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BUSINESS NEWS FIFTH BRIGHTLINE TRAINSET TRAVELING CROSS COUNTRY TO SOUTH FLORIDA Brightline, the new privately funded express inter-city passenger rail service in Florida, will soon take delivery of its fifth trainset, BrightRed, from Siemens USA in Sacramento. Fabrication of the trainset was recently completed, and it is now on its way to South Florida traveling 3,052 miles via rail across eight states. The transcontinental journey is a milestone as it marks delivery of the final trainset for Brightline’s Phase 1 service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. The train was built by employees at Siemens’ 1,000-person, 60-acre rail manufacturing hub and is 100 percent Buy America compliant. Train components were manufactured by 40 different U.S. suppliers from more than 20 states. Upon arrival at Workshop b, Brightline’s 12-acre railroad operations facility in West Palm Beach, BrightRed will soon begin the testing and commissioning process. “The voyage of BrightRed across the U.S. is an exciting milestone as we gear up to launch service later this year,” said Brightline CEO Dave Howard. “The five trainsets represent thousands of hours of dedication from the Brightline teammates who designed and oversaw the assembly to the 1,000 people who built them in California and the 40 suppliers throughout the country that manufactured components.” Brightline’s trains are built as integrated trainsets, comprised of two diesel-electric locomotives and four high quality stainless-steel coaches. These clean diesel-electric locomotives will meet the highest emissions standards set by the

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federal government. The integration improves ride quality and makes for a quiet experience, while the bright yellow locomotive on each end offers high reliability and redundancy. “It is an exciting honor for Siemens to build trainsets with such historical significance, serving the first privately-funded rail system in over 100 years,” said Siemens Rolling Stock President Michael Cahill. “I salute the Brightline team for their innovative and courageous approach and I am proud of the team of highly skilled employees in Sacramento and the suppliers across the nation for their significant contributions to this great American manufacturing success story.” Brightline’s trains abound with innovations and comfortable features, from automatic level boarding platforms and aisles that exceed ADA compliance standards to comfortable leather seats with multiple outlets for devices and complimentary robust Wi- Fi, powered by multiple antennas on every car. The interiors were designed by David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, one of the world’s leading architecture and design firms. Providing a travel option that lives at the intersection of transportation and hospitality, Brightline will ease the stress of traffic, provide a simple and intuitive experience from door to destination, and foster new opportunities to explore more of Southeast Florida. The company is anticipating an official launch of its service later this year.

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1200 North College Ave. Fayetteville, AR 72703 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Managing Editor rmassey@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Sara Parkman | Editor and Designer sparkman@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent landreassen@zweiggroup.com

MARK ZWEIG, from page 1

be leaving the company and the company buying back their ownership interest. This is super critical versus just deciding what your buy-back provisions are without regard as to whether or not you can actually fulfill those obligations. 3)Having a structure and culture that separates ownership from management. This is crucial if you want to implement point No. 1 above. People may be ready to invest in the company long before they are truly ready for a management position. And too many managers is never a good idea anyway! 4)Financing stock purchases through a note with regular payments versus pay- ments tied to once-a-year bonus distributions. This way the stock purchase takes a bite out of every paycheck and reminds the individual shareholder of his or her respon- sibilities. A once-a-year payment tied to bonus gets all screwed up when the company has a bad year and can’t pay bonuses. You don’t want this. 5)Have a business plan that relates to the ownership transition plan. The two go hand-in-hand. How much money will the firm make in the coming year. How much of that will be retained. How much paid out to all employees or to just shareholders. That affects how much stock the firm needs to sell to fund its growth. It also affects how much stock someone can buy at any one time if their primary source of funding is bo- nuses. 6)Qualified experts are required! That means you must have an experienced attorney who understands the laws on selling ownership to employees and helps keep you on- course with realistic expectations for the process. Other experts in OT and valuation may be helpful to you as well. MARK ZWEIG is Zweig Group’s chairman and founder. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com.

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THE ZWEIG LETTER November 6, 2017, ISSUE 1223

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