The Arkansas Department of Transportation on Thursday hosted a virtual conversation with the two female leaders of the transportation departments in Arkansas and Mississippi.
Lorie Tudor, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation, and Melinda McGrath, Director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation, discussed their journeys to the top of their field and the important issues facing the transportation industry today.
Moderated by Jerry Holder, Garver’s Director of Transportation, the conversation between industry leaders began with the most pressing DOT needs in the region, how COVID-19 has affected the industry and what excites the two leaders about the future of transportation.
When asked about the most pressing issues facing the industry, primarily the biggest challenge faced by ARDOT over the next five to 15 years, Tudor noted the difficulties in recruiting and maintaining engineers. Her solution is to recruit workers from high schools and from those individuals who don’t plan on going to college.
“We need to get into the schools earlier, and let people know what a great field transportation is, along with all of its opportunities,” Tudor said.
McGrath said Mississippi’s biggest needs are maintenance techs and construction techs.
“Pay is probably our top factor, and we need to do a much better job of having more job fairs and career fairs. There’s a whole group of people that don’t really understand what we do,” she said. “We need a strong, confident government workforce.”
Holder asked Tudor about the passing of Issue 1 in Arkansas on November 3, noting that the issue will add $200 million to the pool of funds available to ARDOT.
“In 2012, Arkansas voters approved a half-cent sales tax that was temporary and would expire in 2023 to maintain Arkansas’ roads and streets. We decided to use the money on a program of highway widening projects called Connecting Arkansas. We were successful in delivering that program. Voters could see that we can deliver on the progress that we made,” Tudor said. “The Renew Highways Program is the new project that Issue 1 will help fund. ARDOT’s programs will help improve your roads, make them safer, improve mobility, and bring jobs into the state. Seventy-two out of 75 counties voted yes on Issue 1. Arkansans determined that they wanted to continue this revenue source for the roads.”
McGrath was asked about transportation opportunities and roadblocks that Mississippi anticipates in the years ahead.
“We passed the Lottery Tax, and the first $80 million of those proceeds come back to my department to do paving projects and street repairs, but the sunset is in 2028,” McGrath explained. “Listening to you articulate and explain working with legislative leaders on getting a sales tax passed reminded me that we need to do a better job of going out and explaining what we need. As we get closer to the end, we’ll be able to make our case. But our biggest challenge is funding. We’ve got all of the plans, we’ve got all of the numbers — we know what these challenges are, and what you said is really encouraging to me. And we need to start showing in every region of the state that this is what the state can do for you if we get the money needed. Funding is our issue, and what you said is really really inspirational.”
Holder also asked how the pandemic had impacted both departments’ operations. Tudor said COVID-19 hasn’t had a huge industry impact overall.
“We’ve continued to move forward with services and maintenance. In the beginning of the pandemic, our traffic volumes dropped 40 percent, and our concern was that we were going to take a $300 million hit to our revenue. The numbers bottomed out in April and began to go up again, and we’re back to where we were pre-COVID. We ended up taking a $2 million hit, so it’s not as bad as we thought,” she said. “It’s not business as usual anymore though — we’re having to make employees feel safe about coming into work, whether it’s various precautions and electronics instead of paper or virtual meetings.
“There have been a lot of good things that have come out of this, and I see the future being even better once we get past COVID, like some sort of silver lining, such as a hybrid system in the office. We didn’t change that much as far as services but internally, there’s been a lot of changes.”
McGrath said Mississippi’s DOT experienced a $20 million dip for two months but in July, traffic came back.
“We’re back, which is good. I guess one of the biggest challenges is being an engineering company — engineers aren’t usually known as being flexible, same as accountants, and that’s kind of where we are,” she explained. “We were already faced with not having enough managers. Our employees were and are great. COVID hit, and people’s stressors became worse, so we had to help, accommodate and protect our staff. A couple of years ago, we developed a system to be able to monitor the performance of our designers, and a lot of them are more productive at home than they were at work.”
Both executives noted the struggles they faced climbing the corporate ladder in a predominantly male field during a time when not many women were civil engineers.
“There’s a huge amount of opportunity for a very rewarding career in transportation,” Tudor said. “It ticks all of the boxes. You get to problem solve and be creative. It’s exciting. You get to drive by your project with your family and friends and tell them that you were part of it.”
McGrath stressed the need for more civil servants.
“We all have different things that motivate and drive us, but don’t discount being a public servant. It is really rewarding, and the government needs you. Government needs smart, hard working people who can articulate well. We need that. It is a very meaningful and rewarding career.”
READ MORE: Jerry Holder – “Don’t Build It, and They Won’t Come”