UMA Begins Search for New President/CEO

As the motorcoach industry begins to recover from the devastation of the pandemic, the United Motorcoach Association is preparing for the appointment of a new President/CEO.

“When UMA tapped Larry Killingsworth to be our interim president and CEO in February 2020, for six to nine months while we searched for a permanent leader, little did we know what was ahead,” the association said in a news release. “We are grateful to Larry for leading us through these past fifteen months and continuing with UMA through the search process.”

David Moody, UMA vice chairman, is leading the search committee, and expects it will take three to six months for the committee to complete its work.

“UMA has played a vital role for its members during the pandemic, and will continue to deliver the critical support that is needed,” Moody said. “It is now time for our organization to turn our focus to the future and bring in the next leader of UMA.”

Some of the specific initiatives include:

1. Teaming up with other industry groups to conduct a powerful advocacy program for the motorcoach industry that resulted in the CERTS program, the first-ever direct funding from the federal government for our industry.
2. Providing financial relief for our operator members by suspending dues for the 12 months ending March 31, 2021.
3. Dramatically increasing the timeliness of information by moving Bus & Motorcoach News to a digital format, launching the Daily NewsFlash, and conducting 58 town halls every Thursday at 2p.m. ET.
4. Shifting the annual Sales Summit and Safety Management Seminar from live meetings to a safer and more cost effective virtual format.
5. Planned and delivered UMA’s Annual Motorcoach EXPO in Orlando in April 2021, the first industry-wide gathering in more than a year.
6. Relaunched a strengthened BusRates.com on March 1, 2021, to provide a powerful tool for its subscribers to respond to the trend toward online search for transportation services. 

Learn more about the position.