Brittany Barrett has been with Veolia Transportation since 2004. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with her Bachelor of Science in international marketing she joined the Veolia team in Columbia, South Carolina, handling the new marketing program for the Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority. She developed a branding campaign and was responsible for overseeing a third-party vendor to deploy a $250,000 radio, television and print initiative, as well as speaking at community events.
During her tenure there she added on the role of customer service manager where she was responsible for managing a call center, as well as customer service representatives at a transfer center. She responded to all customer feedback and was the liaison to all stakeholder community groups such as the federation for the blind and high school transition programs.
Eventually Barrett became the public relation director for CMRTA and in this capacity she was responsible for handling all media relations as well as spearheading the efforts to pass a county wide 1-cent sales tax to provide a dedicated source of funding for the bus system. This funding will allow the system to triple in size over the next decade.
Barrett’s role within Veolia grew to include regional training and she traveled to different locations in the Southeast deploying customer service, supervisor and bus operator instructor training. She is a certified Master Trainer through the DOT’s Transportation Safety Institute (TSI).
In 2011 Barrett joined Veolia’s Corporate Business Development team where she became responsible for renewing current business and earning new contracts. She developed budgets and cost models for services from $1 million to $25 million in revenue over 3 to 7-year time horizons. She worked with various city, state and transit organizations to develop operational plans and ensure contract compliance. She spent much of her time in this role traveling the United States to observe many of the other operations Veolia operates from Los Angeles to Nassau County Long Island and everywhere in between. This experience has allowed her to gather best practices for every area of the operation and gain a full understanding of the resources Veolia has to offer.
In August Barrett began her next role with Veolia as the general manager at Cobb Community Transit in Marietta, Gerogia.
”What I enjoy most about this industry is the opportunity we get every day to make a difference. People depend upon us to get an education, reach employment opportunities and carry out their daily lives. The decisions I make have a real impact on the future of my community and the planet as a whole. I think we have an amazing opportunity right now to get ahead of the curve and be the solution for many of the issues facing local municipalities. The possibilities really are endless.”
“I am addicted to home improvement projects. Seeing the potential in something, agonizing through the rehab process and then seeing the final product is an amazing experience. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of it I think, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ but in the end, it all seems to be worth it.”
