Association reaches members milestone

ORLANDO, Fla. The United Motorcoach Association has added three new board members, and its members have voted unanimously to add a board member representing Canadian operators.

The associations board, meeting here last month at the conclusion of UMA Motorcoach Expo, heard a report that UMAs operator membership has climbed to 900 for the first time. New members recruited during Motorcoach Expo pushed the number of active (i.e. coach operator) members to the milestone.

The new UMA board members elected to three-year terms are:

Brian Annett of Annett Bus Lines in Sebring, Fla. He was elected from UMA Region II and will help represent operators from Michigan to Florida and from Louisiana to Virginia.

Autumn Dipert Brown of Dan Dipert Coaches in Arlington, Texas. She was elected from UMA Region I, which includes most states west of the Mississippi River.

Tim Wayland of ABC Companies of Faribault, Minn. He was elected the coach-builder representative on the UMA board.

Annett succeeds Robert Hume, formerly of Travel Mates of Virginia in Harrisonburg. Hume is believed to hold the longevity record for a UMA board member, having served as a director for 15 years. He and his wife sold their company last year.

Brown succeeds Daryl Johnson of J&J Charters in Crosby, Texas, who served two terms on the board.

Wayland succeeds Bob Foley, who left ABC Companies last year.

Four UMA directors were re-elected: Ralph Young of Young Transportation in Asheville, N.C.; Joan Libby of Cavalier Coach Trailways in Boston; Godfrey Lebron of Paradise Trailways in Hicksville, N.Y., and Tom Ready of Ready Bus Lines in LaCrescent, Minn.

At the associations annual meeting held in conjunction with Motorcoach Expo, UMA members ratified a board of directors resolution that the bylaws be amended to add a 21st board member who would represent operators in Canada.

UMA officials noted that the associations Canadian membership had grown and there was a need for a board member representing Canadian operators.

Next July and August, UMA will seek nominations for a Canadian board member, who will elected in an open and contested election in the fall, and seated in January when the organization annually reconstitutes its board.

New UMA board member Brian Annett is president of the coach company bearing his family name. He transitioned the company to second-generation ownership seven years ago. He co-owns the company with his brother David.

He serves on the board of the Motorcoach Council, the Florida Motorcoach Association and the Madison County (Fla.) Rotary Club.

New board member Autumn Dipert Brown has been active in the tourism and transportation industry since joining her familys business, Dan Dipert Coaches, in 1995, after receiving an MBA from Rice University in Houston.

Three years ago, she received the UMA Safety Leader of the Year Award. She was honored for the work she did developing a driver training program. She has been the human resources instructor for the Bus and Motorcoach Academy Clarence Cornell School of Business since its inception.

She currently serves on the board of the Arlington (Texas) Chamber of Commerce and has served on the Tarrant County Workforce Development Board.

Tim Wayland, the new coachbuilder representative on the UMA board, was named senior vice president and chief financial officer of ABC Companies just over a year ago. During most of the 15 years he has been at ABC, he also has headed ABC Financial Services.