northern Indiana Board member Geoff Paddock reached out to Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, seeking support for passenger rail service improvement in Indiana NIPRA held a candidate forum on passenger rail Met several times over breakfast with Indiana State Senators Kruse and Johnson NIPRA joined the Alliance for High-Speed Passenger Rail based in Chicago, Illinois NIPRA officers and IPRA officers met with INDOT Commissioner Michael Smith and key staff to promote passenger rail in Indiana NIPRA officers met twice at the State House with several state legislators, INDOT staff and a representative from the Governor’s office on promoting passenger rail in Indiana Fort Wayne City Council passed a resolution in support of passenger rail service for Fort Wayne, sponsored by Councilman Geoff Paddock Jack Daniel, NIPRA V.P., presented the Northern Indiana and Ohio Passenger Rail project to the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission (MIPRC) Annual Meeting in Indianapolis NIPRA sent a letter of support for the joint MIPRC and Amtrak CRISI grant for the Invest Midwest advanced planning project NIPRA board passed a resolution in support of the proposed National Infrastructure Bank Meetings NIPRA board meetings and executive committee meetings were held nearly every month Select NIPRA board members attended most Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) online board meetings Meeting with Greater Fort Wayne Inc. leadership seeking support for passenger rail service NIPRA executive committee members met with Mayor Tom Henry promoting passenger rail service for Fort Wayne and Indiana Two NIPRA board members participated in a Zoom call on the Toledo Passenger Rail Forum including a member of the Surface Transportation Board Participated in online Zoom calls with the Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA) Board members attended the Greater Fort Wayne Inc Legislative Breakfast Several NIPRA board members met with a candidate for mayor of Fort Wayne on support for passenger rail service for the city and northern Indiana Representatives of NIPRA and IPRA participated in a phone call with State Representative Ed Delaney of Indianapolis Met with INDOT representatives to coordinate on support for passenger rail service in Indiana NIPRA board members met with a local political party chairman seeking support for passenger rail service NIPRA president participated in telephone interviews with reporters from the Indianapolis Star and WFYI Radio Betsy Kachmar and Craig Blume provided input on the Propel US 30 INDOT Planning session at the New Haven Library Media Coverage Letters to the editor in Journal Gazette on passenger Rail Service for Fort Wayne and Indiana Journal Gazette article 7/13/22 Fox 55 report 8/10/22 Fox TV 59 Indianapolis - interview with Fred Lanahan on Senate Bill 13 (Passenger Rail Commission) Article including NIPRA interview published in the Gary Post Tribune on Senate Bill 13 Fort Wayne Business Weekly – 6/22/22, 8/3/22, 12/18/22 ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 2021 • Added two new NIPRA Board members • Promoted Indiana Passenger Rail Commission bill that later died in the Indiana Senate • Drafted a new Indiana Passenger Rail Commission bill with support and agreement on wording from INDOT • Met several times with Indiana State Legislators and INDOT • Coordinated with partners at IPRA, All Aboard Ohio, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and Lakeshore Rail Alliance • Purchased 100 All Aboard Indiana T-shirts as a marketing effort • Board members wrote 2 Op-Eds and letters to the editor promoting passenger rail • Provided input on the draft Indiana State Rail Plan • Reached out to mayors, local elected officials and three northern Indiana Metropolitan Planning Organizations • Maintained contact with Amtrak • Maintained contact with the Federal Rail Administration (FRA) • Attended Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislative Breakfast • Staffed NIPRA Information Table at Fort Wayne Open Streets event • Presented Northern Indiana and Ohio Passenger Rail project on Zoom to Rail Users Network (RUN) annual meeting • Kristen Brier, Multimodal Director, INDOT was guest speaker in October NIPRA board meeting • Reached out to freight railroads seeking to coordinate on passenger rail service MEETINGS IN 2021 • NIPRA board meetings and executive committee meetings were held every month • INDOT management and staff • Met with local political party leaders • Participated in multiple passenger rail webinars • Met several times with Senator Dennis Kruse • Participated in monthly online meetings of Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance (IPRA) board • Participated in several Zoom meetings with the Lakeshore Rail Alliance (LRA) • Met with Mayor Tom Henry of the City of Fort Wayne • Met with multiple state legislators at the Indiana State House • Met with partners from Indiana Passenger Rail Alliance to develop All Aboard Indiana marketing and promotion • Sought meeting with Governor Eric Holcomb