NATSO, the national trade association representing truckstops and travel plazas, has chosen a new board chairman for next year. Robert Bolduc, CEO of Pride Stores, is NATSO’s chairman-elect. Bolduc will begin serving a one-year term in January 2022.
Bolduc will succeed current NATSO Chairman of the Board Delia Moon Meier, senior vice president, Iowa 80 Group and Cat Scale Co., when her term expires at the end of 2021.
Additionally, the NATSO Board of Directors appointed Andy Richard, CEO of Sapp Bros. Inc., as an at-large director and Adam Harrell, channel manager-truckstop/government/intermodal, of Bridgestone Commercial Solutions, as an allied director.
Rounding out NATSO’s Executive Committee are Bob Wollenman, Deluxe Truck Stop, past chair; Jimmy Haslam, Pilot Company, secretary/treasurer; and Lisa Mullings, NATSO president and CEO.
“I am very confident that under Bob’s leadership, the NATSO board will continue to make a positive difference in the organization’s mission and impact,” said Mullings.
“I am deeply honored to be elected as the new board chair-elect and look forward to working with my board colleagues to move NATSO’s mission forward,” said Bolduc, who previously served as at-;arge director. “I want to thank the NATSO Board of Directors for its confidence in me to serve as board chair. Together with our board of directors, staff, and stakeholders, we are making a positive difference and continue to be the premier national organization promoting and advocating for issues facing the truckstop and travel plaza industry.”
Bolduc has been an active member of NATSO since 1997 and has served several terms on the NATSO Board of Directors during his tenure with the organization.
Bolduc has long been an advocate for change within the truckstop and travel plaza industry.
Bolduc founded the Pride C-store and truckstop chain in 1972 in Springfield, Mass. Today, the chain has 32 stores and three truckstops in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Bolduc has been among the industry leaders in bringing alternative fuels to market, being among the first to sell ethanol and biodiesel in Massachusetts. Pride’s newest location, the Hartford Travel Center in Hartford, Conn., offers a variety of alternative fuels, including electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Bolduc is an engineering graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has a master’s degree from Purdue University. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. In 2012, Bob, as he likes to be called, was honored as the top entrepreneur in Western Massachusetts
