On February 2, 2012 The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration announced the selection of projects to be funded under the fiscal year 2011 appropriations for the Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Program. The OTRB Accessibility Program makes funds available to private operators of over-the –road buses to help finance the incremental capital and over-the-road bus accessibility rule.

There were a total of 97 awardees. Community Spec is proud to announce that of the 97 awardees, 72 awardees are Community Spec clients. A total of $8.8 million was made available for the program in FY 2011. Community Spec clients received $4.3 million collectively—nearly 49.9% of the total available funds.

This grant is an opportunity for companies in our industry to lessen the costs of installing wheelchair lifts into existing motor coaches (retrofitting), meet the costs of installing wheelchair lifts as an element of new motor coach attainment, as well as provide training sessions for company employees relating to customer service communications with special needs passengers and wheelchair lift maintenance.

Congratulations to all of the awarded businesses! Community Spec is looking forward to working with our clients on completing the funded projects in the future.

Our team at Community Spec is currently working with our 2011 Federal Transit Administration Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Grant clients to draw down awarded funding for their projects.  After hours of diligent work to prepare these grants for our clients, it is exciting to get the ball rolling with the process of drawing their money down.

These projects are meaningful investments for any motor coach company because it opens the door to special needs passengers.  Wheelchair lifts not only give an individual an increased sense of freedom but also can prevent person injury from trying to board a motor coach otherwise. They are a step in the correct direction to offer those bound by a wheelchair the independence they sincerely deserve.

We are looking forward to helping clients in round two of the Over-the-Road Bus Accessibility Grants.  If you are interested in applying for the FTA Over –the-Road Bus Accessibility grant please contact the Community Spec team at 1 (877) 860- 2583.

BusCon has been the most extensive gathering of private and public-sector decision-makers in the bus industry for over 16 years. At the conference people can go to seminars and exhibits to find the newest information and technologies regarding the transportation industry.

Kelly gave his advice and expertise regarding “How to Get Grant Money”. This session talked about how there is millions of dollars worth of grants available to help motorcoach companies purchase equipment, improve security, meet federal ADA accessibility statutes and provide start-up funding for regional and intercity transportation services.

“It was great to talk about the importance of grants and how effective they are in supporting the transportation industry,” said Ryan Kelly. “I am honored to help people become more aware of these funding opportunities.”

]]> http://communityspec.com/community-spec-news/buscon-2011-guest-speaker-ryan-kelly/feed/ 0 http://communityspec.com/community-spec-news/community-spec-clients-successful-in-2011-ibsg-round/ http://communityspec.com/community-spec-news/community-spec-clients-successful-in-2011-ibsg-round/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:32:51 +0000 Christi Bergen http://communityspec.com/?p=1594  

August 30, 2011- Community Spec, a Terrapin Blue family company, is proud to announce that the Intercity Bus Security Grant for 2011 was a success. This was one of the most competitive rounds we have seen for this grant and it is our pleasure to say that 100% of our applicants received funding.

A total of $4,990,000 was available to fund transportation security initiatives for the motorcoach companies.  These initiatives included facility and/or vehicle security enhancements within the industry. Community Spec clients received $1.8 million dollars collectively – nearly 40% of the total available funds.

“Terrapin Blue is very exited for our clients who participated in the 2011 DHS Intercity Bus Security Grant Program,” stated Ryan Kelly, CEO of Terrapin Blue. “It was a very competitive round this year with the limited amount of funding available nationally. The Community Spec team is excited for our clients who will be able to mitigate unwanted events onboard their buses and at their facilities because of the intercity program. Our industry should also remain vigilant in the funding battle to ensure that this important program does not get overshadowed by the intense budget battles that are currently taking place in Congress. Security is not an issue on which you can place a price tag and we have learned from tragedies like September 11^th that unwanted events occur when not reinforced by programs like intercity bus security.”

This grant is an opportunity for businesses in our industry to maximize their safety and awareness. With complete success on all of our grant applications, we are honored to have played a role in making our communities and neighborhoods continuously remain safe from natural disasters or terrorism acts.

Congratulations to all of the awarded companies! Our team at Community Spec is looking forward to working with everyone on successful completions of all funded grant projects in the future.

The amount available for the 2011 grant is $8.8 million. Charter and fixed route carriers are eligible. The funding provided within the grant will help with improvements on buses such as adding lifts, doors, tie-downs, and moveable seats, and also helps provide any type of training related to passengers or other operational activities. This grant also allows companies to be reimbursed for existing wheel chair lifts previously purchased after June 8, 1998.

For several years the Motorcoach Council has been helping with grass root efforts to better the environment. Their green initiatives are helping with our carbon footprint, carbon dioxide emissions, fuel efficiency and much more. Terrapin Blue wants to express their support to the Motorcoach Council’s ongoing efforts, which are essential to making the transportation industry sustainable.

This last spring, Ryan Kelly, CEO of Terrapin Blue, had the honor of becoming an active member of the board for the Motorcoach Council. He was named a valuable “Contributor To The Board” and has been invited to attend all meetings with the council’s Board of Directors. Mr. Kelly, with the help of Heather Horton, thought donating Community Spec’s, a Terrapin Blue Family Company, grant writing services would help with the continuing growth of the Get Motorcoachified campaign.

“We’re pleased to partner with Terrapin Blue on this exciting new grant opportunity and extend this exceptional value to the industry’s motorcoach operators,” stated Heather Horton, Motorcoach Marketing Council’s Executive Director. “The Community Spec grant writers have a proven track record and have a 97% success rate on funded OTRBA-ADA grant applications. The raffle is a great way to file this grant application at a fraction of the retail rate, while supporting the Council’s nation-wide public awareness campaign.”

Motorcoach operators can purchase raffle tickets, with a drawing date of August 15th, directly from the Motorcoach Marketing Council by contacting Heather Horton, Executive Director by phone at 303-818-3499 or via email at Heather@MotorcoachCouncil.org. Raffle ticket entry forms may be downloaded online at http://goo.gl/lvM2b.

Community Spec is thrilled to give back to the transportation community and hopes the Motorcoach Council’s efforts are successful in years to come. For more information about Community Spec, a Terrapin Blue Family Company, please contact Chelsey Quick at 1(877)860-2583 ext 332 or by email at cquick@terrapinblue.com.

This four-day event was a productive experience for the Terrapin Blue family of companies, and served as an opportunity for our team to network with motorcoach industry professionals.

At our booth throughout the event’s Product Pavilion portion, we met hundreds of professionals that represent a variety of groups in the travel industry, including bus operators, hotel owners and destination marketing organizations. Eager to hear about the diverse array of services that our family of companies provides, these individuals learned a great deal about Terrapin Blue throughout Marketplace.

(Pictured above on left: Ryan Kelly, CEO of Terrapin Blue, on the Product Pavilion floor.)

The Terrapin Blue team also attended educational seminars led by professional speakers and industry leaders throughout the week, learning about a variety of topics applicable to the transportation industry, such as marketing and social media.

And of course, being in Philadelphia, our team took the opportunity to experience the city’s rich history and culture.

Marketplace 2011 was a unique industry event for our company, and Terrapin Blue looks forward to its continued partnership with the American Bus Association, as well as future ABA-sponsored events.

Read more about our recent exclusive partnership with the American Bus Association here.

Mike Dickson, President of Southeastern Stages, Inc, feels that the Inter-City Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP), through the Department of Homeland Security, is a “positive” and helpful aid to the motorcoach industry. Mr. Dickson said that the IBSGP greatly enabled his company to enhance security for all of its employees and customers. Southeastern Stages was provided with equipment that otherwise would not have been available to them without federal assistance.

Southeastern Stages has been able to improve its facility by installing closed circuit televisions at all 4 sites. They also received emergency preparedness training from Plan of Action, which Dickson said, “increased their awareness of pending situations of trouble.” Their motorcoaches gained improvements with GPS equipment and real-­time surveillance. Although these new additions took time for employees to become familiar and comfortable with, they soon realized the vitality of these instruments. Employees now have instant communication with their home base facility enabling management to provide quicker
aid and support whenever necessary. Overall, drivers feel safer when at work, especially during early morning and night hours.

Unfortunately, Southeastern Stages experienced an armed robbery in their Florence, SC facility. Thanks to their surveillance cameras, they were able to identify and capture the robbers. The funding from the IBSGP proved to be an essential contribution to solving this negative occurrence.

With all of the positive improvements the IBSGP has brought to Southeastern Stages, it did not come without some difficulty. Mr. Dickson strongly suggests that the program needs revising and simplifying in order to better comprehend what the DHS needs from the client. He also feels that the DHS should better educate the public about the availability of the program and the processes included in it. “If it had not been for Community Spec, our company would not have been able to benefit from the Program,” noted Mr. Dickson, who unsuccessfully attempted to apply to the program himself some years back.

Regardless of previous struggles, Southeastern Stages’ employees, facilities, and motorcoaches have significantly benefitted from the IBSGP.

On Wednesday, September 29th, our president and CEO, Ryan Kelly, was honored as a guest speaker at the fifteenth-annual BusCon Conference and Expo in Chicago, Illinois.

BusCon is an annual gathering of public and private sector decision-makers in the bus industry. Each year BusCon exhibits the newest buses and technologies and brings together leaders from a wide range of areas that include public sector and private sector companies such as tour and charter operators, leasing companies, casinos, Universities and more.

Kelly was invited to share his expertise on grant writing and federal funding opportunities. Companies were educated on how to best establish public and private partnerships and secure federal grant funding to improve their annual bottom lines.

“Ryan, many thanks for speaking at BusCon. I enjoyed introducing you and listening to your excellent presentation. I haven’t seen that many people take such copious notes in a long time. You know your stuff! You helped make BusCon a tremendous success.”

- Ty Bobit (of Bobit Business Media)

For more information about Terrapin Blue or the other organizations, please visit www.terrapinblue.com.

As of May 17, Terrapin Blue Holdings, LLC has expanded to a second location with a new office in Chicago, IL. Anthony Vaccarello and Chelsey Quick, formerly of The BusBank, launched the new location for Terrapin Blue Holdings, LLC. Both Anthony and Chelsey worked with the company’s extensive operator network to build relationships and partnerships with valued vendors in the motorcoach industry. For more information about Terrapin Blue or its other organizations, please visit www.terrapinblue.com.