Strategy underpins each organizing trip, beginning with identifying key members of Congress, based on committee assignment or current policy priorities, and then scheduling meetings — at least 25 per visit — with constituents who will resonate with those members.

For this visit, Jeff will focus on Little Rock and Congressman Bruce Westerman’s 4th District. Rep. Westerman is a member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, as well as the Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee.

After research, Jeff focuses on meeting with recommended county judges, mayors, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, state legislators and several county, city and municipal associations.

Next step: Educate these folks about rail’s important economic role in their communities.

Welcome to Arkansas’s 4th Congressional District, where Jeff is now on the road, implementing his plan for the week — meeting with local leaders to tell the freight rail story.

This morning Jeff focuses on the city of El Dorado, home to a short line railroad that connects to the 140,000-mile nationwide network. During his stop, Jeff meets with the city’s mayor.

He is also able to connect the president of El Dorado’s chamber of commerce directly with Rep. Westerman in a face-to-face meeting (Rep. Westerman later shares Jeff’s tweet about the meeting). El Dorado, part of Arkansas’s “Golden Triangle” region, has a large manufacturing base that depends on rail infrastructure to export finished products and receive raw materials.

Across all 28 meetings Jeff has this week, the discussion centers on the public benefits created when freight railroads invest their private dollars into the rail network. Every dollar spent generates $10 in economic output. Every railroad job supports another nine across the economy. One train can carry the load of several hundred trucks, alleviating congestion and mitigating pollution.

Next step: Follow up, converting these new and existing relationships into constituent actions in support of a healthy freight rail network.

The work of our State Directors hinges on relationship-building and education, with the ultimate goal of recruiting advocates to take action.

Back at his home office, Jeff follows up on commitments and requests from the previous week. He thanks everyone with whom he met and motivates them to weigh in with their senators and representatives — whether via letter, op-ed, call or tweet — about how Arkansas communities benefit from freight rail investments.

When all is said and done, Jeff’s five-day site visit produces 26 actions. Nine constituents agree to send pro-rail letters to their members of Congress. Fifteen sign GoRail’s group letter opposing forced access. The mayor of El Dorado agrees to author an op-ed and it is published shortly after in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette out of Little Rock.

In addition to generating immediate contacts to Congress about the importance of freight rail, Jeff has also laid the foundation for mobilization in the future. Across meetings with the Arkansas Lieutenant Governor’s office, State Senate Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, the Arkansas Association of Counties and the Arkansas Municipal League, among others, Jeff has fostered key relationships and educated many influential constituents about freight railroads and how their private sector investments in infrastructure provide public benefits.

"State on track: Pacts aid infrastructure growth"