Colby Tanner (BA ’98) was named group vice president, Industrial Products for BNSF Railway in October 2021. In this role, he has sales and marketing responsibilities for the carload segment, including chemicals, crude oil and petroleum products, coal, building products, construction products, beverages, perishables and canned goods. He is also responsible for Economic Development and Corporate Real Estate, developing and leading programs that encourage rail-oriented industries to locate or expand their facilities on BNSF as well as managing the real estate portfolio of BNSF. Colby previously served as assistant vice president, Economic Development, Corporate Real Estate and Facilities.

Prior to joining BNSF, Colby helped lead strategic real estate capacity initiatives at various divisions of Wal-Mart Stores, serving most recently as senior director, Real Estate, at Sam’s Club. Colby’s previous experience included managing business development projects for Carter & Burgess Inc. and the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Throughout his career, he has led teams that developed over 35 million square feet of industrial and commercial space in the United States.