Overland Park, Kansas. David LeCompte, President of Short’s Travel Management announced today that the company has been selected as the official travel and event management partner for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). The USEF is the National Governing Body for equestrian sport with nearly 86,000 members and annually licenses 2800 competitions nationwide in 27 breeds and disciplines. Additionally, it is responsible for selecting, funding and fielding teams for international competitions including the World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic Games.

“We were impressed by Short’s customized approach to our needs, which are somewhat different than those of a typical business,” said Lori Rawls, Executive Director of the USEF. “Their experience with another client, the NCAA, was impressive and demonstrated that they can handle the demands of travel plans for an entire team on short notice with a high level of service. They are also using the latest technology to create a customized user-friendly on-line travel planning site for our staff, and we will have our own Shorts account team working for us that are just a phone call away.”



“We believe we can save a significant amount of money by using a travel management partner,” said Krista Greathouse, USEF Manager of Travel and Events. “Short’s clearly demonstrated ways for us to save while actually increasing the level of personal service. They have the same partnership philosophy as we do so it was a good match.”

“We are very proud to add the USEF to our growing stable of championship related travel business,” said Joe Jerman, Senior Vice President of Business Development for Short’s Travel. “We now have a quarter million athletes, competitors, coaches, families, fans and friends who we will help get to and from sports events and provide services and support while they are on-site.”

Implementation plans call for all individual travel and support, group and event planning to be managed out of the Overland Park office of Short’s Travel Management. The estimated value of the contract was not disclosed.

Short’s Travel is a $175 million travel management company with offices in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri. The company provides travel, meeting and group incentive services to corporations, businesses, associations, sports organizations and public institutions on a national scale. The company is ranked 14th in the 2005 Business Travel News Annual Survey.