RAILMARK® provides unique, cost-effective, integrated and environmentally friendly products and services to the railroad industry, rail transportation users, rail shippers, governments, port facilities and the general public, that reflects “A NEW TRAIN OF THOUGHT ...®”.
Founded in 1998, Railmark Holdings, Inc. (“Railmark”® or “Company”) operates in the railroad industry within five primary core business segments:
- Railroad Operations – Offering direct rail freight services through the operation or ownership of short line railroads & industrial switching operations.
- Track Construction & Maintenance – Services offered through Railmark Track Works Inc., now with active customers in 32 states.
- Rail Freight Logistics – Through the Company’s Rail Freight Solutions Inc subsidiary, performs (a.) Rail-to-Truck Transloading and Doorstep Delivery, (b.) Barge-to-Truck and Barge-to-Rail Transloading services, (c.) Common Carrier Specialized Trucking Services, (d.) performs specialized railcar equipment loading services and (e.) supply chain distribution management services specializing in rail or intermodal transportation modes.
- Railcar Repair Services – Through the Company’s Railmark Railcar Services Inc. subsidiary, provides railcar storage and management services, mobile freight car repair services, mobile passenger car repair services, shop repair services for both passenger and freight railcars, and offers replacement parts for passenger cars.
An accomplished provider of railroad and rail systems development, Railmark provides a complete line of consulting, rail improvement, marketing and rail management services to railroads, governments, municipalities and industrial clients. Railmark’s team of employees, associates and strategic partners have the ability to work anywhere in the world and currently maintains a presence on three continents. Railmark invests in research and development for new products that will benefit the railroad industry.
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Railmark’s Board of Directors
The Company is fortunate to have four outside directors, each accomplished individuals, to provide corporate governance and strategy.
Management Team
B. Allen Brown – Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Railmark Holdings & Subsidiaries
Mr. Brown is the founder of Railmark Holdings Inc. and serves as its visionary and developer. Mr. Brown is in charge of the execution of the Company’s Business Plan and serves as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brown’s railroad career began shortly after the 1981 Staggers Act, which deregulated the US railroad industry. Mr. Brown’s career has led to extensive railroad industry experience in acquisitions, accounting, customer service, divestitures, finance, operations, marketing, public relations and strategic planning. Mr. Brown has a working relationship with all the major North American railroads, as well as, hundreds of smaller railroads and industrial operations. Mr. Brown enjoys extensive contacts within the railroad industry and has served in various senior management positions, company officer positions and on the board of directors of a publicly held railroad company and several privately held companies.
Upon graduation from college, Mr. Brown spent the first few years of his career with Peabody Energy (NYSE: “BTU“), the world's largest coal producer, in finance and strategic planning positions. Mr. Brown holds a Masters of Business Administration-Finance & Economics from the University of Evansville (Evansville, Indiana) and a Bachelor of Business Administration-Finance from the University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky).
Mr. B. Allen Brown, has been in the railroad industry practically all of his adult life and almost entirely after the industry deregulated in 1981 with the passage of the “Staggers Act”. Mr. Brown has witnessed firsthand and participated in the resurgence of rail and is considered today to be both an industry veteran and expert.
Donald B. Kress, Vice President, Mid-Atlantic Region
Mr. Kress is in charge of all Railmark operations in the Company’s “Mid-Atlantic Region”. Prior to joining Railmark, Mr. Kress had worked for New Jersey Transit Rail Operations where he was responsible for the safe operations and movement of trains on busy corridors, collection and remittance of revenue, instruction of new train service personnel and earlier in his career had worked in New Jersey Transit's Meadows Maintenance Complex with the repair and maintenance of the railroad’s electric locomotives and passenger equipment.
Prior to his tenure at New Jersey Transit, Mr. Kress worked as an Independent Contractor for Metro-North Commuter Railroad and the Staten Island Rapid Transit, and as an Engineering Technician for the New York City Department of Transportation in New York. He organized and directed a full range of data collection efforts for both the planning and transportation departments, which included training, scheduling and coordinating a staff of 30 to 40 technicians. Reports included staffing, scheduling, manpower, run-time, and equipment utilization analysis.
Mr. Kress obtained his B.S. in Passenger Transportation from St. Johns University in New York. Studies included Principles of Transportation, The City: Form & Function, Urban Transportation Planning, Systems Analysis for Transportation, Planning for Mass Transportation, Transportation Regulation & Terminal Management and Transportation Economics.
Jouhaud Nicolas, Executive Director, International Operations
Mr. Nicolas is in charge of Railmark’s International Operations, primarily in Africa, Haiti and New Zealand. Mr. Nicolas joined Railmark in 2010 and produces measured results using a thorough understanding of international telecommunications environments, international aspects of economic and business development, while securing a solid 15-plus year track record in fiscal and monetary policies and processes, public administration and human relations practices.
Mr. Nicolas has served as board member of statewide environmental health advocacy group, along with representatives of Burson-Marsteller, the New Jersey Department of Health and Social Services, the UMDNJ, different Municipality officials, and community organizations. Independently handled code enforcement projects interacting with Public Works, Housing, Nursing, Environmental Divisions. Mr. Nicolas has conducted Township Department of Neighborhood Services in-depth investigations, assessments, recommendations on both State and Municipal levels.
Mr. Nicolas’s international experience includes the first Haitian-American 24/7 TV station, the first US-based African satellite TV station, and the first NJ Haitian radio station. Mr. Nicolas has worked in Nigeria, South Africa, England, Jamaica and the Bahamas, giving press conferences, media training seminars, and developing media outlets. His experience also includes time consulting with Ghana’s housing development and developing earthquake-resistant housing communities for Haiti.
William C. Ayars, Director of Marketing, Railmark Holdings & Subsidiaries
Mr. Ayar’s railroad industry career spans over 15 years in operations and marketing, serving as Railmark’s Director of Marketing since 2006. Mr. Ayars has a working knowledge and first- hand experience in virtually all aspects of the railroad industry. Before joining the Company Mr. Ayars had spent the previous five years with a large tourist train operation located in Texas. Mr. Ayars holds a Bachelors of Business Administration (BBA) and an Associates of Marketing (AA) from Northwood University ( Midland Michigan) and is a Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers (SLE).
Nicholas J. Buchowski, Staff Accountant, Railmark Holdings & Subsidiaries
Mr. Buchowski joined Railmark in 2006 as the Company's Staff Accountant and manages the day to day accounting functions of the Company and works closely with Railmark's outside CPA firm with the preparation of Company accounting reports and filings. Mr. Buchowski received a Bachelors of Accounting from Oakland University and is pursuing a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.
Sally A. Zielinski, Executive Assistant, Railmark Holdings & Subsidiaries
Ms. Zielinski serves as Railmark’s Executive Assistant and is in charge of the Company’s Customer Service Department, an extremely critical function in the Company. She has been with the Company for over 18 years, where she first came on board as a part time employee after spending 17 years as an educator with the Walled Lake School System. Prior to her successful career as an educator, Ms. Zielinski was an office manager for a local Walled Lake company. Ms. Zielinski holds a degree in education from Oakland University (Rochester, Michigan).
John S. Frantz, Marketing Manager, Mid-Atlantic Region
Mr. Frantz is in charge of all Railmark marketing in its “Mid-Atlantic Region”. Prior to joining Railmark, Mr. Frantz had worked for various civil engineering firms in the York, Pennsylvania to Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. While employed by these firms he was responsible for the accurate and efficient creation of engineering drawings for various multi-faceted projects. In addition to his professional Civil Engineering career, Mr. Frantz has studied the principles of railroad track structure, design and maintenance to become well versed on the subject.
Mr. Frantz graduated from Spring Grove Area School in 2002 and completed his post secondary education in 2004 at YTI Career Institute earning completed an Associates Degree in Specialized Technology, Architectural/Civil Drafting.
Chris V. Paciocco, Marketing Representative, Railmark Holdings & Subsidiaries
Mr. Paciocco joined Railmark’s Marketing Department in 2011 focusing on market penetration strategies with the Company’s track construction and maintenance business unit Railmark Track Works, Inc.
Mr. Paciocco is currently pursuing a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the Madonna University (Livonia Michigan).
Management Team – Track Construction & Maintenance
Steven R. White, RTW Superintendent & Chief Track Inspector
Mr. White has been in the track construction & maintenance industry for 37 years, joining the Company in 2006. In Mr. White’s capacity, he is the senior local manager, directing its maintenance crews, supervisors and is responsible for the Division’s equipment and materials. Prior to joining Railmark, Mr. White had been with Ford Motor Company’s track construction & maintenance department where he recently held the position of General Supervisor, responsible for over 90 miles of track, 600 turnouts and supervised over 100 people in this function.
Other Company Professionals and Officials
Railmark is fortunate to have in its employ other professionals and experienced railroad employees, many of which have several years of tenure with the Company’s subsidiaries. Railmark railroad operations enjoy locomotive and railcar mechanics with many years of craft experience and its training department is headed by an individual with a long tenure with a major Class I railroad. The Company is also fortunate to have long tenured track construction & maintenance personnel.
Railmark’s registered slogan, what does it mean?
Railmark’s founder and principal B. Allen Brown has experienced, firsthand, the rebirth of the U.S. rail system from the beginning with the industry de-regulation, the Staggers Act of 1980. Then as a college student in finance and economics Mr. Brown conducted a research project on the proposed effects of the new legislation in Congress de-regulating the transportation industry – The Staggers Act of 1980. This project would comprise a major part of a business class grade requirement for subjects based upon current business trends in the U.S. The paper would be written and graded even before the implementation of the new law in 1981. Mr. Brown as a graduate student was pursuing a Masters of Business Administration – Economics degree. He would then pull out that old paper and expand it to include the implementation of the new law and the positive effects it was having even in its early stages.
Now fascinated with the business of railroading Mr. Brown became very involved with the start-up of a new shortline holding company and had the opportunity over the next 16 years to learn and be responsible for every component of the railroad industry including acquisitions and divestitures and gained unique experience with rail business development. During that time the industry matured and became more efficient.
By 2000 Mr. Brown witnessed several business practices within the industry that he thought should be performed better or more customer-focused. He formed Railmark Holdings, Inc. to demonstrate his ideas and today those unique approaches to serving customers in the railroad industry, both as a direct rail services provider and as a supplier of services to the railroad industry, is being recognized by the railroad industry around the world.
Railmark’s business strategy is to deliver its products and services with the highest degree of service delivery, customer communications, workmanship and quality. It is these standards which set Railmark apart from its competitors, along with the ease of doing business with a company that can provide multiple rail services to the same customer. Railmark can perform all rail services needed by the same customer, improving both the customer’s cost savings and the Company’s margins with better and more focused operating and management efficiencies. Railmark combines this strategy, delivered by a strong competent team of railroad professionals, marketing its style of service delivery with the registered slogan: “A New Train of Thought ...®”.
