Jim Peterson
Jim Peterson, vice president of Wisconsin-based James Peterson Sons, Inc., has spent 50 years as a national, state, and local transportation construction advocate. He is a two-time Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association president (1980 & 2006).
Peterson’s tenacity was a key factor in a 1980s law to index the state’s fuel tax to generate additional revenue for transportation improvements. He championed an ambitious “Corridor 2020” highway expansion agenda in the 1990s, which generated massive employment near the route.
Peterson’s political and leadership skills were put to the test again during a 1990s effort to help ensure Wisconsin was getting an equitable return on the gas tax dollars it paid into the federal Highway Trust Fund. It resulted in TEA-21’s (1998) “minimum guarantee” and SAFETEA-LU’s (2005) “equity bonus” programs, which helped generate tens of millions of dollars in additional Wisconsin highway investment.
