(BPRW) The Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) will host its 48th National Meeting and Training Conference with a special plenary session featuring America’s four African American heads of state transportation agencies in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Louisiana.

For nearly 50 years, COMTO has held the nation’s premier gathering of multi-cultural professionals in the transportation industry. COMTO's annual conference brings together industry leaders and stakeholders across all modes of transportation for four days of education, inspiration, and networking. 

The title of this year's conference is "Intelligent Mobility - Transforming the Future of Transportation."  It will be held July 12-16 at the Tampa Marriott Water Side in Tampa, FL.

A Legislative Plenary panel, Tuesday, July 16th at 9:00 a.m., will include Paul Ajegba, Director of the Michigan Department of Transportation; Jack Marchbanks, Director of the Ohio State Department of Transportation; Omer Osman, Secretary of the Illinois Department of Transportation and Shawn Wilson, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.  (View their profiles on pages 12-15 of COMTO’s Accelerate Magazine)

“For the first time in our country’s history, we are proud to point to significant diverse state transportation leadership,” said A. Bradley Mims, COMTO’s President and CEO.  “The future of transportation is inclusive, accessible, and smart.  We believe these four distinguished leaders embody all the elements of that future.”

The Plenary session will be introduced by Jim Tymon, Executive Director at AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) and moderated by Rodney Slater, former United States Secretary of Transportation.

The conference’s training program offers more than 40 workshops, featuring presentations from leading industry and subject matter experts.  The schedule includes five training Tracks:  Track 1: Accessibility and Innovative Mobility; Track 2: Historically Underutilized Businesses (MWBEs, DBEs, DVBE and Small Businesses); Track 3: Leadership; Track 4: Transportation Policy and Track 5: Transportation Technical.

Opportunities for networking with other professionals, interacting with young future transportation leaders, and viewing Tampa’s innovative transportation technology will also be available. 

About COMTO: Founded in 1971, COMTO’s mission is to ensure opportunities and maximum participation in the multi-modal transportation industry for multi-cultural individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and certified MWDBE businesses.  With over 3,000 members in more than 30 chapters nationally, the organization offers leadership training, professional development, scholarship and internship funding, political advocacy, partnership building and networking opportunities.