CSX operates a major rail system (some 21,000 route miles) in the eastern United States that links 23 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. Th e railroad industry stalled hiring for 20 years and shed 37 percent of its work force from 1985 through 2006, according to the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board.

Now the industry and CSX are resurging as gas prices soar. But at the same time, the industry faces brain drain as baby boomers prepare to retire. CSX expects to lose more than 48 percent of its employees to retirement in the next 10 years.

To prepare for the impending retirements, CSX, which has been traditionally an employer of white, blue-collar workers, is focusing its recruiting in communities where it is not well known, such as Black, Asian, Native American and Latino communities.

"We're looking to increase our diverse hiring by 5 percent this year. We'll do that through diversity-recruiting strategy as well as through the military-recruiting strategy," says Margaret Downey, general manager, staffi ng and instructional design at CSX.

How's CSX doing it? Community involvement is a key factor in the company's eff ort. From establishing partnerships with Blackowned banks to going to church to meeting with community organizations and military job-placement offi cers, CSX is determined to build a diverse staff .

The company's commitment to diversity in a traditionally white, male industry is clear in its work-force and new-hire numbers. Although its work force was only 13.25 percent Black, 1 percent Latino, 0.75 percent Asian and 0.5 percent Native American, its new hires last year were 25 percent Black, 2 percent Latino, 2 percent Asian and 2 percent Native American.

Innovative Approaches

"Most companies don't have minority bank syndicates," says Susan Hamilton, assistant vice president, diversity/human resources at CSX.

CSX has one. The company launched its Minority Bank Syndicate last year. CSX establishedlines of credit with Black-owned banks for equipment purchases. The syndicate was announced at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's annual conference in Jacksonville, Fla., the company's eff ort to brand itself as a partner of underrepresented communities.

Local recruitment development is the work of CSX's employeeresource groups. "Th ey have the local contacts and can help us tap into the local communities," says Hamilton. "Th e councils take the lead working at the local level."

To further build relationships in the Black community, CSX has gone Greek, using its African- American Inclusion Council to partner with Black sororities and fraternities.

"We find that in the African- American community, participation in the sororities and fraternities is lifelong and not just during a person's college days," says Downey. "It's a social network for a person's entire life. They have reunions and social events. If you ignore that, you ignore a good recruiting source."

CSX's work with Black fraternities and sororities extends to its partnership with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The company off ers scholarship programs and recruits from the schools.

Beyond HBCUs, CSX is attending Black churches. The African-American Inclusion Council presents CSX's job opportunities at church events and job fairs sponsored by local legislators. The council also involves itself with the Urban League and in the fall at Jacksonville's Black Expo.

To find Asian recruits, CSX is going to the community to meet with business and community leaders. "It's very grassroots," says Downey, who uses their eff ort in Boston as an example. CSX recruiters walked throughout Boston's Chinatown, visited with restaurant owners and patrons, and networked with the local Asian Alliance.

"We left literature in the restaurants and Asian markets, so we met with the business leaders and then left recruiting materials in their establishment," says Downey. "That's about just getting out there with your message and branding your company within the community."

CSX also has organized diversity symposiums in cities where it has a significant presence, such as Atlanta. The company invites local offi cials and organizations that support local employment, such as technical colleges, military offi cials and job-placement organizations.

"[The Atlanta Inclusion Council] started sending invitations to local organizations and followed that up with face-to-face visits," says Downey. "For example, Gwinnett College--a technical college--we reached out to the Naval Air Station in Atlanta and Fort McPherson to tap into that military connection. We know the military is the most diverse organization in the country. And then some of the other local organizations that help disadvantaged people with jobs-- Goodwill, Solvent Center, Georgia Department of Labor."

To properly train its slew of fresh recruits, CSX in 2005 opened its new training center, the REDI center, in Atlanta. The complex, a $20-million development, consolidated training into one area; it was previously conducted in diff erent cities throughout the United States.

"Before the training center, our training was spread over the network in Cumberland, Md., where we trained locomotive engineers, engineering training in Barboursville, W.Va., and signal training in Savannah, Ga.," says Hamilton. "It helped us from a cost perspective, especially with travel. A lot of those places had small regional airports and those places in the area of the country where the climate is not conducive to outside training."

Hamilton says all of their eff orts are helping to change the impression of CSX from an antiquated company to one poised for the future.

"We're approaching 200 years old," says Hamilton. "When people think of trains, they think of passengers and not necessarily freight. We were a well-kept secret."