DIA-OFA officer Melissa Roy featured in Crain's Detroit Business logistics article

Logistics dream: Chamber wants to remake region's roads, rail, airports into global hub
By Bill Shea (Crain's Detroit - 10/13/09)

Three hundred years ago, the Detroit region was a thriving trading post of fur trappers and frontier settlers, a strategic gateway into the virgin American interior and worthy of geopolitical maneuvering by the great powers of the day.

Now, the Detroit Regional Chamber wants to remake the region into a modern inland air-sea-rail-ground port worthy of its colonial history through an economic development and jobs-creation initiative designed to take advantage of U.S. logistics spending forecasted to grow to $14 trillion from $4 trillion now.

To do so will require money, time, patience and cooperation. [more]

Melissa Roy (DIA-OFA vice president) is the Detroit Regional Chamber's senior director of government relations and the point person on the Translinked effort.

The DIA-OFA Welcome's Melissa Roy as a New Officer

The DIA-OFA is proud to welcome Melissa Roy as our newest officer. She is sure to bring a new perspective and energy to our group. Thank you, Jeanne Heilman for recruiting Melissa as our new Secretary.

In her day job - Senior Director, Government Relations Detroit Regional Chamber - Melissa manages transportation policy and government relations. Her responsibilities at the Chamber include managing the transportation policy committee, advocacy and monitoring emerging issues that may impact trade and infrastructure within Southeast Michigan.

Within government relations, she is responsible for federal, state and local government relationship management. Transportation issues within the chamber include media positioning of important projects and forging partnerships along Detroit’s regional trade routes. Melissa is an eight year Detroit Regional Chamber veteran. Before government relations, she worked in economic development.

She welcomes the opportunity to learn more about the intermodal industry and join the party as a new DIA-OFA officer.

Melissa graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in economics and German.