LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., July 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Consistent
with its longstanding policy of regular board refreshment, The
Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE:GBX) announced today the election
of Ambassador Antonio Garza and
James R. Huffines to the Company's
Board of Directors. The election of two new directors
increases Greenbrier's Board from 10 to 12 members, 11 of whom are
independent directors.
Ambassador Antonio
Garza
Ambassador Garza serves as Counsel in the Mexico City office of White & Case LLP,
one of the world's leading global law firms. Prior to joining
White & Case, Garza served as the U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico from 2002 to 2009.
Drawing on decades of high-profile political, legal and business
experience, Ambassador Garza is recognized for his knowledge of
U.S.-Mexico relations and both
nations' business and political environments. Greenbrier has
more than 4,000 employees at its five business operations in
Mexico, primarily in railcar
manufacturing.
Ambassador Garza currently serves as a director of Kansas City
Southern, a publicly traded rail-based transportation company and
is the chairman of its Mexican subsidiary Kansas City Southern de
México. He is also on the board for MoneyGram, a
publicly-traded global money transfer company, and serves as
chairman of the board's compliance and ethics committee.
Ambassador Garza is a member of the board of trustees of
Southern Methodist University where he
chairs the University's Committee on Governmental and Legal
Affairs. Garza also serves as a Director to the Americas
Society, the US Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and is a member of the Council on
Foreign Relations (CFR) and COMEXI, the CFR's Mexican counterpart.
Ambassador Garza is a past recipient of the Aguila Azteca (Aztec Eagle), highest honor
bestowed by the Mexican government upon a foreign national.
Ambassador Garza is a past chairman of the Railroad Commission
of Texas, elected to that
statewide office in 1998, and serving through 2002. From 1994
through 1997 Ambassador Garza was the State of Texas Secretary of State, and Senior
Policy Advisor to the Governor of Texas from 1994 to 1997. Prior to that,
Ambassador Garza held the position of Cameron County Judge from
1988 to 1994.
Ambassador Garza holds a B.B.A from the University of Texas at Austin and a J.D. from
Southern Methodist University School of
Law and has been honored as a distinguished alumnus at both
institutions, and was recently inducted into the McCombs School of
Business Hall of Fame. Ambassador Garza is a member of the
State Bar of Texas and the
District of Columbia Bar and is admitted to practice before the
United States Supreme Court.
"Ambassador Garza is a critical addition to our Board, bringing
an unmatched combination of experience in the railroad industry
combined with a deep understanding of the people and government of
Mexico," said William A. Furman, Chairman & CEO.
"Greenbrier is a global company, firmly rooted in North
America. More than 55% of our employees are based in
North America, predominantly in
the United States and Mexico. By every measure, North America is our largest market
served. Among his many expected contributions to Greenbrier,
Ambassador Garza will help us navigate the USMCA trade agreement,
review aspects of the North American rail interchange system from
new perspectives and support outreach to our employees in
Mexico, the United States and Canada."
James R.
Huffines
James R. Huffines has more than
35 years of experience in banking and finance. He most
recently served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for subsidiaries
of Hilltop Holdings, Inc., a publicly-traded banking and financial
services company (HTH). He also served as a member of the
Hilltop board of directors from the time of the merger in 2012 with
the primary subsidiary, Plains Capital Corporation until the end of
2017. Huffines joined Plains Capital Bank in 2001 as chairman
of the Central and South Texas
banking markets. He served as President and COO of Plains
Capital Corporation from 2010-2015 before assuming the role at
Hilltop Holdings. In addition, he served on the Plains
Capital Bank board for 15 years as well as serving on the Plains
Capital Corporation board. From 2007 to 2012, Huffines also
served on the board of Energy Future Holdings as an independent
director and as the board's audit committee chairman.
Huffines brings extensive community and state involvement to
Greenbrier, including serving as chairman on the University of Texas (UT) System board of regents
for four years during his seven years as a Regent. The UT
System board is responsible for nine academic campuses and five
different medical schools in the state. He served as well on
the board of the UTIMCO, a $35
billion endowment fund for higher education in Texas. Huffines currently serves as
chair of the board of Southwestern Medical
Center, the largest foundation in the Dallas area, which has a mission of providing
funding for research and support at the UT Southwestern Medical
School. From 2015-2019, he chaired the Governor's University
Research Initiative. In April of 2020, Governor Abbott named
Mr. Huffines to chair his business strike force to reopen
Texas after the COVID
shutdown. Mr. Huffines currently serves on the board of
Susser Bank holding company.
In 2009, Huffines was inducted into the UT McCombs School of
Business Hall of Fame and in 2011 he received the Distinguished
Alumnus Award from University of Texas
at Austin. He also received the Santa
Rita Award in 2010 which is the highest honor bestowed by
the board of regents for service to advancing all higher education
in the state of Texas. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance from the
University of Texas at Austin and
attended the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern
Methodist University. Huffines is a lifelong Texan and his
family is well known for growing a successful group of car
dealerships established in 1924. After nearly 100 years of
continuous family-run operations, The Huffines Motor Company
practices two foundational principles which remain the touchstone
for all decisions – "treat the customer the way they want to be
treated and support the community." This credo aligns
perfectly with Greenbrier's values and culture.
Furman added, "James Huffines is
a remarkably talented leader who brings broad experience in banking
and finance to Greenbrier. His years of service in higher
education will inform our talent development programs.
Likewise, his career in banking and finance will help us identify
opportunities to make investments and seek access to capital.
All of this will be extremely beneficial to Greenbrier's strategic
planning and in executing our financial goals."
"Ambassador Garza and James
Huffines are two exceptional additions to the Greenbrier
Board. We expect them to make immediate and enduring
contributions to our Board activities and deliberations. I
join all of my fellow Greenbrier Directors in welcoming them both
to the Board," Furman concluded.
About Greenbrier
Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake
Oswego, Oregon, is a leading international supplier of
equipment and services to global freight transportation markets.
Through its wholly-owned subsidiaries and joint ventures,
Greenbrier designs, builds and markets freight railcars and marine
barges in North America,
Europe and Brazil. We are a leading provider of freight
railcar wheel services, parts, repair, refurbishment and
retrofitting services in North
America through our wheels, repair & parts business
unit. Greenbrier manages 445,000 railcars and offers railcar
management, regulatory compliance services and leasing services to
railroads and other railcars owners in North America. GBX
Leasing (GBXL) is a special purpose subsidiary that owns and
manages a portfolio of leased railcars that originate primarily
from Greenbrier's manufacturing operations. Together, GBXL and
Greenbrier own a lease fleet of 8,700 railcars. Learn more
about Greenbrier at www.gbrx.com.
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SOURCE Greenbrier Companies, Inc.