Reading & Northern Railroad has appointed William (Bill) Clark senior vice president coal, responsible for managing the company’s anthracite coal business, as well as its freight car fleet of more than 1200 cars. His appointment is effective March 1, 2017, and he will report to Wayne Michel, president of Reading & Northern Railroad.
Clark will be assisted by Michael Sharadin, assistant vice president coal marketing, and Steve Werley, customer service manager for the anthracite business. Anthracite is a core business at the Reading & Northern, which is known as “The Road of Anthracite.”
Clark joins Reading & Northern from Talen Energy (formerly PPL), where he managed logistics and coal purchasing. He also oversaw a fleet of more than 2,000 rail cars serving 4 power plants.
Prior to that, Clark spent 14 years in the coal business group at Norfolk Southern Railroad (NS), where he worked in coal operations and metallurgic and utility marketing. Before joining NS, Clark held senior marketing roles at the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad and Iowa Interstate Railroad.
During his career, Clark won the Golden Boxcar award for starting a distribution company handling forest, steel and food products.
Clark earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and marketing from North Central College in Naperville, Ill.
“We are excited to have Bill join our team. The roots of our railroad are in the anthracite business; a business that was crucial to the growth of our region and the nation. We have seen evidence of a growing interest in anthracite use in the domestic steel business and for exports,” said Michel.
“Having Bill join our team at this critical juncture gives us our best opportunity to help our customers, who mine almost all of the North American anthracite, in their efforts to get their material to the end users. In addition, Bill’s 30 plus years of experience in railroad marketing will make him an invaluable resource to all of us at the Reading & Northern as we continue to grow our business,” concluded Michel.
Reading & Northern Railroad is a privately held railroad company serving more than 70 customers in nine eastern Pennsylvania counties.