ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Florida Motorcoach Association has retained Linda Morris of Morris Meeting Management of Brookneal, Va., to manage the association.

The Florida group becomes the sixth state coach association to be managed by Morris company, plus it also manages the South Central Motorcoach Association, a regional organization whose membership is made up of operators from Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas.

"I am excited about the possibilities of making a positive impact on the Florida Motorcoach Association," said Morris. "I am honored that the Florida Motorcoach Association board of directors has allowed me this opportunity.

"My staff and I look forward to getting to know the Florida operators and working with them to build a stronger state association. I welcome the opportunity to be involved in growing FMA and will be contacting members to seek their support through open communication to develop a stronger network among the members and to solicit comment and suggestions to improve member relations and services."

The Florida association had been managed by Crow-Segal Management Company of Winter Park, Fla., but had lost its momentum during the past couple of years. The association is considerably smaller than the typical group managed by Crow-Segal.

Under the new arrangement, Morris firm immediately takes over operation of the Florida association, and she becomes executive director and Mary Presley becomes association manager.

Morris and her staff will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the association, including membership recruitment and data management, publications, meetings management, and finance.

Morris feels strongly that successful state associations are a key element in making individual owner/operator motorcoach companies more successful. "Strong state associations are also beneficial to associate (vendor) members because of the opportunity to build good business relationships with operators face to face at annual meetings and other special meetings," she notes.

Rob Grassano of Bristol Trailways is president of the association, while Bob Rial of Discovery Charter is vice president.

The first major association event to be managed by the Morris group is the 2007 Appointment Show, July 9-12, at the Marriott Key Largo Bay Resort.

The new address of the association is P.O. Box 690852, Orlando, FL 32869. The phone number is (866) 376-7770.