Keynote Speakers

Registrant's Luncheon and Opening General Session
Saturday, April 16, 2011 12:00pm - 2:30pm
West 301 A-C

Sponsored by:

Bill Graves currently serves as President and CEO of American Trucking Associations (ATA). In January 2003, Graves completed 22 years of public service in the state of Kansas highlighted by two terms as Governor of Kansas. He was re-elected to his second term with the largest percentage of votes in Kansas history. Under his administration, Kansas taxpayers saw the largest tax cut in state history, and many state services were streamlined. In 1999 he signed an historic 10-year, $13-billion comprehensive transportation program into law, improving highways, railroad infrastructure, airports and public transit service in Kansas.

As Commander-in-Chief on the Kansas National Guard, Gov. Graves oversaw the deployment of Kansas troops to Bosnia, Turkey and the Persian Gulf, among other areas. Prior to his election as governor, he served two terms as Kansas Secretary of State.

Gov. Graves has been involved in the trucking industry his entire life. For almost 70 years, members of his family have operated trucking companies offering a diversity of services. In addition to his duties at ATA, Gov. Graves serves on the board of the International Speedway Corporation, the leading promoter of motor sport racing in America. Gov. Graves earned a degree in Business Administration from Kansas Wesleyan University.  

Donald Broughton
Managing Director and Senior Analyst - Avondale
Registrant's Luncheon amd ATD Commerical Truck of the Year Award
Sunday, April 17, 2011 12:00pm - 1:30pm
West 301 A-C

Sponsored by:

Donald Broughton is a Senior Research Analyst and Managing Director covering Industrials and Transportation. Prior to joining Avondale, Donald was a Senior Research Analyst at A.G. Edwards covering Industrials from 1995 to 2007. His coverage has included trucking, airfreight, railroads and freight forwarders. Before that, Donald spent eight years in various distribution and operations management roles in the beverage industry, including serving as the corporate distribution manager for the Dr Pepper/Seven Up companies and chief operating officer of Bevmark Concepts.

Mr. Broughton has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as its “Best on the Street” 2000 and 2006 surveys for his stock-picking performance in both the cargo and railroad industry groups. He was ranked by Zack’s Investment Research in 2005 and StarMine in 2006 as a Five-Star Analyst (the highest ranking) based on the historical performance of his recommendations. Mr. Broughton is also known for his development of a “Value to Density Spectrum” study of the tangible goods flow, and tracking of trucking bankruptcies.

Mr. Broughton has been a frequent guest on CNBC, CNN and the “Nightly Business Report.” He has also been widely quoted by The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Money and various transportation industry journals.

Mr. Broughton has served as a guest lecturer at various universities and has been a regular speaker at many transportation industry conferences.

Mr. Broughton received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting from Southeast Missouri State University.

Charlie Cook
Editor/Publisher - The Cook Political Report
Registrant's Breakfast
Monday, April 18, 2011 8:00am - 9:15am
West 301 A-C

Sponsored by:

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s keenest litmus testers on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie Cook is the publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM. He also writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a political analyst for NBC News.
Cook’s expertise has been featured on the ABC, CBS, and NBC evening news programs, as well as on Good Morning America, the Today show, Nightline, Meet the Press, and This Week. He is also a welcome fixture on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, CNN, and National Public Radio.