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Today, SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) Executive Director Jeff Stover will take part in a White House forum on the nation's transportation infrastructure. He is among 34 elected and appointed officials from across the country who were invited to participate in the forum, which is titled "Building Blocks for Economic Development and Job Growth."

"I will share lessons we have learned from public-private partnerships that created jobs," said Stover in a prepared statement. "The rail authority has completed over 40 projects in partnership with the rail customers, development organizations, counties and municipalities. These development projects are complemented by great freight service provided by the North Shore Railroad group, which is the private railroad operator for the JRA's five short lines."

In terms of freight-rail service and rail system improvements in central Pennsylvania, public-private partnerships offer the best of both worlds, he added. The JRA's public-private qualities attracted national attention earlier this year, when the World Bank published a case study that illustrated how the authority's public investment in short lines helped advance rural economic development, said Stover.

Sponsored and coordinated by the National Association of Development Organizations and National Association of Counties, the forum also will include representatives from the National Economic Council, Economic Development Administration, and U.S. Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Commerce.