February 24, 2026

By Lane Kimble

The past few WTBA/TEF Scholarship Auctions hit some incredibly high, record-setting figures, surpassing $275,000 each.

Dan Zignego purposely set his goal a little lower this year, landing on $200,000.

“There’s a psychological sweet spot of success,” Zignego explained.  “Between 60 and 70 percent success rate is a good place to set goals because under that, your brain knows you’re not trying hard enough, over that your brain gets a little disheartened because you don’t achieve success enough.”

Monday night at the Annual Convention, WTBA members made sure Zignego felt that sweet sense of success.

The auction raised $219,625 through 94 items split between an online silent auction and the live event.

Big-ticket items included equipment rentals, concert tickets, jewelry, and sports packages.

Money raised benefits the annual WTBA of Tomorrow Scholarship program along with the Transportation Education Fund.  TEF informs the public and lawmakers about the importance of the transportation industry and its needs through a variety of informational and educational means year-round.

A live-updating status bar on one screen at the auction hovered around the midway mark with a quarter of the items left to go.  Any anxiety over hitting the goal quickly vanished quickly, with the generous crowd pushing the bar to full just a few items later.

“That was awesome.  It was a fun night,” Zignego said.