Featured Speakers

Jon Petz
Significance...In simple moments
Monday, July 14
Transform team moments from boring to BOOM!
Organizations today want teams who are engaged, passionate, and purposeful in their work. They’re hungry for the how-to’s that can help everyone from the person answering the phone to the one in the corner office, understand their significance and treat every opportunity and relationship for the main event that it is rather than the dress rehearsal it is not. Yet, we often don’t realize that successful relationships are not a ‘thing’ we conquer; they are a series of significant moments – that matter. However, we must understand that significance is not something we can personally create, as significance is never achieved, it is gifted to you. Learn the foundational model of achieving significance in this inspiring, impactful and entertaining four part workshop.
What you will learn:
- How to identify, deliver, and appreciate the simple moments that are the foundational building blocks to achieving significance.
- Personal branding and impact.
- Focus versus perspective.
- Don’t dismiss simple solutions.
Biography
Meet Jon
As the world’s only Amazement Artist™, Jon Petz empowers his audiences to experience the true sense of amazement and then takes them backstage to discover how they can create those “Moments of Amazement” in their culture, sales, service and relationships to create more value in who they are what they do.
Jon is a former sales executive and ,as a remarkable addition, a professional magician who has captivated audiences globally. This one-of-a-kind blend of expertise provides insightful, practical solutions to real-world professional challenges and opportunities through masterful storytelling, engagement, and entertainment with a WOW factor that is uniquely and unequivocally the Jon Petz Experience.
Far more than “JUST” a motivational speaker or conference emcee, he is the perfected trifecta of strategy, mindset and inspiration that that leaves each audience cheering . . . “Do It Again!”
Far more than “JUST” a motivational speaker or conference emcee, he is the perfected trifecta of strategy, mindset and inspiration that that leaves each audience cheering . . . “Do It Again!” In 2004, Jon realized he had more people to help and left his executive, corner office to form the Bore No More Idea Lab. As an opening keynote speaker and conference emcee, he has presented at over 1,600 events, to more than 1,000,000 audience members, in over 200 industries worldwide.
As a two-time best-selling author, Jon’s dedication to sparking amazement and adding unparalleled value has been lauded by major media outlets, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, ABC News, and Success Magazine. His mission continues to inspire and transform, making individuals and teams even more valuable.

Jim Schiffler
How to Identify Emerging Leaders
Tuesday, July 15
Jim is the retired president of North Central Bus & Equipment (Blue Bird dealer in MN & SD) and Sunburst Transit (student transportation contractor). He is a champion of organizational culture, having created an atmosphere where individuals feel safe, respected, valued and know, “they are making a difference”. His new book, “Stepping Up: from valued employee to supervisor” is making a difference in the lives of aspiring leaders who are listening to their inner voice saying, “I’m not good enough” and are afraid to step up into a supervisory role. He will help you identify and qualify your next generation of leaders.
Biography
Jim was born into the school bus industry. His father Alphonse was asked to purchase a school bus when the Albany (MN) schools consolidated in the 1950’s before Jim was born. He drove his first route on his high school graduation day in 1977. He is the retired past president of North Central Bus & Eq, St Cloud MN, a Blue Bird dealer, St Cloud Industrial Products, Monumental Sales and Parts Midwest. During his career he launched a student transportation company, Sunburst Transit in Minneapolis MN. There he had the opportunity to: bid contracts, train drivers, drive and shovel snow until 2:00 AM so the buses were ready of route a 6:00AM.
2025 Conference Speakers & Trainers
As of 4/21/25. Subject to change.
VP of Sales
Easy Way Safety Systems
Alternative Fuels Manager – West
Blue Bird
Pete Baxter
Previous State Director, Office of Transportation
Indiana Department of Education
Manager, Medium/Heavy Vehicle Test Development
National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence
Albert Burleigh
Vice President of North American Sales
Blue Bird
Tony Corpin
Publisher
School Transportation News
Jim Crowcroft
North American Dealer Sales & Service Manager Thomas Built Buses
Denise Donaldson, CPST
Editor & Publisher
Safe Ride News
Alan Fidler
Fleet Manager
Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township in Indiana
Richard Fischer
CEO
Trans-Consult
Teresa Fleming
Deputy Chief Operations Officer/Executive Director of Transportation Services
The School District of Philadelphia
Ryan Gray
Editor in Chief
School Transportation News
Launi Harden
Consultant
Launi’s Transportation Solutions, LLC
Paul Hasenmeier
Public Safety Director & Fire Chief
Hernando County Fire Rescue in Florida
Kala Henkensiefken
Special Education Transportation Manager
ISD31 Bemidji Area Schools in Minnesota
Francisco Lagunas
General Manager – North American Bus
Cummins
Jannet Malig
Long Beach (California) Clean Cities
Miriam Manary
Lead Research Engineer
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute
Lawson Mollica
Long Beach (California) Clean Cities
David Murphy
Account Manager
HSM Transportation
Timothy Purvis
Principal Consultant
Pupil Transportation Information, LLC
Harley Pinson
Director of Fleet Maintenance
Paulding County School District in Georgia
Darren Reaume
Director of Training
Q’Straint / Sure-Lok
Alexandra Robinson
President
A. Robinson Consulting
Ariel Rodriguez
Fleet Manager
Humble ISD in Texas
Sue Shutrump, CPST
Supervisor of OT/PT
Trumbull County ESC in Ohio
Kayne Smith
Director of Transportation
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Texas
Kerry Somerville
CEO
Transportation Planning Solutions
Katie Stok
Segment Marketing Director
IC Bus
Michele Troute
President
Ralph W. Troute Consulting
Ralph Troute
Chief Engineer
Ralph W. Troute Consulting
Maritza Valentin
Contract/National Account Manager
AMF-Bruns America
Rosalyn Vann-Jackson
Executive Director of Enrollment & Student Services
Broken Arrow Public Schools in Oklahoma
Charlie Vits, CPST
Market Development Manager/Regulatory Affairs Manager
IMMI/SafeGaurd
Stephen Whaley
Alternative Fuels Manager – East
Blue Bird
Bobby Williams
Assistant Director, Fleet Services
Cypress-Fairbanks ISD in Texas
Diane Wilson
School Bus Safety Training Specialist
ESC Region 6 in Texas