Laura Perrotta, senior director of Legislative Affairs for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), has been tapped as the new president and CEO of the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA) beginning this October.
“I couldn’t be more excited to lead the American Highway Users Alliance,” Perrotta said. “Improving safety and mobility is important to every American. I am looking forward to working on such critical issues for an organization with a great reputation. This is an incredible opportunity to lead a group that has been at the forefront of transportation policy since 1932.”
Perrotta will replace Greg Cohen, who has led the non-profit since 2004. Her appointment follows an extensive search by the organization’s executive committee. The AHUA is an advocacy group that lobbies for sustained investment in the highway system.
Following the announcement, Cohen expressed enthusiasm for the organization’s new choice and impressed upon her the need to prioritize motorists’ interests as Congress considers new vehicle technologies and means to shore up the nation’s ailing highways and bridges.
Perrotta comes to the position from a long background in roadwork. Beyond her position with NADA, she is a past chairman and current board member of The Road Gang, former director of Legislative Affairs for the American Traffic Safety Services Association, where she was named one of Association TRENDS Most Effective Association Lobbyists.
“With bipartisan consensus on the need for infrastructure investment, a one-year countdown to expiration of our national highway programs, and a looming shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, it is critical that America’s motoring public are led by an individual ready to aggressively advance the case for highway safety, congestion relief, and reconstruction of our aging highway system,” Thomas Jensen, chairman of the Highway Users’ Board of Directors, said. “Laura Perrotta’s expertise in the traffic safety and auto and truck industries, as well as her Capitol Hill experience, is exactly what the Highway Users needs to lead a nationwide charge for safer mobility and better roads and bridges.”