Derrick Smith

Derrick Smith

Project Manager

Derrick W. Smith is a strategic leader with 30+ years of experience in private equity advisory, industrial development, and Class I rail commercial strategy. He blends deep rail, financial, and board-level expertise to help clients evaluate growth opportunities, rail-served sites, and investment decisions. Derrick has led major capital programs, advanced industrial development across North America, and driven domestic and international revenue growth.

As a seasoned executive in transportation, finance, and commercial strategy, Derrick brings a unique combination of industrial development expertise, private equity insight, and rail-industry leadership, enabling clients to navigate complex growth, investment, and infrastructure decisions. His background spans every major dimension of rail-served industrial expansion, including site evaluation, corridor analysis, capital planning, and commercial strategy development.

Throughout his 30+ years at CSX, Derrick held senior roles across strategic business development, emerging markets, sales & marketing, corporate finance, and commercial operations. He oversaw multi-billion-dollar capital programs and had organizational responsibility for the industrial development function, which engaged in significant rail-served site location and design activity, totaling roughly $9.5 billion. His teams supported $1–2 billion annually in private-sector investment for new and expanded industrial facilities. His leadership extended across Europe, Latin America, and North America, shaping commercial strategy and strengthening rail-centric supply chains.

Derrick’s experience includes extensive engagement with 240+ short line and regional railroads, strengthening commercial partnerships that drive market access, service design, and network connectivity. As Vice President of Corporate Finance, he managed $2B+ in capital planning and forecasting, supported investor relations, and regularly presented strategic recommendations to the Board of Directors—blending financial discipline with the development of commercial opportunities.

In 2017, Derrick founded Grand Central Ventures (Private Equity / Industrial Development) to advise private equity groups, infrastructure investors, and middle-market companies on due diligence, market assessments, logistics and site feasibility, capital planning, and commercial optimization. He also serves as an advisor to ERA Partners, supporting investment theses and platform development across industrial and logistics infrastructure sectors.

Derrick has served on multiple private company boards and held leadership roles across civic and nonprofit organizations, including the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Urban League, Episcopal Children’s Services, and the Columbia Business School African American Alumni Association. He is also a longtime mentor and former Chapter Chairperson with SCORE Jacksonville.

He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, a BS in Civil Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.