People News: TC&W, POLB, Hill International, STB

Pictured, left to right: Victor (Vic) Meyers of Twin Cities & Western and Red River Valley & Western (TC&W Photograph); Adrian Granda, Port of Long Beach (POLB Photograph); and William Dengler Jr., Hill International, Inc. (Hill Photograph).

Twin Cities & Western Railroad (TC&W) appoints Victor (Vic) Meyers as President. Also, Adrian Granda joins Port of Long Beach (POLB), Calif., as Director of Government Relations; William (Bill) Dengler Jr. is tapped for Chief Acquisition and Administrative Officer at New Jersey-based consultancy Hill International, Inc.; and Neil Moyer transitions to Director of the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) Office of Passenger Rail.

TC&W

Victor Meyers has been named TC&W President, succeeding Mark Wegner. He will remain President of sister company Red River Valley & Western (RRVW), a position he has held since 2018.  

Wegner is retaining his role of CEO for TC&W and RRVW, focusing on special projects. He also serves as President of the Minnesota Regional Railroads Association.

Meyers is now overseeing the strategic outlook and day-to-day operations of Glencoe, Minn.-based TC&W—Railway Age’s 2008 Short Line of the Year that operates over 360 miles of track serving a variety of industries and agricultural counties in Minnesota and South Dakota—and Wahpeton, N.D.-based RRVW—Railway Age’s Regional of the Year for 1997 and 2005 that operates over 500 miles of track and handles shipping, freight car repair, storage options, and transload services for more than 60 customers.

During Meyers’ time as RRVW President, the railroad received the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s President’s Safety Award. Meyers joined TC&W in 2013. Prior to that, he worked for more than seven years at BNSF. He holds a Bachelor of Science in economics from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Mont., and a Master of Business Administration from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Tex.

“I want to thank Mark for his vast contribution over the past 33 years to the success of our organization,” Board Chair Martha Head said. “He has led the effort to modernize and expand our short line rail operations in Minnesota and South Dakota. And I am delighted that he will remain on board to focus on key areas he has excelled in over the years, such as railroad development and industry relations.”

Head continued: “This is a very well-deserved promotion for Vic. Not only is he a national leader in rail safety, but he is also well trained in the economics of the railroad industry and brings extraordinary personal values into the workplace, which has enabled us to attract high-quality people to the team.”

“Vic has shown that he’s not afraid to dig into the difficult projects, to think analytically and create new solutions for the future,” Mark Wegner commented. “He’s shown great fortitude in the face of challenges, including identifying measures and metrics to continue TC&W’s drive toward zero injuries and zero incidents.”

“I’m grateful to Mark for his partnership over the past few years,” Victor Meyers said. “His experience in the industry is unmatched, and I’ve been lucky to be mentored by him.”

POLB

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on May 6 approved the appointment of Adrian Granda, Director of Government Affairs for the city of San Diego, to fill the same role at POLB.

Granda will be POLB’s representative to federal, state, and local governments and oversee workforce development. He will also supervise the activities of the Port’s legislative advocates in Sacramento, Calif., and Washington, D.C.

Granda has spent the past four years leading San Diego’s strategic intergovernmental initiatives. Prior to that, he served as Policy Adviser to a San Diego County supervisor, and as Director of Communications, council representative and Interim Director of Legislative Affairs for a San Diego City councilmember.

The appointment is a return to Long Beach for Granda, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in political science from California State University, Long Beach.

POLB’s Government Relations Division was recently merged with the Communications and Community Relations Division to form the Strategic Advocacy Bureau.

Separately, POLB last month awarded Iteris, Inc. a $900,000 contract for an 18-month multimodal transportation study.

Hill International

William Dengler Jr. is assuming the newly created position of Chief Acquisition and Administrative Officer at Hill International, a provider of program management, project management, construction management, project management oversight, advisory, facilities management, and other consulting services to clients in a variety of market sectors. In this role, he will “identify strategic acquisition opportunities, support the negotiation of favorable terms, and supervise the integration with merged companies to ensure a smooth transition and to maximize value formation,” according to the company, which offers more than 100 offices worldwide. Additionally, Dengler will oversee Hill International’s administrative functions and industry-specific practice groups serving clients in the U.S. Federal, Aviation, Rail and Transit, and Resiliency and Disaster Recovery sectors.

Dengler has been with Hill International since 2001, serving as Corporate Counsel from 2001 to 2002, Vice President and General Counsel from 2002 to 2007, Senior Vice President from 2007 to 2016, and Executive Vice President and General Counsel until 2018, when he assumed the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer. Dengler also serves as Corporate Secretary for Hill International and its subsidiaries worldwide. He is a licensed attorney in New Jersey and has practiced before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Bar and the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Hill is experiencing another period of strong growth across all of our markets and regions,” said Raouf S. Ghali, CEO of Hill International, a member of the Global Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. family of companies. “We created the Chief Acquisition and Administrative Officer role to enable us to realize this growth as efficiently and effectively as possible, maximizing the value and guiding the merger and acquisitions process. Bill’s ongoing leadership of our practice groups combined with his unparalleled knowledge of our company make him the ideal candidate to fulfill this function.”

STB

STB Chairman Martin J. Oberman on May 7 announced that, with the approval of the Board, he has appointed Neil Moyer to serve as Director of the STB’s Office of Passenger Rail, which is responsible for investigating and analyzing issues regarding Amtrak on-time performance (OTP).

Moyer, a senior STB staffer, helped create the Office of Passenger Rail, which launched Oct. 1, 2022.

Since mid-2021, he has coordinated the STB’s new Office of Passenger Rail responsibilities, assisted the STB in establishing the new office and setting its course, and overseen the Office’s implementation of its investigative mandate. In December 2022, he was named the Office’s Acting Director.

“The selection of Neil Moyer as Director of the Office of Passenger Rail is a critical step in ensuring the Board’s preparedness to meet its important oversight and adjudicatory responsibilities with regard to passenger rail OTP,” Oberman said. “Mr. Moyer is well-suited for this responsibility, considering his deep experience in the passenger rail arena.  I am confident in the Board’s ability to meet its ongoing passenger rail OTP responsibilities and play its part in improving the service quality of the nation’s intercity passenger rail system.”

Moyer joined the STB’s staff in 2014 after a long career at the Federal Railroad Administration as Chief of the Intercity Passenger Rail Analysis Division and Chief of the Financial and Economic Analysis Division. He holds a Master of Science in Transportation from Northwestern University and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Maryland.