(The following appeared on the Progressive Railroading website on January 10.)
Union Pacific Railroad recently restructured the northern region’s public affairs department to provide more representation at the local level and improve staff members’ working relationships with city and state officials.
Covering the states of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Wyoming, Colorado, the northern region office is responsible for community, state and media relations, public partnerships and philanthropic programs.
As part of the restructuring, UP appointed Joe Bateman vice president of public affairs-northern region. Most recently senior assistant VP of government affairs, he joined the Class I in 1984 as director of government affairs. Prior to UP, Bateman was the director of public affairs for Norfolk Southern Corp.
The railroad also named:
• Dick Hartman, director of public affairs for Wyoming and Colorado;
• Mike Payette, assistant VP of government affairs for Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and UP’s portion of Metra operations in Chicago;
• Tom Zapler, director of public affairs for Illinois and UP’s portion of Metra operations;
• Brenda Mainwaring, director of public affairs for Nebraska and Iowa;
• Ben Jones, director of public affairs for Missouri and Kansas; and
• Mark Davis, director of corporate relations and media for the northern region.