Scott Luton and Greg White welcome Scott McMurray and Mary Waters of the Georgia Department of Economic Development and Doug MacMaster of Miura America.  They discuss relations between Japan and the State of Georgia, SEUS Japan, and more.

[00:00:00] It’s time for Supply Chain Now Radio Broadcasting live from the Supply chain capital of the country. Atlanta, Georgia. Supply Chain Now radio spotlights the best in all things supply chain the people, the technologies, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

[00:00:29] All right. Good morning. Scott Luton here with you live on Supply Chain Now Radio. Welcome to the show. We’re coming to you today from Vector Global Logistics, a company that’s providing world class Logistics services all while deeply investing into the communities that they serve based here in Atlanta. But with international reach, this company is on the move. You can learn more at Vector Jill, dot com. On a quick programming note. Like all of our series on Supply Chain Now Radio, you can find our replays on a variety of channels Apple podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify and whatever else you find your podcast. As always, we’d love to have you subscribe Singleton. Anything. Supply Chain Now Radio is also brought to you by a variety of sponsors, including the Effective syndicate Talentstream Verusen Epics, Atlanta and several other leading organizations. Be sure to check out the show notes to learn more about our valuable sponsors. Okay, so let’s welcome in my co-host today once again, Mr. Greg White, when our co-host here at Supply Chain Now Radio, a serial supply chain tech entrepreneur and trusted advisor. Greg, how are you doing on two and great. Thank you, Scott. Great to have you back. We have had a incredible week of shows, I think.

[00:01:35] Yeah, we had some interesting folks in yesterday. And, you know, we’re looking forward to or or depending on when this publisher’s looking back at National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. So that was that was kind of interesting to talk to the folks in the trucking industry about that.

[00:01:50] Well, yeah. Three point five million men and women, first woman and men and women that make supply chain and business happen. They deserve more than a week. But it’s good. We’ll take what we can get and give those folks extra recognition during that week. So so let’s welcome in for today’s show, our featured guests here. We have Mary Waters, deputy commissioner, international trade for the Georgia Department of Economic Development Heydemann. Mary, doing well. Thanks for having me. Great to have you here in the studio. And then we have Scott Mcmurray, deputy commissioner as well for global commerce for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Hey, Scott. Good morning. Doing good. How about you do a fantastic, beautiful Georgia morning on this Friday morning? Then we have Doug Macmaster, a friend of the show, longtime friend, the show’s senior vice president, U.S. Operations for Miura America Company. How you doing, Doug? Great. Thank you and glad to be back. Absolutely. We had a great show just a couple months ago with you, Doug, talking about Miura and what makes a lot of golf products different from a lot of others in the industry. So looking forward to kind of revisiting that today and as well as talking about some of the.

[00:02:54] So then this is that that Miura is part of. So thanks for coming back. All right. So, Lu, we’re going to dive right in. Greg, I know you’ve got seventeen thousand one hundred twenty seven new stores that you that you brought into the studio today. I did. And I can do them all in the next 10 o’clock if you’d like. No, we’re good. We’ve got. We have some really interesting things to talk about and something we haven’t covered a lot. Owen Supply Chain Now Radio. So we’re really excited about the story that’s really gonna shed some light on the special relationship that the country of Japan has had with Georgia and talk about some of the things that that that that that impacts and some of things that that enables here in the state that’s been number one step do business in for six years in a row. Well that for commentary. Yeah. Heavy hitting. So let’s so let’s let’s start with our guest list. Let’s before we kind of dive into the red meat today’s conversation, let’s let’s give our guests an opportunity to kind of paint a picture of who they are to our audience. Mary, let’s start with you. Tell us about yourself.

[00:03:55] Right. So I have been in Georgia for about 11 years now, moved here in 2008 from the West Coast. Originally, I’m in a transplanted Oregonian that I really enjoy what I’m doing here in Georgia. But I moved to Georgia to take a job with the Department of Economic Development, and I was hired to be a trade manager for the team. And so I was working with a lot of Georgia based health care companies, medical device, pharmaceuticals, health I.T. that were looking for customers and and key contacts in global markets. So I did that for about five years. I got poached by the private sector. And and so worked for a company for a couple of years. I was in charge of their Latin American and African business strategy and then came back to the department about four years ago. And so now I lead the team at the department that works with Georgia based businesses that are seeking to to grow their sales internationally. And it’s best job I’ve ever had.

[00:04:54] Well, and that’s a really important component because it’s not just about doing business here says. Taking your tapping into that international marketplace, right? Absolutely. And in the global business environment that we’re in. So, Scott, how about yourself? Tell us about yourself.

[00:05:13] I was born and raised in a small town just north of Boston, Massachusetts. So Red Sox, Bruins, Patriots. There we go. Sticks. I kind of feel like I’m on failure and Mars.

[00:05:23] I don’t know if, you know, it’s a little too soon to talk about the Super Bowl.

[00:05:27] Hasn’t been enough year after I came down for school, Emory University, and then after that went over to Japan. I was one of the first folks to go on the Japan exchange and teaching program, the jet program. I taught high schools and college over there.

[00:05:44] Then I switched to a career in business after learning the language came back in 1998, lived in Los Angeles for about seven years and then made the move back to Atlanta in 2000 and five and was hired by that apartment as kind of the Japan guy to help recruit businesses from Japan, but other Asian countries to come here and create jobs for our citizens. And from that point have just worked in the department for this my 15th year now. And just like Mary, it’s the best job I’ve ever had.

[00:06:20] Fifteen years. Wow. What? So clearly we’ve talked about some of the recent success of the economic development team here in Georgia. But any if you think about your 15 years, is there anything that has changed the most since when you started to in the last few?

[00:06:36] The speed at which everything is occurring, especially with businesses making new location or expansion decisions in the time frame, has become incredibly compressed. Froome. When the phone rings and they say, hey, have you got a building or a site for my company to the time they actually make the decision? It’s it’s a real challenge these days. We operate at the speed of business, even though we’re a public employees.

[00:07:03] Absolutely. And when we’ve seen the fruits of yours efforts and those law things that go into, you know, landing business expansion and creating jobs and making this a great environment for poor businesses, but you often go on quite a win streak and we appreciate what you do. Thank you. Okay. And Doug, welcome back once again. I love our conversations. You travel quite a bit as well and maintain full plate. So we had to pry you out today to get you back. But for our listeners, that maybe didn’t catch it earlier episode.

[00:07:31] Tell us about yourself. Sure. Doug McMaster with Miura American Company. I lead the team that handles all the sales and the maintenance of our equipment that we manufacturer the United States. It’s Industrial steam boilers that are used primarily in the brewery, distillery, textile, chemical healthcare university. Any place that needs steam for a very controlled oil heat source for many different processes or air heating or water heating, things like that. And we’re a Japanese owned company based in Matsuyama, Japan, where I’ll be headed tomorrow for a week to take our team of top distributors in the United States as a reward for their hard work. So I’m looking forward to that trip and I’m always happy to work with George economic development. I’ve been part of the since Seuss events for the past few years and I really enjoy it and learn a lot and get to meet some great people there.

[00:08:25] And it’s all work when you go on these trips. All work. Absolutely. It’s one of forecki. That’s my story. And I’m sticking to. That’s right. Good deal. All right. So kind of switching back to Mary Ann Scott in the Georgia Department of Economic Development. I think a lot of entrepreneurs and business leaders and and just supply chain practitioners might have a hunch about what she’ll do as an organization. But what do you think folks aren’t aware of in terms of some of the things that you are involved in terms of pushing industry hit?

[00:08:59] I’ll take first first crack at this.

[00:09:02] I think just based on what my team does, I know that that senior leadership at the department has described our international trade services as as the best kept secret in state government, which always tried to work through that.

[00:09:19] Is that really a good, good deal?

[00:09:22] But, you know, I think when people think about what an economic development department does, they think of that investment attraction.

[00:09:30] And that is a core component of what we do. But what sets Georgia apart is that we take we truly take an integrated approach. Right. There is the investment attraction arm, but then there is the whole range of existing industry services and it gets into to international trade. So making sure that the companies that common invest here once once they’re here, no matter where they’re from, they’re a Georgia business. And so then where can we help them go? And so, you know, are they looking at other global markets? Do they? Need access to university resources and commercialization. Are they a small business that’s looking for resources to try to get up and grow? What are we doing to foster a quality of life here? Our tourism department, Georgia Council for the Arts, is under the banner of economic development. So I think the thing that most people might not realize is that we where a lot of hats were involved in a lot of different elements of the economy to to really foster that business environment where companies want to come here. They continued to be successful and thrive here. And that’s helped our our state grow and really proud of that. And much broader.

[00:10:39] Just not born. Yeah, that’s really much broader than what I had assumed coming in, says French. And the quality life was it was it was wasn’t exactly something I was hearing expecting to hear today. But what a what a broad mission. Scott, what about you?

[00:10:56] Yeah, we sell Georgia. I mean, that is what we do. And I completely agree with Maria. I think the thing that folks don’t realize about that apartment is really the full spectrum that they’re kind of the holistic or the integrated approach that we take. We’re one of the few states that houses all of those divisions, tourism, international trade, also film. I think you guys know something about. I’ve heard a little something about. Right. And that’s housed under our department as well. And so all of that job creation kind of functions and divisions are all housed under the Georgia Department of Economic Development. And we’re all in one one big building, one big happy family.

[00:11:39] Again, happy and successful family. That’s right. And we sell Georgia. That’s coming on a back T-shirt, somewhat rework. That’s what I didn’t. Good money for us. And you know, one last thing that the film industry that you touched on. Holy cow. What a. You know, when I was growing up, the Dukes of Hazzard in the heat of the night and some of those shows that had some roots and some connections in Newton County. And then just to see how that has really blossomed into an NFL has been around before that time frame. But to see all the production and see how what the impact it’s making here in the state, across industries, you know, we we’re going to be doing a future show on the supply chain behind kind of Hollywood that behind the film production, because that’s also a place that’s not there’s a lot of there’s that there’s a lot of gaps in people’s understanding of what it takes to make a multi-million dollar production. So good stuff. They’re much broader. So switching gears over to Doug Doug. Well, one thing we want to make sure that our audience knows more about is, is how y’all products and your bowlers or or differentiated so much more than a lot of other standard bowlers that you see in the industry.

[00:12:53] Sure. Sure. So the analogy I use is the you can imagine the tank with water heater being installed in homes nowadays. It’s space saving, its energy saving. It’s a small box that mounts on the wall, holds a few ounces of water and it heats that water up and guarantees that you got hot water in your house. We need it. We take that same concept and put it into an industrial scale. So we have modular boilers that can be installed one at a time. And then as a customer or a plant factory, whatever it whatever it is, as they grow, they can add additional modules and all those modules, all those individual boilers act as one system and they can save the end user of the plant thousands. Or we have a couple instance where it saves them over a million dollars a year in fuel costs because it’s so energy savings. The traditional technology is a very large piece of equipment that houses that holds thousands of gallons of water. It’s very heat, very slow to heat up and very slow to cool down and very slow to react to the changes in the in the factories need. So we think that that’s how we are successful because we can be very quick acting, reacting to whatever the facility needs. And that’s why we’re become so popular that we are the largest boiler manufacturer in the world, over one hundred and fifty thousand units in and have been sold around the world. And we’re celebrating our 60 of the year this year, sixtieth anniversary.

[00:14:20] So I think one of the interesting things I read about about you all is the gas fired aspect of it. Scotts from up north. I had a house in New York myself, and those are usually fuel oil or even coal fired, which obviously is a major issue in this day and age. So I think it’s interesting the way that you are helping companies lessen their carbon footprint while still producing the kind of energy that they need.

[00:14:46] Yeah, absolutely. In the United States, you know, there’s there is initiative to to switch from coal where it where it makes sense. And so we were right there along with it. But the our biggest market right now for that is in China. They have a government mandate. To get rid of coal and so our country goes over there and very successful, we’ve opened. I think we have over 100 offices in China that have opened just in the past less than 10 years because of that initiative. And from the stories that I hear, the you know, the, uh, the air over there is becoming cleaner and cleaner. So, yeah, it’s still having a good effect there.

[00:15:22] The net largest producer of carbon emissions or near the top. Correct. So I think that’s that’s a good initiative to have because they can have probably one of the biggest impacts on the planet. That’s right. Absolutely.

[00:15:34] Well, so our listeners may or may not have picked up on the connection between our guests here today. Miura Doug just mentioned Miura is celebrating its sixth anniversary as a company. Right. That’s right. But their 10th anniversary here in Georgia. That’s right. And of course, the economic development team here in the state of Georgia that has played a big part in helping get Miura established here and then and not just there, as as Mary spoke to, but helping them become successful. Because as every company as they grow needs change. And so we’re going to do more to that in a minute. But before we talk more about the Miura story, Mary and Scott, we want to talk more about that special relationship that the country, Japan and Georgia enjoy. So but tell more about what, Georgia for business? I mean, we’re all partial here. And while we have a global audience and we’re and we serve that global audience, as we tell Ben Harris with Metro Atlanta Chamber, we have our Atlanta tattoo’s right. We’re ambassadors for for Atlanta and Georgia. But for folks that may not have picked up on the opportunity that that that Georgia is for doing business and growing business, why? Why Georgia?

[00:16:40] We’ll start with Scott. Sure. We have an incredibly business friendly environment here in Georgia. Low tax environment. We’ve got incredible work force. If you want the elevator speech, what I usually say to folks is what really kind of has Georgia way ahead at the very beginning of the game is three things. We have Atlanta, metro Atlanta. We are the capital of the southeast. I mean, other cities can try to claim that, but we are really the biggest all the amenities you have here, the sports, the medical, the financial crossroads, everything. Right. Right. That you that you could possibly want in a regional, you know, southeastern capital. Number two is Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, the busiest airport in the world for twenty one years in a row. Now, I believe something like the last year, Team one since the Olympics, they had over 100 million people trans at the airport last year and in a single year. Just incredible efficiency. The joke here a lot of times in Atlanta is when when you die, you may go to heaven, you may go to hell, but you got to transit through. Right.

[00:17:55] You go to Jenny points in Atlanta. Right. And then number three, I would say, is the port of Savannah. It is the fastest growing sea port in the United States. Currently, it’s the fourth largest it is the most efficient in terms of getting containers on and off, in and out of the of the yards there. And that really already, if you look at some of the other our competition, that that puts us way ahead of the game. But then, you know, we also are focusing a lot these days, obviously, on workforce, on talent in Georgia with our quality of life here. We show the companies that we have the folks to get you going. We have the schools and technical schools, a quick start training program to get them trained up. And we also can recruit people from other parts of the country. No doubt that is still happening. Yes, we have a net in migration every year, more than 100000 people coming into the state. So we do have a lot of a lot of great, great things and a great story to tell here in Georgia.

[00:19:01] We’ll put an easy sell, right? APICS of the make for sure. So switching gears a little, because we won’t talk more now about the history of this relationship between a country, Japan and Georgia. So. So maybe Mary won’t be starting to tell our audience about that history and maybe where it got its roots.

[00:19:20] And great question. And I think this this also goes to the heart of something that does set Georgia apart, which is that we do have this global focus and we want to make sure that those relationships that we develop where we’re we’re working on that for the long term. These aren’t short term plays. These aren’t opportunistic players. You know, when we build out those international relationships, we’re doing that for the long haul to develop bilateral trade corridors and investment partnerships and and everything that goes goes with that.

[00:19:56] And so our office in Tokyo, Georgia, has an intern at an economic development office in Tokyo. And we established that office in 1973. And so we’ve had continuous operation there for for more than 45 years.

[00:20:12] And so that was an initiative that started under then Governor Carter, who saw the opportunities and wanted to attract Japanese investment, not to the southeast, but to Georgia, and knew that that one of the best ways to do that and really to get the message out was to have boots on the ground and to talk about, you know, where Georgia was, what the assets were and to build that relationship, because that’s the thing that that my team and that that I encounter and our job innovation is taking us to amazing places. But the heart of international business is the relationship and cultivating that relationship. And so we stick very closely to that. Right. It’s it’s a it’s a tenant for us that those international relationships are important. And so what you see is we we established a foothold in the Japanese market. In 1973, the government of Japan opened their consular office, the consulate general of Vetlanta, I think in 1974. That was the same year. I believe that app kind of got into the Japanese market. Interesting.

[00:21:27] So a big piece of their business. Absolutely. It’s something like 70 percent of their revenue comes comes from. From Japanese customers. And so once you start getting. That kind of build up, I mean, those connections build build rewards, but so that kind of set the set the playing field for more of a regional coalition of southeastern states to really market themselves to to Japanese manufacturers. And so in 1976, Georgia spearheaded an effort with six other southeastern states to really come together and get on the radar for Ford, Japan and Japanese companies.

[00:22:16] And that’s how soon Japan, the southeastern U.S. Japan Association. That’s how that alliance was born. Wow. And so now when you look at where we are in terms of the strength that the Japanese relationship for Georgia, hundreds of Japanese companies call Georgia home. Those facilities employ tens of thousands of Georgians. I mean, Miura is a great example of that. You know, it’s that Japan is a top 10 export market. It’s the fourth largest trading partner for Georgia overall. And so the the longer you’re in those relationships and the more time and attention that you pay to those relationships, they continue to reap benefits. And so since Japan is part of it, our presence on the ground in Tokyo is part of it. And then, you know, you get a good foothold of Japanese businesses that are that are operating here and you get them to tell our story for us. Right. And the ball just keeps rolling. And it’s really a great success.

[00:23:12] Yeah, I think that’s a really great alignment because Japan is well known for taking a very, very long range approach. And for us to align that way with a long range perspective is is critical to creating a business culture that melds well together.

[00:23:28] I was wondering the in 73, that had to be a pretty risky endeavor. I mean, you know, people thought that was a crazy idea. And look where it is today. But last time it paid off in spades.

[00:23:37] Going back, a couple of things you touched on, Mary, international business and how it still rooted in relationships and, you know, going back to the airport, while the folks may not understand why that’s so important. Of of having a world class airport here in Atlanta. You know, we’ve had folks come on the show and we’ve had a lot plenty of sidebar conversations when folks Lu in site selection. The fact you can get in and get out of Atlanta and be right here and and go to the plant or shoot your corporate office or what have you. So you can have that face to face and even in this area. You know, as a digital media organization, we appreciate how technologies evolve and allows folks to connect. But nothing, in my opinion, still replaces can replace that face to face handshake. Is that common? There’s an understanding you’re either you’re working through problems or you’re building and expanding your business or whatever it is that is so important. And the infrastructure we have here allows that to happen. One other quick factoid is some of our listeners may not understand that Affleck’s base in Columbus, Georgia. That’s right. And so the that that famous commercial and ongoing commercial been around for years with the duck that’s based right here in Georgia. OK, so let’s Scott. Anything else you want to weigh in on that special Japan Georgian relationship before we kind of moved to a case study.

[00:24:56] And I would just say that the state of our relationship with Japan has never been strong. And that’s good. Yes. Again, from 1973 on and good economic times and tough ones, we have never closed that office. We show to the Japanese market that we’re in it for the long haul. Shoulder to shoulder.

[00:25:15] Just moving forward. Great. Absolutely. Commitment. Can you say that in Japanese?

[00:25:21] I can. But you would not understand. I couldn’t tell if it was right. Yeah. All right.

[00:25:29] All right. So let’s switch gears a little bit here. We’ve touched a little bit on the Miura story. But you know, Doug, really yours company’s success and an expansion into the state of Georgia and success since it comes out, it is really borne out of this special relationship, right? That’s right.

[00:25:45] That’s right. It started 10 years ago, actually. We’re getting ready to celebrate 10 year anniversary this month. Coincidence that we’re here today. But we we’ve been in the U.S. operating in the U.S. for 30 years. We celebrate our 30th anniversary two years ago. And we were manufacturing all of our U.S. products at the time out of a factory in Ontario, Canada, which is still there. It’s our sister sister facility in North America.

[00:26:10] And ten years ago, because of the growth of our business in the United States, we had some sales offices and service offices, but we didn’t have any manufacturing here. And I wasn’t with the company at the time. But I’ve learned that business was doing so well that we needed to expand and have something to manufacture in the U.S. to save money and to build them, build this equipment closer to the end user. And we were looking at places. In Dallas, Texas, that was one key area where we were looking at because we had some decent customer base there, but at the time we found out about Georgia, we had an office here or sales office here and we found found out that there was some very attractive reasons to be based here in the Georgia area, Atlanta metro area. And the my colleagues at the time reached out to Georgia economic development and got to meet this gentleman, sat next to me. And he is he was one of the key figures in getting us based here in Polk County. And he, I think, has a good story to tell about that.

[00:27:17] Absolutely. Great. Yeah. The phone rang one day. I picked it up in a world.

[00:27:24] And now you know the rest of the Zara’s story and the city of Rock Mart and Polk County, our fantastic partner for the project. They had a spec building that the community had invested in and built in the hopes of luring a company, a quality manufacturing company to come and create jobs for the folks out there.

[00:27:50] And it just ended up being a great fit. And that’s what we always look for. Is the win win between what the company requires and what the community is looking for and is able to provide and the state if it facilitates the deal. And I was lucky enough to get to go all the way to Matsuyama to visit the headquarters there. And it’s it’s not really easy to get to Matsuyama either. It’s planes, trains and automobiles. It is in a more of a rural part of Japan. The Shikoku Island, which is the smallest of the four, but absolutely gorgeous geography, Jakarta. You can take a train to go over the inland sea there, sea and fishing boats and freighters and all kinds of economic activity. It’s a great, great place.

[00:28:36] So once we once we met with Scott and his team, we started doing some more research and found that the cost of living, obviously in this part of the country was better than a lot of other places. And we also had a built in workforce. We rely extremely a lot on welders. Welders are used to manufacture our equipment. And coincidentally, there had been a another business nearby that had recently downsized. And they had. We we found a lot of talent that was waiting for a job. And so we were able to hire those folks in and get get our factory up and running very quickly and efficiently. So it was a great, great place to be used. You know, obviously, as you mentioned, near the airport, were the facilities less than 50 miles from the airport. By the way, I want to point out, I travel, you know, 30 weeks out of the year. And although Atlanta airport’s the busiest, it’s also the most efficient in a very well organized. I don’t have a problem. Ever know here that that’s of any major issue. So, you know, I’m not just saying that because I live here, but I know all the airports all over the country and nobody beats us.

[00:29:40] Well, you know, they were recognized with the 20 19 Supply chain awards. They recognized for their supply chain excellence. You know, a lot a lot of folks you know, Doug, you’re referring to the passenger experience. While folks also don’t know about the airport, how much freight goes in and out of there, especially in this day and age where we’re dealing with some other challenges. But it’s testimony. We hear this quite often. I mean, about how efficient the Atlanta airport is compared to others. So you listed there, Doug. Some of the reasons what really what makes Metro Atlanta and by extension Georgia a great place for business? What else has Miura really experienced that has made, you know, has led to all Siplon success?

[00:30:20] Well, I mean, I think it’s the people, the people, the culture of the area are expats. We have many expats who traveled to come and help us to build our business over the years. And they’re still coming back and forth to as advisers and managers and helpers. And our president is Japanese here. And I think the are the expats that come here. That’s what they really appreciate is the the local community. They get along well. Everybody everybody just really wants to help each other. And it’s just it’s a very, very positive relationship that we have. I think that’s key to it. And there’s just a built in Japanese population around metro Atlanta. So when they come here, they have schools that they can send their kids to. They’ve got medical facilities that they that they want to send their family members to because it just is more comfortable for them because what they’re used to. So there’s just a lot of built in infrastructure that want a Japanese company wants to be in this area because there’s just a lot of support that they can get. And so, yeah, it’s a really good place for them to live and work. Mm hmm.

[00:31:20] And food we could talk a lot about, Jack. That quality, the Japanese food that’s here available. Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm.

[00:31:26] Good point. All right. So that you’ll do anything and we’ll talk about this preshow. But for your 10th anniversary, what’s the, uh, how are we celebrating or.

[00:31:36] We have we’ve got our chairman from Japan, Mr.. She will be here and Scott will be one of our keynote speakers because of his involvement for the last 10 years. He’ll be addressing the group and talking about his involvement in getting us where we are today. So that’s gonna be in a couple of weeks.

[00:31:51] Fantastic. Well, is it gonna be a public event or me focused on the employee? How are y’all gonna roll it up?

[00:31:58] Yeah, it’s gonna be employees. And some of the some of our distributors from around the United States are gonna be coming in. It’s gonna be really focused on thanking our employees. It’s gonna be our factory team will be there, engineers, everybody from within the headquarter facility and other people from the community. Polk County will be there. And obviously, George, economic development will be helping us out. But it’s a it’s gonna be a good event to really show appreciation for the last 10 years.

[00:32:23] Love that. You know, we’ve got to celebrate that. There’s so much to celebrate when you’ve made it, especially manufacturing. I mean, great day in the morning, having been there, done that special, the metal stamping side. I mean, you know, putting out fires day in and day out. You’re making stuff, you’re making highly engineered materials. So hopefully you’ll have a big celebration. Sound like you’ve got some big plans to store. Celebrate 10 years here in Georgia and 60 years in general. All right. So let’s switch gears over to what Mary touched on earlier. Sues Japan really need a bit and for a number of different reasons, I think went back to the relationship building and the information exchange and, you know, pulling people together. I mean, really a special event that that I’m sure has has added to the success of the business landscape here. So what is Sushi Japan? Let’s start there. What is it for our listeners?

[00:33:21] So, Suze, Japan, it’s a it’s an alliance of seven southeastern states and a business council and a group of large multinational corporations in Japan.

[00:33:34] And so Georgia was one of the founding members. Florida is in the alliance, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas, both North and South Carolina. And so that’s kind of the the southeast cohort, the Sousse pass, right?

[00:33:50] Seus APICS part of the state. Yeah. Yeah. So I think I did.

[00:33:57] So a little bit of personal information. I did my graduate work at University of Florida.

[00:34:03] Ok. So I didn’t know that. Go Gators rooting out all around the world all over.

[00:34:10] But I will say that I think the strength of the relationship is reinforced by the fact that all these people, as you see APICS people that live and breathe these these different rivalries still come together and have come together every single year for 42 years to put some some rivalries and some competition aside.

[00:34:34] And Keith keep focused on on the strength of their relationship and how powerful keeping those relationships up can can be as an economic driver for our entire region.

[00:34:48] And so really, in the 70s, in 1976, the the leaders of the southeastern states really got together. Investment attraction is intensely competitive, not so much on the trade side. We’re more collaborative. We’re more friendly on the trade side, but it’s a little bit different ballgame when you’re we’re trying to win that project. But everybody recognized that there was a real need that that Japanese business didn’t really understand. What the Southeast could offer in terms of an investment location, right? There might have been familiarity with the West Coast in California, New York, New York, Texas. Sugar. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. The Midwest for it for automotive manufacturing. And so the leaders in the Southeast got together is like we need to we need to truly come together and and have a united front and market ourselves the arc of the region, that capability to attract that that Japanese and specifically automotive OEM, that was the original the original focus of the alliance was to attract Japanese automotive companies and to the southeast. And we’ve been successful in that. We’ve got plenty of automotive supply chain companies from from Japan then that have established there at their offices here. But so. So that’s the history, right? It took a lot of foresight and a lot of leadership for decades ago to come together and put competition aside.

[00:36:19] Well, so on that note, putting the competition aside and kind of. And they were kind of tongue in cheek talking football conferences and baseball converse and all that. But really, we all know there’s also as we just touched on, there’s competition between the states. But there’s this this word co-op petition has been gaining relevance, I think, in recent years, where to your point, in today’s day and age you get put in, we’re all going to come from different walks of life and have different approaches to things. But there’s so much to gain if we can put on our our adult britches and, you know, and come together right. For the greater good. And whether it’s for business or planning other things. And it sounds like y’all for 42 years now, there’s been a sense of camaraderie to build and bring in and work together as a team to land more investments in this part of the country. Right. And being able to do that. So, Suze, Japan, before we talk about Suze, Japan, 4, 4, 20, 19 and some of the keynotes and some of the reasons to 10. Scott, anything else you would like to add to your kind of history or kind of the DNA that’s part of the the the initiative?

[00:37:30] I like that word, that competition. I think that’s the first time I’ve heard that.

[00:37:34] So you get points right there that Scott dollar per usage, please. Yes.

[00:37:39] The thing about the the the Southeast U.S. Japan conference, even putting aside kind of the special relationship that we have with Japan, is that competition when when a when we are able to recruit a new company to come somewhere in the region, in the southeast region, it’s a win for everybody. And competition between the states makes us all stronger, makes us all more efficient. Right. Makes us work harder. That’s really the American way. That’s what it’s all about. But for example, for the Volkswagen plant to locate in Chattanooga, we’ve got a lot of Georgia folks that can work. Absolutely. Right. So, again, it’s the bigger picture for our state, Georgia, our department, we take it very I wouldn’t maybe not a very but we take a soft sell approach. I mean, we know who we are. We know what we have. We know what we can do. We tend to under promise and over deliver is kind of one of our monitors at the department. And the Suits Japan conference is just a great example of the way we work economic development here.

[00:38:47] Yes. So some you allude to some our listeners, I’m sure of when you heard table and our listeners can can speak to the clustering effect, you know, especially with automotive and aerospace in particular. You know what? When when Keith is having an incredible year that they’re having in West Point, Georgia.

[00:39:00] Right. Their route to the benefit of other Asian countries as well.

[00:39:05] Absolutely that. And think of the tier two. Tier three suppliers are located regionally, at least, if not, you know, globally or nationally. Of course, you know, emerging from Aiken, South Carolina. So when BMW went in there and Governor Campbell landed that that business, that had a great effect across regions. Well. So. So while, yes, it’s great for Georgia to have these wins at the state, here’s had for seems like quite a year or so in the Braves fandom. Know about the straight 14 years of, you know, winter division. And you have been on you’ve been creating your own streak, streak of your own here, which is again, it’s great for folks there in Georgia doing business, but it’s great regionally. It’s great nationally. So. And so since Japan, though, is kind of it’s a vehicle to pull all these these forces, powerful forces, the forces together and build these relationships, that really benefits like we’re talking with benefits, everybody. So with Japan, which is coming up in October. Right. And Savannah is the first time it’s been here, hosted by Georgia. Since when, Mary? Since 2004. OK. And in 2004, it was in Atlanta. Correct. Right. So the Sousse, Japan attendees are gonna be able to experience some of the. Great Savannah hospitality, one of the neatest cities in the world. Yeah. Food. Oh, yeah.

[00:40:23] A Scott Luton and music, you name it. All right. The host, the city.

[00:40:28] It is a great it’s a great place to represent Georgia, for sure. Yep.

[00:40:32] So beyond the city. And it sounds like we’re all big fans of Savannah here of it beyond the city and in the local. Why else should our listeners or why else would business leaders attend Sousse, Japan?

[00:40:42] I mean, this this is a very business focused conference. And I think to go back in and just take the the Georgia specific view, you know, we know that we. It takes time, right. To land the next big greenfield investment from Japan and for anywhere. But in the meantime, you’ve got this incredibly diverse network of Japanese businesses that have been in Georgia for a long time. Right. Ten years, you know, 40 years. Why KKR was the first first Japanese company to ever invest in the state of Georgia. And they’re still here and they’re still growing strong. And so still the best. And so what we want to do with this conference really is, is get to the heart of the matter. Right. Have a roomful of business leaders and political leaders and the people who are invested in continuing to grow this relationship, having a real conversation about what is going to keep our Japanese businesses and our southeastern businesses globally competitive. And so since Georgia is the host state and we won’t get this opportunity for another 14 years to show off our state again, we’re really focusing in on Logistics and supply chain assets and workforce development and workforce partnerships. You know, those those issues that are critically important, they might keep some executives up at night. But but it’s where Georgia and the Southeast leads and we lead by. By having this conversation, having this dialogue between, you know, elected officials, VIP is the business community, state economic development agencies. It’s like how do we fix problems? How do we figure out what the next trends are coming down the line so that we all stay ahead of the curve and we we stay globally competitive. And so companies, regardless of industry and regardless of whether they’re a Japanese company here, you know, we welcome attendees. You don’t have to be interested in doing business in Japan even. This is a right.

[00:42:44] This is a business conference focused around Georgia’s logistical assets and our workforce assets and how we can continue to partner to stay on on top of things. And so the networking is incredibly valuable. The quality of the speakers that we have, you know, representing their their corporate histories and what they’re doing and challenges that they might be seeing and how they’re working to to fix it.

[00:43:13] That’s that’s information that any business leader really needs to know.

[00:43:16] Any opportunity you can have to get more mines together is a great opportunity to make progress. So we have the opportunity to talk about technology a lot here. And one of the great leaders of artificial intelligence, of all things said you don’t need better algorithms, you need more money. And it’s very similar to the way to the human condition. Right. You put more people, more people with varied and diverse backgrounds and thoughts and points of view and in a room and you get a much, much better solution much, much more quickly as well.

[00:43:50] This will be my fourth conference to attend. And I can tell you that the network networking is unbelievable. The relationships that I’ve been able to establish at Sousse at the conference helped me today, helped my company today. So, yeah, it’s some of those I go to conference all over the United States and this is one of the best as far as giving me access to some really good, good, powerful people that can can help our business and we can help there as well.

[00:44:14] So it’s sort of a two way street. I think that relationship aspect is something that people really recognize here in Atlanta, because everybody who’s from Atlanta at this table raise your hand.

[00:44:23] Right. I mean, I said to our audience, no one is no one. Raise their hand. If you’re not watching on video, let the record reflect, et cetera.

[00:44:31] So I think that’s something that’s well understood here. And I also think as someone who came here from elsewhere myself, that this is a very inviting environment. I mean, you feel at home right away. You’re from Boston. I moved here from from Arizona the first time somebody talked me in line at the grocery store. I reach for my wallet instinctively, but they really just wanted to talk. But I think that that inviting and welcoming culture is an important part of how Georgia operates.

[00:45:02] Absolutely. You have to show that you are open to everybody and anybody, you know, for business, businesses, business. And the opportunity for us for hosting this news conference was we were able to come up with the themes for the conference and. Every single company that we meet with that is looking to either relocate or have a new location in Georgia. The very first question that they ask us is where is our workforce? You have to show us that you have the talent and you have the people that are going to contribute to to our success because we need to grow. So we need to find a place that will grow with us. So having the workforce theme, I think is extremely important. As you know, with the good economy, unemployment rate coming down, labor market getting tighter. There are challenges. And so we’re the the. We’re going to address those with some great speakers and panels and then the other Logistics supply chain. We’re also going to have for the attendees the chance to go on a tour of the port of Savannah. And if you’ve ever been there and seen the cranes and the trucks and the containers and the rail is it is fun nominal. It is. This is the scale of it is it blows you away. It really does. It looks like something that’s, you know, that’s CGI effects or something that it’s not even real. And so that’s gonna be a big a very popular, I think, for as well for the folks up, especially coming from Japan.

[00:46:38] Yeah. So, Mary, you mentioned that might be 4000 years before George is able to host again. So I would I would make a bold prediction here. So Atlanta hosted this event in 76, in 1990. And then, as you mentioned, in 2004 and is coming back 20, 19 to Savannah, I bet next year. You already have so much fun in Savannah. And I can say, you know what? 2020 is back in Savannah. We had too much fun food and the environment and locales too good. But kidding aside, it was a homerun. You know, I’m looking down through the agenda now to between the tours that you mentioned, which, you know, we of course, this episode is going to be one of those for us that is very heavily unbalanced. Right. We’re showing our some of the Georgia colors and some of the Georgia pride.

[00:47:26] We have a lot of tats covered, though. Yes.

[00:47:28] But I think the opportunity here for folks that may be in California or maybe overseas in Italy or what have you. It’s about benchmarking. Right. Georgia also does a great job between the private and public sector of sharing a lot of what has worked here so well. And that’s one of the reasons you think of the ports, which Scott just mentioned, that tour. That is when you walk in the operation and see how they run that thing and and you see the metrics on the wall and you see the operation, these things coming off the ship and the trucks lined up and how things are constantly moving. You can’t help but to leave with ideas for applying in your Lu in your even if you don’t know how many folks run a port these days. But even in your in your operation, any kind of manufacturing Logistics or supply chain operation. But beyond the tours, I mean, the keynotes between Walker K. U.P.S., Consumer USA, Mitsubishi, who has a manufacturing division down there, Toyota Motor Corporation, I mean, Total USA, which is also another great success story here in Georgia, just kind of a who’s who. So you’re going to hear I’m assuming you’re going to hear a lot of leaders thought leadership and business insights from these folks during these keynote panel sessions, right?

[00:48:51] Absolutely. And not unlike what we’re doing here. You know, we really want this to be a conversation. And I think we recognize that the Japanese culture can be more formal. Right. And that’s it’s one of the things that that makes it interesting and fun. But at the end of the day, you know, we’re all business leaders and we need to be having a conversation so that we we stay on top of the game. And so it’s for us, it’s Japan. It’s about weaving those things together. It’s about shelling out all of our attendees, a good time in Savannah and mixing that fun with the business and also really blend blending that culture. Right. You know, recognizing what makes Japanese culture great. And this is our southeast culture. This is our Georgia culture. And where do we meet? In the middle. We meet with business. And so, yeah.

[00:49:43] Ah, ah, ah. Roundtable discussions are going to be excellent. We’ve got for the Logistics and Supply chain panel, Griff Lynch, who’s the executive director of the George Ports Authority. He’s moderating that that discussion. So that’s gonna be a great opportunity. Richard Warner is leading the Workforce Partnerships Panel. And so he if if anybody can can tell a good story. It’s Richard. And so he’s going to really get to get to the meat of it. And we’ve got some some great high level keynotes. Right, to read. Force where we’re going in the bilateral relationship.

[00:50:21] U.s., Japan and southeast. Japan. No industry in general. Absolutely.

[00:50:26] It’s not all about the current state. It’s about a future state. Right. The time I was struggling to say Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems is the organisation’s center of Savannah. We had Mitsubishi Electric Train, Electric Train on the show earlier this week and a really neat collaboration story, modern progressive collaboration story. We’ll have to have someone owned from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems to see if it’s a similar type initiative.

[00:50:52] I know a guy. Yeah, I guess I can hook I can hook you up. I think that is good to have. That is good.

[00:50:59] By the way, Scott, I think Mary is keeping her cards close to the vest here. But I can tell you, in the past, we’ve had the governors of most of the seven states in attendance and they get a chance to speak to the group. We’ve had the U.S. ambassador to Japan. We’ve had the Japanese ambassador to the United States there. Jeff Immelt was there in Greenville, South Carolina, a couple of years ago. And then the year before that, Secretary Condoleezza Rice was the keynote. Our Birmingham. So I don’t know who Mary’s got up her sleeve, but I’m not put too much pressure and get there and find out.

[00:51:29] It’s got to be good. We’ve got to have somebody good. We were hoping we were hoping to make a big splash today.

[00:51:35] But, Mary, you know, for production purposes, you’ve got to keep things under our sleeves. Right. So just with what’s been public, a strong lineup and, you know, going back to being beyond the keynote keynote yet towards you at the networking, you’ve got the relationship building across seven states. And then, of course, the international component as well, which is so important. So great event. And so how do you folks how can if they like what they’ve heard here today, how can folks learn more about the event?

[00:52:05] I would send it to the Web site, SEUS Japan s e U.S., Japan, 20 19 dot com. And that’s all the information about the history of the program. You know who the who the key players are and how to get registered and also to contact us. What for? For more information about what’s going on at the conference.

[00:52:26] So, Doug, I’ll put you on the spot here for a second. So you’ve been this this will be your fourth one. You attend fourth.

[00:52:33] And what they do is they alternate back and forth. So one year it’s in the U.S. and in the home state for that year, and then it goes to Japan the following year. So last October, I was in Tokyo. And the next prediction probably won’t.

[00:52:44] Probably not. Probably not. Thanks. Thanks. Report that out. Well, so already been laying bets against.

[00:52:51] Yes. So what is the. There’s one thing above all the rest that you’re really looking forward to. You know, in October with Suze, Japan, what is that one thing that that brings you back each year.

[00:53:04] So as you can imagine, the Japanese company comes the United States says that sometimes it can be a sort of a culture shock between how business is conducted and in Japan versus here in the United States. And this event gives me the ability to talk to other people who work for other Japanese companies doing work here. And how do they how do they deal with certain situations here in the U.S.? How are they overcome and adapted and become as become successful? You know, how did Toyota, Mitsubishi, Honda, all these companies, how did they turn the corner? Sony? You know, they’re not part of the group, but those kind of companies always. Right. How did they turn the corner in the United States and become successful? So I’d like to ask those kind of questions for these for these groups and and try to, you know, improve our company here in the U.S.. All right.

[00:53:44] Coming back with 27 page. All right. Yeah. Work, work. Can we start? Well, all right. So, Suze, Japan, 20 19 dot.com. That’s s EU s Japan, 20, 19 dot com. For more information to register to even sponsor to be part of this event in a dug out for folks that might be interested in Miura, how can folks reach out to you?

[00:54:05] Yeah. Please go to our Web site Miura boiler dot com. That’s m i you are a boiler b o i l ja dot com. And you can find out all about our products and our offices around United States and then also our parent company in Japan.

[00:54:18] Fantastic. Well, Doug, Mary Ann Scott. Great conversation. I know. We’re just kind of. It’s tough to do things justice in an hour. We’re kind of in that skin service service a little bit. But a great opportunity for folks down in Savannah in October to really, as Doug put it, move their business forward. So thanks so much for taking time to join us here on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks.

[00:54:42] I think. Thanks. I really appreciate what you guys are doing at the Department of Economic Development and particularly considering what’s happening in Europe now. Not to change the topic too much from from Japan, but there are going to be markets looking for new markets. All right. So the experience, the dedication, the long sightedness that you have, I think will accrue to our benefit in that regard as well.

[00:55:09] Agreed. Keith. We’ll be ready. So we’ve been talking with Mary Waters, deputy commissioner, international trade for the Georgia Department of Economic Development. Mick Murray, Tibet deputy commissioner of global commerce for the same organisation. Doug Macmaster, senior vice president, U.S. operations with Miura America Company. Thanks so much, Mary Scott and Doug, for joining us. Thank you. All right. We’re gonna wrap up today’s episode like we always do and some of the up coming events we’re going to be at. We invite our listeners to come out and join us in person. And Greg, we’re moving into a pretty busy trade show. Season falls here. Football is here based. Basically, the MLB playoffs are here and great shows since here. Will it be cooler? No guards or anything like that? That’s right. Ray chose not to turn turn the tenor too much. We’re going to be in North Charleston, South Carolina, September 12th and 13th. And what’s going on there?

[00:56:04] So that is the AIG SC AC. It’s a mouthful, isn’t it? The Automotive Every Time Industry Action Group and the South Carolina Automotive Council, again with future South Carolina Governor AME tensely where I’m pulling for anyway. You’re building a PAC for her? Sure. Yes. Right here.

[00:56:23] I’ve got one dollar now, but a lot of a lot of great speakers and producers there. So Bosch, Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, we’ll all be talking to folks from there and talking about the automotive trade in South Carolina. Yeah.

[00:56:38] Yeah. Focused on the world of automotive competition. Yes, lots of competition. But it benefits everybody in particular this event. It’s going to be focused on the supply chain and quality related to the world of automotive. So where our LA broadcasts, they’re sponsored by our friends at the Effective syndicate, again, 12th to the 13th in Norcross. And of course. You know, you mentioned it coast these days. Our prayers and best wishes Daryl everyone that might be impacted with what’s going on now. I know we’re all ready for Hurricane Dorian to be done, but certainly a lot of a lot of tragic images and stories coming out of the Bahamas, which, you know, if you are a if you’re listening to this conversation, you want to figure out how to help beyond. You’re sending prayers and best wishes and you’ve got a supply chain infrastructure. You can check out an incredible nonprofit called Allen Aid. And what Allen Aid does, Greg. And we’ve had Kelley Fulton, who leads the organization astray before. Allen basically marshals the Supply chain organizations from the private sector and and brings them to bear, to address and to help in a very meaningful practical, as you might imagine. Supply chain type of way, action of deeds, not not words to help folks that are being been impacted by natural disasters. So if you’re listening and check out Allen ALJ in Aid A at D dot org for more information there.

[00:57:59] Good news for Charleston though. The search did not even cross the seawall.

[00:58:03] So that’s that’s outstanding news. Yeah. Yeah, there is some good news. OK. So it’s tough. It’s always tough to move along to two. On a much lighter note, but on a much lighter note, October night, the Georgia manufacturing summit is taking place right here in Atlanta at the Cobb Galleria. Right, Greg? That’s correct. Greg, you’re gonna be leading our live broadcast. There were they’ve got keynotes from PSG and Kia Motors and expecting about 1000 people to come out. We’ve got our own top secret. Yes, you do? Yes. Let the trade some international travel. Doesn’t matter. Factory ministers.

[00:58:36] A will let that slip out. What countries? Yes.

[00:58:40] So we all could tease a little bit here. Ken, we’re looking forward to that. I’ll be leading a panel session. Trends of track in Supply chain. We’ve got folks from point A, which is Innovation Center, Dedicated Supply chain Management, U.P.S., Mitsubishi Electric Train, HBC, U.S.. I think I’ve got that right. That’s very good. And H Empty X Industries, which is a fast growing successful surface and flooring company that is also international, which received our Linda Supply chain Awards Sustainability Excellence Award. We’ve got their chief sustainability officer coming on the panel. So we’ve got just our panel Lu, which won the breakouts. We’ve got a lot of great folks you’re going to want to want to hear from. One last note about the summit. Jason Moss, who leads the Georgia manufacturing alliance, has opened up 50 free seats, free and clear, no strings attached. 50 free seats for our veterans and our veterans. You know, I was Air Force veteran. We struggle with having that that that private network oftentimes. And you transition out, you’re ready to find that private sector job. And you don’t know much, unlike folks in the private sector, you don’t have that network that can help you find and uncover opportunities. So 50 free seats, if you’re a veteran, listen to this. You can use Code USA vet on the registration screen and get them while they’re still available. So Georgia Manufacturing Summit dot com, that is October 9th here in Atlanta. Looking forward to that.

[01:00:10] Lloyd from Vetlanta helping us get the word out word as well.

[01:00:12] Yeah. Lloyd Knight, a proud U.P.S. or also an Air Force. As well. And he. That’s it. That’s one of the biggest challenges being a veteran. And then when I came out in 0 2. Yeah. You didn’t know what you didn’t know, right? You didn’t even know the value. All right. And I won’t speak too broadly, but you don’t know the value. Some of these networking functions, you don’t oftentimes know exactly what you’re looking for. So, you know, part of what we have to do is educate the veteran community on what can really help their careers. And if they’ve already they already have found their career track, what can help them advance? Yeah. You know, those are two big things here. So great gesture about Jimmy and then Austin. Tell us what’s going on in Austin, November 7th and 8th.

[01:00:54] Yeah, we’re gonna help keep Austin weird. The EMT, Mary talked out about getting the EMT Logistics CIO forum there. So we had a Grady FTE event here in Atlanta some some months back and they put together about 300 top decision makers in the Supply chain industry, a number of them CEOs. And they share ideas and they share ideas with potential solution solution providers as well.

[01:01:24] Always a great opportunity. Put more heads together, create solutions. So looking forward to that, November 7th and 8th in Austin.

[01:01:32] That’s right. And then you flip the calendar. It’s hard to believe we’re talking Thanksgiving and Turkey day already. But in February, we’ll be in Vegas with the reverse Logistics Association Conference and Expo, which is also based in Atlanta, their global organization based in Atlanta. As we all know, reverse Logistics is a major topic. Yeah, major topic is important today is asking to continue to be more important as companies are trying to figure out how to handle returns. Yeah, right. We think about it goes to economic sustainability.

[01:02:02] Logistics all of those. Yep. You know, all of those complexities come into play with that.

[01:02:06] I’m not pointing fingers, but someone at this table order six pairs of shoes and since five back and we got to thing you just to point fingers. So companies I’ve got it on. Yeah. Prove it. Word. We’re kidding a bit. But companies. That is a fact. I have not really said. All right. Yeah. I can’t believe that. So how we processing that and how we do it in a sustainable way. Right. You know, in a successful way. But always doing great work there. Looking forward to being there in Vegas in February. And then lastly, which, you know, testament again to the economic team, amongst other things, some mode X, which is one of the largest supply chain trade shows in North America, comes here every other year in Chicago with pro mat. And then here here in Atlanta for Moto X, Moto X 2020, coming here to Atlanta in March, you’re expecting 35000 folks across in an supply chain is free to attend. Talk about great resources. Yeah, mode x show dot com. And not only are we broadcasting loud, they’re all for days, but they are hosting the Atlanta Supply chain. Yes. Which we’re excited about. Yeah. 20 Atlanta Supply chain Awards. Our second year event is hosted there by Moto X at the Georgia What Congress Center. Some more information. We’ve been promising that forever, but we’ve we’ve had some heavy lift and we’ve had to do it. We are working on a keynote from one of the most another top secret TBD or top secret. An organization doesn’t do a lot of public speaking.

[01:03:33] Right. So there’s lots of sincere sensitivities in checking the boxes there. But a an organization that’s making the e-commerce world happen. So we’ll leave it at that. But Moto X, so to attend to register for the event. You can go to Moto X show dot com again. It’s free to do a great job of great keynotes, great networking. The exhibition show is very unique as you like to talk about the big tractors, alien factories and warehouses in the thing that’s really, really a great show. Some Modoc show dot com. All right. With all that said, again, I really have enjoyed the conversation we’ve had and looking forward to here. And maybe we’ll have you all back home after Suze, Japan, talk about some of the key takeaways that that’s always an interesting show to have. But Mary Waters and Scott MacMurray with the Georgia Department of Excellent Economic Development, thanks so much for joining us today. And Doug Macmaster, senior vice president of operations with Hugh Miura American Company. Doug, great to have you back on the show. Nice to be here. Thank you. You bet. Safe travels to you as you head overseas. Yeah, good luck. Try to get some sleep. Yeah. Thank you. Great show, Greg. Really? What a great way to cap off a week. I’m looking forward to what takes place in Savannah in a month or so, but be sure. So be sure to check out other upcoming events, replays of our interviews, other resources at supply chain. Now radio dot com Greg White. Can you find us?

[01:04:58] Quickly, I’d supply chain that now radio dot com. Yeah. YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Play and anywhere else that you get your podcasts.

[01:05:09] Excellent, man. I was worried. How are you? If you want past that pop quiz even now sign. That’s right here beside me. So, dear audience, find us an Apple podcast. Although the site said that Greg. This name. Be sure to subscribe. You don’t miss a thing. On behalf of the entire Supply Chain Now Radio team, this is Scott Luton. Wishing you a wonderful week ahead and we’ll see you next time on Supply Chain Now Radio. Thanks for putting.