Co-Chairs of KC Chamber’s Big 5 Transportation Committee Honored with RideKC’s Rosa Parks Business Partner Award

The co-chairs of the Chamber’s Transportation Committee, Scott Smith and Michael DeBacker, received RideKC’s  2019 Rosa Parks Business Partner Award at the Rosa Parks Spirit Awards, Tuesday, August 27, 2019.

The Business Partner Award is presented to an individual or business whose support for public transportation demonstrates a commitment by the private sector to improve the quality of life for its employees, residents and visitors to the city.

Transportation became the Chamber’s newest Big 5 Initiative in 2018, after a survey showed less than 10 percent of jobs across the Metro are accessible by public transportation. Under Smith and DeBacker’s leadership the Transportation Committee is working to increase workforce access across Greater Kansas City. The Committee has identified four areas designed to improve transportation and ultimately the region’s economy: workforce access, regional transportation revenue and investment strategies, transportation safety, and advocacy.

Smith is retired from HNTB and DeBacker is currently the general manager of the Transportation Global Practice at Burns & McDonnell.