Michael Sussman, President
Al Mazzone, Vice President
Joseph R. Pomponio, RRIF Loan Division
Douglass William List, Executive Advisor
Thomas F. Erickson, Jr., Project Consultant
Michael Sussman, President
Michael Sussman was a principal of Bush Refrigeration, Inc., the country’s largest retail distributor of commercial refrigeration, from 1981 to 1992. Michael subsequently founded Strategic Rail Finance in 1994. Having coordinated financing for rail projects in 23 states over the past seventeen years, Mr. Sussman has created a comprehensive program for expanding private- and public-sector capitalization of rail-related projects. This program is based on an innovative approach which leverages the underlying asset value and potential of rail projects, helping businesses and agencies of varying size secure access to ample capital.
During his many years of advocacy to the federal and state governments, Michael has preserved his autonomy, and thus his ability to speak and act in the rail industry’s best interests, by self-funding all of Strategic Rail’s advocacy efforts. Michael innovative thinking and integrity has earned him the ongoing respect and ear of Congressional and Executive Branch leaders and staff. On December 8, 1998 Strategic Rail Finance headed a rail industry briefing in the U.S. Capitol Building attended by 55 congressional staffers, praised by many as the finest briefing they had ever attended in Washington. See U.S. Congress' Invitation to SRF Briefing and Thank you letter from Northeast-Midwest Institute.
Michael Sussman’s experience, service, and professional relationships in the rail industry are highlighted by the following:
- Coordinated productive relationships with the offices of 65 United States Senators and 85 House Members
- Conducted a rail transportation conference in the U.S. Capitol Building for 55 congressional staff on December 8, 1998
- Successfully influenced the inclusion of freight rail projects in H.R.115 – the National Infrastructure Development Act
- Collaborated with public- and private-sector entities to create the Washington State Produce Railcar Pool Act as passed by the 2003 state legislature
- Initiated changes to the Railroad Rehabilitation & Infrastructure Financing Act, eliminating audited financial statement requirements for Class II & III railroads
- Orchestrated a rail industry breakthrough for a Class III rail operation in Lakeville, Minnesota by coordinating three banks, MNDOT, and Canadian Pacific Railroad to generate three times the project capital previously offered
- Authored articles and/or covered by Traffic World, Railway Age, The Shortline, Progressive Railroading, Rail Business, Association of Transportation Law, Logistics & Policy, Rail Intelligence, and Transportation Quarterly
- Convened a five-hour summit of industry and government leaders in the U.S. Capitol Building on December 11, 2008 to develop new collaborative approaches to freight transportation efficiency
- Founded OnTrackAmerica, a non-profit transportation policy development organization
Michael’s collaborative leadership is the subject of a soon to be released academic study by Dr. Barbara Gray, the director of Penn State University’s Center for Research in Conflict and Negotiation.
Michael lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two daughters.
|Al Mazzone, Vice President
Al Mazzone is a principal in Strategic Rail Finance. Mr. Mazzone has accumulated diverse executive expertise during a thirty year business career. Among other positions, he has served as both a principal and CEO of a number of companies, including a computer manufacturer, a marketing and distribution corporation, and an equity trading firm.
Al has significant hands-on experience helping companies develop communication, financial, manufacturing, and distribution systems. He installed his first company-wide database and accounting system in 1978 and first corporate email system in 1981. In the mid-90's Al was involved in one of the first equity trading firms to use the Internet for remote communication and transactions.
He is proud to have served as a board member for a number of nonprofit organizations, including OnTrackAmerica, Philadelphia Youth at Risk, Philomel, and the Lansdowne Symphony Orchestra.
Al has been married for thirty years, and has two sons and a new grandson.
|Joseph R. Pomponio, RRIF Loan Division
Joseph R. Pomponio was Director of the Railroad Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Financing Program (RRIF) for the Federal Railroad Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, from 2002 to 2008. As director, Mr. Pomponio implemented and directed the largest Federal direct loan and loan guarantee program ever established for the railroad industry. This program is authorized at a level of $35 billion. He supervised the evaluation of applications, the preparation of evaluation packages, and the presentation of proposed loans to a Department of Transportation Credit Council and coordinated all transactions with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to taking over the RRIF program, Mr. Pomponio was Senior Attorney with the FRA's Office of Chief Counsel from 1978 to 2002.
|Douglass William List, Executive Advisor
Doug List has an extensive background as a planner, strategist, executive, director, and principal with Class I railroads, and major consulting, financial, and logistics companies. Early in his career, after two years at Southern Railway, Doug served as a planning analyst at Union Pacific Railroad during 1979 and 1980 providing key intellectual leadership in assessing the potential benefits of a UP-MP-WP merger. In 1986 and 1987 Doug was Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Planning for CSX Equipment division where he developed strategies and action plans for revamping management of their $2 billion freight car fleet.
Doug also represented CSX on the board of Trailer Train (now TTX), an industry railcar co-operative, during a period of significant ownership upheaval. For over seven years, Doug was a consultant with McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group. Doug has served on the board of Harmon Industries for ten years before its sale to GE, particularly as chair of the compensation committee. Doug was also the founding non-executive Chairman of Total Transportation Services, continuing as a strategic advisor.
In addition to his many business responsibilities, Doug has taught courses in corporate strategy, marketing, and corporate finance at Johns Hopkins University and Stern School of Business.
He offers business people at all levels – corporate CEOs, entrepreneurs, division managers and professional investors – fresh and effective problem-solving perspectives to issues ranging from corporate marketing to organizational development to prioritization of executive efforts.
|Thomas F. Erickson, Jr., Project Consultant
Tom Erickson is a veteran railway manager with 35 years experience working in nearly every aspect of the rail industry: sales and business development, project consultation, due diligence studies, and market research. His expertise is enhanced by his previous experience with Class I, Class II, and Class III railroads.
In 20 years of work with CSX and Conrail, Mr. Erickson held diverse management positions. At Conrail, he managed market analysis and pricing for automotive and intermodal accounts, headed intermodal bulk marketing for the Company's Philadelphia operations, and personally led Conrail's network of rail-truck transloading terminals. In this last position, he was responsible for the modernization and standardization of transloading assets and procedures, and oversaw a doubling of both tonnage and profits from the division.
As head of Rail Cents Enterprises, Mr. Erickson focuses on counseling Class II and Class III railroads in multiple aspects of their operations, including market research, commercial and right-of-way agreements, industrial development, and network design. In addition, he has drafted feasibility studies for Amtrak, Canadian Pacific, and local government bodies, and has contributed to rail privatization projects in Europe, Central America, and Africa. Mr. Erickson has been published in both Transportation Journal and the Journal of Transportation Law, Logistics and Policy, and also holds a patent on a railroad operating system.
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