Whittington Invited to White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth

Potomac, MD (Dec 3, 2009) - Charles Shorty Whittington, President of Grammer Industries in Grammer, Indiana, and immediate past chairman of the American Trucking Associations, will be joining other CEOs, small business owners, labor leaders and non-profit executives in a forum at the White House today that will allow the President to hear ideas on how to continue growing the economy and putting Americans back to work.

Whittington will be participating in a breakout session on Creating Jobs Through the Rebuilding of America's Infrastructure. I am honored to be invited by the President to meet with other corporate executives and small business owners to review the status of the Administration's economic recovery program and the efforts to address America's number one task: job creation, said Whittington.

As a small business owner involved in agribusiness and transportation, I understand first-hand the need to put people back to work, especially in the rural communities of America. Creation of jobs in this sector is critical to our nation's continued economic recovery and growth.

Whittington began in farming and quickly developed a career in agri-business. The diversity of farming and the need he saw for specialized transportation prompted him to establish Grammer Industries in 1977, a trucking company transporting liquid fertilizer and other agricultural inputs.

His current ventures include property companies from Florida to Michigan, equipment sales and leasing, specialized tanker fleets, and terminal operations throughout the Midwest. He created Integrity Biofuels in 2006 after recognizing the need for renewable fuels and the role they will play in the future of the transportation industry and in reducing America's dependency on foreign oil. Integrity is Central Indiana's first soy biodiesel plant and uses soybean oil as its primary feed stock to be converted to methyl-esters (B100 Biodiesel).

Whittington serves on the boards for the Indiana Motor Trucking Associations (IMTA), the Agricultural Food Transporters Conference (AFTC), the National Tank Truck Carriers (NTTC), and is active in many state propane and fertilizer trade associations.

In 2008, he participated in the Clean Energy Trade Mission to China sponsored by the U. S. Department of Commerce.

He is a graduate of Purdue University and was named a Distinguished Alumnus of the Purdue School of Agriculture in 2007. He resides in Grammer, Indiana with his wife Ro Anne.

F.R. Hall Associates is a government relations firm specializing in representing agriculture, agricultural transportation, renewable fuels, and food security for companies and organizations worldwide.