Supply Chain Now
Episode 685

Episode Summary

“That’s how Prologis plays the real estate game. We go into a community, recreate a series of clusters that become its own ecosystem. And we’re there for the long haul. We’re there in the community. We get involved. We have our people get involved in volunteerism constantly to show that, you know, you can rely upon us. If we’re going to work here in Los Angeles, we have to embrace this community and take good care of it because it takes good care of us.”

-Kim Snyder, Prologis

Whether you’re a real estate developer, a recent grad curious about job opportunities in the warehouse, or simply want to know more about the world of industrial real estate, there’s something for you in this fascinating conversation with Prologis’s Kim Snyder and Steven Hussain. Join us as we take the mid-year temperature check on the market, examine what goes into choosing real estate locations, tackle the challenges of new regulatory environments, discuss the supreme importance of company culture and community involvement, and much more.

Episode Transcript

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:32):

Hey, good morning, everybody. Scott Luton and Ward Richmond here with on Supply Chain Now, welcome to today’s episode today’s show. We’re continuing our supply chain real estate series. I we’ve got a ton of great feedback from the first episode of this newly reinvigorated series that we ward.

Ward Richmond (00:00:49):

Yes, sir. Scott, it’s a pleasure to be back with you. I I’m hopeful. I can come down to Atlanta and see you for the next one of these. So we’re going to have to make it happen. But yeah, great feedback from, from our first episode, it’s amazing having Prologis onboard as our sponsor, and I’m really excited to tell everyone what’s happening today. Well,

Scott Luton (00:01:12):

You know, if you’re going to do a supply chain real estate series, you might as well do it with one of the heaviest hitters being Prologis. And of course, we get a double dip because I get to co-host along with ward Richmond. So we’re teed up for a great conversation here in the second installment of the 2021 supply chain real estate series right here on supply chain now. So, or are you ready? We’re going to introduce our guests. You’re

Ward Richmond (00:01:34):

Ready to go. Yeah, let’s do it, man. Alright.

Scott Luton (00:01:37):

No, Dallas Cowboys talked here today, ward. Okay. Is that a deal?

Ward Richmond (00:01:40):

I don’t know. I think we have multiple Dallas Cowboys fans on the podcast today, so they’ll come up. Football will come up. I’m sure talking about it right now. So

Scott Luton (00:01:51):

With no further ado, when we walk him in a couple of guests, we’ve had a chance and really have enjoyed the opportunity to chat with pre-show and of course share their POV with you here today. We got Kim Snyder president us west region with [inaudible]. How you doing Kim?

Kim Snyder (00:02:06):

Good. Thank you. Glad to be here. Great

Scott Luton (00:02:08):

To have you here. And I love, you know, if you’re listening to this podcast, you may not be able to see it check out the video replay, but we’ve got a beautiful train station back behind Kim because as, as, as he came on, I said, Hey, I love that concert hall. He goes, I’m in supply chain. This is a train station. Scott’s I love, I love that camp. Great to have you here. And you’re joined by Steven Hussain vice-president workforce programs and community relations also with Prologis Steven, how are you

Steven Hussain (00:02:34):

Doing? I’m doing great. Happy to be here. Excellent.

Scott Luton (00:02:36):

Excellent. As I mentioned, uh, your ears were definitely burning, uh, on a Friday pre-call and we’re excited Kim and Stephen Ward kind of bring a very complimentary and holistic overview of what’s going on in industry real estate and otherwise, and that kind of goes with the territory of what they do, their per lodge is right work.

Ward Richmond (00:02:53):

That’s right. Yeah. And I’m really excited to hear the perspective from both Kim and Steven today. And I think we’re going to start looking at the supply chain real estate market as a whole, and then move all the way over to the other side of the spectrum. Just talking about what it’s like to manage the culture of a massive global organization, that, that also only functions because of its street-level intelligence. And, uh, can’t wait to get into all of that.

Scott Luton (00:03:21):

Very nice ward coming attractions. Very nice little touch there. Ward. Before we get into kind of a one-two punch from a market update, let’s get to know Kim and Steven, little bit better. And Kim, let’s start with you. You know, we really enjoyed the, the prep conversation earlier, getting to get to know you better and where you’ve been and some of your thoughts, but for starters, tell our listeners a little about yourself.

Kim Snyder (00:03:43):

Well, so, uh, um, Kim Snyder, uh, I’ve been with Prologis since 2005. I was one of the Ambi alumni, went through the merger in 2011 with Prologis and I’ve been involved in a variety of locations, uh, organizationally, you know, the west as a whole, the Southwest for a period of time. I worked in the airport group and, uh, Mexico. And of course, so we started up a Brazilian operation with my comrade, Nick Kittredge. So, uh, had a pretty interesting experience here. I’ve seen the ups and downs and, uh, we’re definitely in the ups stage right now. It’s fascinating to watch this sort of environment we’re in. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. And it sort of breaks down a lot of the, the old school learning that, you know, you spend your career accumulating all this data, and then it goes out the window just overnight with sort of the last 90 days, uh, you know, a whole new paradigm set we’re dealing with. So it’s exciting time to be in this industry. It’s not without some challenges, but, uh, w we’re all sort of making adaptation. And I think that’s sort of the key to success going forward. I love that.

Scott Luton (00:04:45):

And, and how, how true one quick followup question on a personal side, where did you grow up?

Kim Snyder (00:04:50):

So I’m originally from Pennsylvania. Uh, my dad was a professor, so we moved a lot to different universities across the U S uh, from, you know, Pennsylvania to New Jersey, to Illinois, back to Ann Arbor. And then finally to Tempe, Arizona, where we stayed for a little while. So I lived in Tempe, Arizona, probably for about 15 years before I moved to Los Angeles. So I have a lot of roots still in Arizona. I go back there quite frequently, and, but I’ve been here in Southern California now for 30 plus years, that almost makes me a native, I’m just that close

Scott Luton (00:05:21):

Early born to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s going on across the country. And then some, so I love that Kemp. Okay. Let’s switch over to Steven Hussein. So, uh, Steven, same question for you. Let’s give our listeners a little bit of your background. Tell us about yourself. Yeah.

Kim Snyder (00:05:35):

So then with Prologis a couple of years now and have the pleasure to work with folks like Kim every single day and work with our customers and the broader supply chain industry. My background is actually in the public sector. So I came from the city of San Antonio and I had experienced gotten the nonprofit sector. I specialize in economic and workforce development, and really thinking about, you know, how does the public sector really work with the private sector and vice versa to build out sustainable solutions over the longterm for pretty complex problems. So background in political science, uh, not to go to law school. So that was absolutely terrible ideas that didn’t do that, which never been, I’ve never regretted. And, uh, yeah, really, really just, um, enjoying my time at Prologis

Scott Luton (00:06:16):

Wonderful. And I said, we’re can talk football, but you’re one of our resident cowboy fans, but where did, where did you grow up, Stephen as well?

Steven Hussain (00:06:23):

Yeah, I grew up in Texas, so, uh, I lived in Dallas for awhile, lived in San Antonio and then kind of back and forth and really spent the last decade in, uh, in San Antonio. But now, uh, I’m here in Dallas and, uh, you know, you have to support the Cowboys as painful as it can be as painful as it can be. You have to do it. Well,

Scott Luton (00:06:41):

I spent a little time in Texas courtesy of the air force at Lackland in San Antonio and at Wichita falls at Sheppard. So good times. Very hot back then. Okay. Well, Steven and Kim, welcome to you both. I think ward next, we’re going to kind of start diving into their POV, right?

Ward Richmond (00:06:57):

Uh, yeah, let’s get going. And yeah, so I think this podcast, uh, revolves around supply chain real estate, and we set it up on a quarterly basis. So it’s now just past the mid-year point, as we all know, and I know numbers are still trickling in and, uh, Kim, do you want to give us a rundown on what you’re seeing in terms of general market activity in the U S and I know you’re on the west coast too, so if you want to give us some insight into the micro of, uh, the Western region, but also your overall view of the U S as a whole, I’d love to hear what’s what your perspective is and this, uh, what is really just a booming market, right?

Kim Snyder (00:07:36):

Sure. Let me, uh, just sort of start off with a qualifier. We actually report earnings next week. So if it sounds like I’m being a little careful in my words, you’ll understand a little bit of my disclosures, but as a economy, as a whole, the us is on fire. I mean, there’s tremendous momentum on leasing. I use the phrase a little bit of a snapback economy, a moment we’re in to the extent that we’ve been dormant for a while, not as much activity, although in the first half of this year, we’ve seen almost 200 million feet of logistics supply being absorbed on us on a gross basis. So that’s a healthy, healthy snapback, if you would. And I think it’s broad, it’s across all markets. You know, I think about this time last year, you know, I, I was worried, uh, it looked pretty bleak in certain markets, uh, supply had gone crazy.

Kim Snyder (00:08:27):

And in Houston, for example, and you think about where Houston is today compared to where it was before. I think there’s almost almost 12 million feet absorbed a year to date in Houston. That’s huge. Right. And think about where that was a year ago, just I have a frame of reference. And then in Dallas, you know, we, we had talked about this, uh, a little bit earlier that it’s just been remarkable, the volume, I think, and I might’ve had my numbers reverse there it’s 11.9 million. Wow. This quarter, I mean, come on. Or is it, or is that year to date, maybe you guys know better

Ward Richmond (00:09:03):

That no, I, I believe it was, that was the first quarter for sure. And I don’t have the second quarter numbers, but I’m told Dallas is going to be leading the U S DFW that is leading in the U S and that it’ll actually be double that of what inland empire did an absorption, um, this quarter.

Kim Snyder (00:09:19):

Well, this is where I was going to, because I’ve got living in Southern California. Inland empire is the first market I really got involved with in terms of industrial real estate. You know, we had a, uh, just a tepid 4.6 million feet absorbed in the inland empire compared to Dallas double. That it’s just pretty impressive actually. So we, not that we’re competitive about this stuff. I mean, we kind of talk about that, uh, you know, uh, carefully, but, uh, we love to have a little bit of internal competition about who’s absorbing the most, you know, especially coming out of a hole we were in. So, uh, I think, yeah, interject

Scott Luton (00:09:50):

Just for a quick second and, and for Kim and ward, and maybe Steven from, for context, you know, for the, that level, I think 11.9 million square feet for the DFW area where we’re, I mean, roughly where we were five or 10 years ago, is that, is that like five X, 10 X four,

Ward Richmond (00:10:08):

If you want to let me take this. Um, Kim and Steven I’ve cause I live in Dallas. I know. I mean, I like to think that Dallas has been basically having 25 to 35 million square feet under construction, um, for the last five, six years or something. And then we’re absorbing plus or minus 20 million each year. So now if the numbers like that, we’re thinking are going to happen at mid year, then we might be at 20 million at mid year. So it’s like double normal, um, at the pace we’re going right now, if it keeps up and that it’s insane. So it’s, it already was insane like at 20 million every year and just consistently like, and sometimes it was more, sometimes a little less, but that’s about it. And it’s um, so anyway, that’s, that’s my,

Kim Snyder (00:11:02):

I think the, the interesting thing from our standpoint as a public read when we were doing a lot of forecasting of what, so what’s next, if you would, and I think the interesting thing about the Dallas Metro has been this volume has been huge for a long time. In fact, you know, when developers say, oh, geez is like 7% vacancy, why are you building that’s kind of normal with that kind of a continuous, uh, supply coming into the market. Versus if you have that in a smaller market, call it Denver or, or Reno, you know, you’re kind of nervous about putting spec into the equation. Um, but you know, I, I misstated earlier when I said, uh, you know, Houston was that 11 million, excuse me, was about 3.8, 3.8 million, but was like, no, no, no, no, no. Houston Dallas, Dallas is the higher number to 11.9.

Kim Snyder (00:11:48):

So, uh, that’s sort of some perspective though, on where Houston was, which is where Dallas is today. But I was going to point out this point of a continuous supply has an effect on rent change. And this is sort of a segue for maybe what I was going to talk about was the inland empire. The inland empire has suddenly got this extraordinary, uh, supply constraint phenomenon going on with California regulations, Southern California air quality regulations, pushback from the communities on issues of traffic on, uh, uh, enrichment or the sociopolitical component components of where these warehouses and distribution centers are being located. So you have moratoriums, uh, everywhere. You got moratoriums going to city council meetings, as late as last night, the city of Upland went through one and fortunately didn’t pass it, but it’s on the docket for discussion. And there might be 15, 20 different communities in the Southern California Metro area, seriously considering really reducing or making it difficult to build spec and not have to go through a conditional use permit to get an occupancy.

Kim Snyder (00:13:00):

So those are, those are big impediments with regard to the supply side. So rent change is off the charts in the inland empire. The interesting thing at the end of the year, warders for us to compare rent change in the inland empire vis-a-vis Dallas because of that supply phenomenon. And in the, in the case of inland empire, it’s just harder and harder to put product up in a community, uh, without, you know, substantial impediments or delays or timeframe. So anyway, we look at that issue when we’re looking at our markets and their strength to determine where we be investing and where should we put stuff into the pipeline. And I think, uh, the other phenomenon having worked in Dallas myself is the time from when you buy a piece of land to when you pull a building permit and start construction is a little shorter window and they let him Pyre, you know, I’ve spent seven years on one project, you know, four and a half years on another. And, and, and, uh, kind of the third year of a major project right now, just breaking ground today. So it’s, it’s a interesting bit of friction associated with our business, and it’s not just here, it’s just all throughout the U S this has become an increasing impediment to, uh, supply

Scott Luton (00:14:11):

A really interesting word, because, you know, a lot of our listeners are not in real estate or at least not directly. So I think hearing this perspective, uh, is very intriguing, but ward, I want to get Steven’s take from that labor market update, because I think there’s a ton of intriguing dynamics taking place there as well. Right, right.

Ward Richmond (00:14:28):

Um, yeah. So Steven, I mean, um, all of this activities, having all these warehouse are being built and then the space is being absorbed and then operate these facilities, especially the e-commerce facilities, which is, I think accounting for a huge portion of all this growth require lots of bodies in there, uh, to do the work. And I mean like thousand people sometimes in one distribution or, um, numbers like that. So what are you seeing, um, in the labor market?

Steven Hussain (00:14:56):

Yeah, I mean, you’re, you’re not going to go a day now without seeing a headline about the, the tightness of the labor market. And if you talk to our customers and surveyed our customers, which we do well before the pandemic, there were huge labor constraints, and it was a real challenge for them that was certainly heightened during the pandemic. And as we’re coming out of that, um, you’re seeing the same type of labor constraints and it is across all markets. There are some markets that are more challenging than others, but really across the us. Um, you’re having these kind of labor availability issues. And there’s a lot of reasons for that. I mean, fundamentally the sector is just growing very fast, right? The broader economy is shifting, uh, greater demands in e-commerce, which puts a lot of, of need across supply chains, which means you need more logistics, talent.

Steven Hussain (00:15:42):

Um, and, you know, as an example, an e-commerce facility takes three X, the labor of any other kind of traditional distribution network. So that’s a lot of people and you can see some of the largest brands in the world they’re hiring, not, you know, 5,000 people. They’re hiring hundreds of thousands of people in a 12 month period. And so labor markets just don’t adapt quickly. They move very slowly. So as you see a shift between maybe traditional retail into e-commerce, the labor force doesn’t necessarily transition in the same period of time as the private sector is going to, uh, and that puts these, these constraints. The other thing I would add too, and I think this is important is the industry is not really well understood. People don’t know what goes on inside of a warehouse. And so it’s not perceived as, as a quality job, even though the wages are greater than traditional retail is stable schedules, things like that. There’s a lot of real value to these jobs, but, uh, an average person doesn’t know what’s happening inside. So there’s a lot of community education that’s certainly required and engagement with the public sector, uh, to make sure that people really understand the economic opportunity that, that lies in these buildings.

Scott Luton (00:16:52):

That’s an excellent point. And that’s where, as some of the good news, I think over the last two years, because if you find it, you can go look for it. You can find it is the awareness gains, right? The consumers continuing to make strides from, uh, you know, how did that stuff get? How did that, those things get on my porch two days later and better yet, how can I return it seamlessly and get credited, you know, 10 days. And it really, it’s fascinating, uh, the people that make, you know, that, that have allowed global business to move forward, protecting the psyche of consumers during this, this, this, uh, these, um, uh, pandemic times. So for the sake of time, I want to move forward into some of these impediments that we’ve been talking about earlier, but Steven, I don’t want to anything else from a labor in any other points from a labor market update that, that our listeners, no.

Steven Hussain (00:17:38):

No, I I’ll talk about it a little bit, you know, kind of some of the solutions that Prologis is bringing to bear and how we’re trying to address that specifically with our customers. Wonderful. Wonderful. Um, maybe I could interject something here. That’s interesting in that, uh, a lot of young kids in the workforce for the first time, you know, graduate from college for high school in the last two years, thinking about what they faced in terms of what do I do? You know, there’s no retail opportunities, even certain, you know, restaurant and hospitality opportunities that might’ve been available to that, that, uh, group weren’t there. So one of the things that we’ve been, uh, working on, uh, CNI is trying to, what about logistics, think about these careers, think about all the things that go on in these buildings and spend a fair amount of time and energy recruiting people to take a look at this industry as an opportunity alternative to a brick and mortar or an alternative, uh, to fast food.

Kim Snyder (00:18:30):

And, uh, and I think there are some people who just aren’t ready to go to college. That’s a perfect opportunity to, uh, educate them as to what we do, but then people, even out of college, you’d be shocked if you start profiling. The typical e-commerce building in terms of the type of jobs in a building that range from the frontline, uh, the warehouse worker to the sales operations, to the, uh, engineering and, uh, computational elements of statistical analysis on supply chain is huge. That’s a math job and the forecasting and all of the, uh, technology that goes with running one of these warehouses, you know, so you have jobs that range from, you know, a $50,000 a year to $250,000 a year. Talk about wages in a single building. And that’s its own ecosystem that we need to educate people about. What is it about, how does that work? How do we get younger people and more people broadly into that arena with an understanding of what those great opportunities look like.

Ward Richmond (00:19:31):

I love that one more thing on that note is if you talk to CEOs of the largest three PLS in the world, I’d say 90% of them drove a forklift. I mean, they were in the warehouse, they started from the ground up, but it’s, I don’t see. I mean, I’d see like, so much value in starting that way. Ups is like famous for their model, like drivers becoming the CEO of ups. And I mean, to understand that logistics business, you’ve got to start on the ground floor. It’s like any other job, but that ground floor is just like maybe a little dirtier than some other jobs where you just sit in a nice office in a cubicle. But, um, like I, I think there’s so much upside there and there’s so many incredible humans I’ve met in the logistics space. Um, particularly that started that way. And now they’re CEOs and they own companies. I know people that sell their companies for a billion dollars. I love that. I

Scott Luton (00:20:28):

Wouldn’t say dirtier ward, I would say more hands-on yeah. Right. Because

Kim Snyder (00:20:31):

I think dirty, or it’s not hard building,

Ward Richmond (00:20:34):

But I think that’s right. And you know, I’m, I’m not the most PC guy, but

Scott Luton (00:20:39):

I’m just giving you a hard time, more than anything else, ward. But I think all of you are speaking to, you know, we can’t recruit like it’s 1982, right. We’ve got to act like 2030. And we also can’t, um, we’ve got to embrace those, those awareness gaps out there, and it’s not just logistics, manufacturing, and some other things, Kim, that was a commercial about why it’s cool to work in supply chain because the industry global industry holistically is competing against for the top talent. And they have to in a way that maybe it’s the first time in history. So a lot of good things there and a lot of good news there, and we all have our jobs, big jobs to do and to get out there and get the good word out. So with that said, uh, I hate to move back into some bad news, but we’re, we’re, we’ve identified at least learning from Kim and Steven. Some of the key impediments that is, is at least temporarily blocking or pulling this back. And I think there’s three in particular, and we’re going to talk about truck availability, labor availability, and regulatory, and just the political environment rant. So, Kim, we’ll start with you. Let’s talk about truck availability. What, what are you seeing?

Kim Snyder (00:21:42):

Well, there’s, there’s truck availability, then there’s trucker availability. And I think, uh, you know, truck availability in my mind, I think of, uh, electric vehicles, one of the incredible things going on in Southern California is a new regulation called the indirect source rule, a rule 2305 that was recently passed. That requires, uh, all operators of warehouses to keep track of truck trips, classification of vehicles, age of vehicles, et cetera, to determine based on a coefficient of emissions, what their impact is on the air quality. Uh, and then if you don’t mitigate that your own, oh, the, uh, [inaudible], uh, feet. So one of the big mitigators is to use electric vehicles as some capacity. Most of the electric vans that a lot of the, uh, uh, transportation depots are using are spoken for. So there might be a backlog of two, three years to get a significant quantity of those.

Kim Snyder (00:22:42):

So they’re, they’re spoken for on the large vehicles, the class eights, the over the road, uh, longer haul. Uh, I think we counted up, there’s like six of them and, uh, they’re just not readily available yet. They have very short travel distance issues. It’s in the most early stage of development to actually deliver those long haul vehicles on our electric basis. I’ve heard somebody saying that arena, you know, you got two options on the electric truck fleet is like, you can either haul batteries or you can haul freight because the weight associated with running a major vehicle is so significant that you now you’ve, you hit a maximum vehicle load issue in most of California with regard to traveling across the highway system. So it’s a challenging issue. The other factor I mentioned was trucker. Uh, there’s just a, uh, it’s, it’s a cohort of worker that isn’t replenishing itself. In fact, uh, they’re becoming fewer and fewer older and older, and there’s some horrible statistics about, you know, the health and welfare of a truck driving, uh, in general that aren’t are a little bleak. So there needs to be some strategies, whether it’s technology, it’s autonomous, it’s some other, uh, technique and, uh, uh, to, to get more truckers, uh, working in safe conditions and, uh, being available. So that’s a huge issue right now in terms of the transportation that goes. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:24:09):

Kim and Steven you’re, you’re shaking your down your head as well. Your thoughts here? Yeah.

Steven Hussain (00:24:13):

You know, on the actual trucks themselves, as Kim mentioned, right. There’s a lot of push everybody’s very interested in electric vehicles. Um, the availability is not at scale yet. I think that’s going to come soon. Right. We’re seeing, uh, large manufacturers get ready for this. Um, but there’s a lot of complications there. Um, and you’re seeing these rules come out to very interesting. Um, you know, we’re all obviously very interested in climate change. We want to make sure that we’re being, you know, environmental stewards, um, with the, the electric grid must also be ready for that. Uh, and in states across the country, the electric grid is not ready for electric vehicles. Um, so you’re talking about a 10 X increase in consumption, um, or states who are already struggling with grid, uh, capacity. Um, so those are real concerns that, uh, companies have to think about too, right?

Steven Hussain (00:25:02):

You can’t electrify your fleet and then not be sure that you’re gonna be able to power them at night. Um, and I think that’s a complicating factor there. And then again, for the long haul, um, the technology is just not quite there. Um, and I think that the major manufacturers are still trying to figure out what’s the best approach there on the driver’s side. It’s really interesting. I actually was talking to Kim earlier and I used to run a CDL training school. So I’m very familiar with this. It’s one CDL training is expensive training people to be truck drivers is not cheap because you can’t train lots of them very quickly as a school, you must own, um, your heavy duty trucks. Do you have a huge liability issues? And so the main training providers in the U S community colleges don’t have truck driving training programs, generally speaking, they can’t give a wide duty insurance.

Steven Hussain (00:25:51):

They can’t afford the programs. And so there’s not production there. The second thing that we’re seeing though, and I think this is, this is interesting is there’s this perception that autonomous vehicles are here five years from now, and all truck drivers are going to be unemployed. That’s not realistic. That’s not how this transition is going to happen. Um, but it’s stopping public sector, investment and interest into training folks for the industry, despite the fact that these are very high paid, you know, uh, middle-class supporting jobs. Um, but the public sector isn’t necessarily investing in that training and development because of this, this false belief that there’s going to be wide, widespread job loss. And it’s just not basically

Scott Luton (00:26:33):

Steven S excellent point and, and war don’t come to you. Now, we’ve talked about are our beloved truck drivers and, and a lot of things that Kim and Steven are talking to. I know it’s a passion of yours. W w what’s your take here?

Ward Richmond (00:26:45):

Well, I was going to say the other shortage is truck parking spaces. And I think that actually contributes to the trucker shortage because if you’re a trucker and you go out on the road and you need to park your truck for the night, and there’s no parking spaces, then some truckers are having to go park in abandoned lots or on the side of the streets and neighborhoods they’re getting, um, the I’ve heard stories from truck driver, friends of mine, getting the cabs of their trucks shaken by, um, by pimps, by drug dealers. It is, there’s some tough things out there on the road. There needs to be more truck parking. There’s a federal law that’s been passed called Jason’s law. That’s going to provide federal funding to be used at the state’s discretionary funding to, uh, to help with that. But I mean, I think that’s something that needs to happen.

Ward Richmond (00:27:35):

There needs to be safe, secure places for these truck drivers to park. And, uh, right now, the way that it’s set up, I just think it, it makes the job. I’m not going to say dirty again, but it makes it very tough and it does pay, I think, incredible wages, but, um, it’s not an easy life out there, especially for the long haul truckers they’re living on the road. And, um, our teams actually, we’ve been spending a lot of time lately interviewing truck drivers to find this out so that we can understand these trends a little better. And I mean, I’ll tell you, I get emotional on these phone calls. My, I hear the stories out there. So I think truck parking is something that’s really simple. It’s fairly low cost. Um, but at the same time, while our, while I think it will benefit the public good, our communities don’t want big truck, lots with big trucks parked everywhere. And, um, and then they’re not the most profitable way to use industrial land either without building a warehouse on them. So it’s, we’re all in kind of a conundrum here. So I’m hopeful the federal government will continue to pay attention because this is something that I think would really benefit the public good and help all the trucking companies with driver recruiting and retention and keep truckers safe out on the road.

Scott Luton (00:28:46):

It’s such a big equation. It’s like one of those, uh, those movie scenes where you walk into the classroom and the professors got a, uh, chalk equation with a thousand different components that fills up a full wall. There’s some different elements and, and, and levers at play here. But, um, first step is to understand it better and, and ward, uh, uh, love what you’re doing in talking with truck drivers, what to set, tee up another podcast rate from the trucking professionals in, in the weeks to come, okay. Now we were already, we’re talking about labor earlier, and then that’s the second big impediment. I wanna circle back around to Kim, beyond what you’ve already shared from a, um, you know, how labor plays, uh, that speed bump effect, your, what else would you share here when it comes to looking at the impediments that are, that are slowing us down a little bit?

Kim Snyder (00:29:31):

Well, in the kind of opening, we talk a bit about sort of the evolution, uh, what you, what you knew as the industry, uh, you know, 10 years ago, 15 years ago compared today. And I think, I don’t know that I’ve encountered this degree of, uh, customer pain are our tenants pain points, uh, often revolve around this labor availability. And so when they’re making real estate location decisions, the first thing they do is look at the labor availability, uh, in that particular location, they look at the location as a whole and having arts amenities and all that stuff, but that’s sort of, uh, to support their labor cause it’s expensive. When you have a lot of, uh, attrition, you have people leaving, uh, you know, to go make another 25 cents an hour. So a lot of companies have said enough of this. We’re going to raise our rates.

Kim Snyder (00:30:20):

We’re going to pay people more and fairly, we’re going to make it, uh, a good place to work. And I think, uh, uh, but that starts with having a pool of labor and talent to draw, right? So we’ve trying to figure out, you know, what can we do to facilitate that one? We make a lot of that information available. We also, when we’re doing site selection for ground up development or any kind of real estate investment, we’re looking at that same thing, what would our customer need to see here? And are we in the right spot to deliver that? Ultimately, cause we like long-term ownership. We like long-term continuity of a tenancy. And that only comes with a good stable labor force that’s available, that’s replenishable, et cetera, good community college system, college system, et cetera, at a kind of awareness of this issue. So, you know, and, and to that extent, uh, you know, we’ve started down this path of really looking at community workforce scenarios that, uh, Steve and I partnered on, uh, doing this in a number of locations now, but it’s imperative to understand your labor scenario as one of the major resources you examine when you make a real estate decision, whether you’re a tenant or you’re a real estate developer like us, oh, Steven, you want to add anything to that?

Steven Hussain (00:31:37):

We’re taking a direct leadership position here. We have a unique vantage point, uh, as a firm and given the number of customers we have and the geographies that we operate in. So we launched, uh, our community workforce initiative. So we set a target that we want to train. And up-skill 25,000 folks by the end of 2025 for the logistics sector. Uh, and we’ve launched these programs across the country. By the end of the year, we’ll be in 15 different cities. Um, we actually launched in the UK and we’re examining Mexico right now as well. Um, and the key there again is how do you bring the private sector and the private, the public sector together? Uh, so we make investments in community colleges, workforce, investment boards, nonprofits, um, to make them, uh, focus on the logistics sector and also provide our expertise to say, these are the career pathways.

Steven Hussain (00:32:21):

These are the employers that are hiring. These are the types of skills that people need to have. In fact, we even developed a curriculum. We developed a, a fully online curriculum that everybody can access for free. Um, and that’s what folks are being trained on. So we’re doing what we can, uh, to again, raise the awareness of the sector, get it to be a priority, uh, and really make sure our customers have access to that as well during this for our customers, because we know this is their number one pain point, uh, and you know, our business, we’re here for the long-term. We’re not in communities for the short term, we’re in Dallas forever. Uh, we’re in Miami forever. Uh, and we need to know those communities, uh, and that’s why we, you know, we’re really making these investments and working with stakeholders.

Scott Luton (00:33:05):

I love it. I love what you are creating and how you’re investing and how you’re providing those resources to the markets. And we’re going to share at the end of today’s episode, how, how you can connect with Kim Steven Ann Ward and, uh, Steven, you welcome folks that are curious about that curriculum. You’d welcome those inquiries, right?

Steven Hussain (00:33:22):

Yeah, absolutely. Please reach out. Wonderful.

Scott Luton (00:33:24):

Okay. We’re gonna move right along. We’ve got a lot more good stuff to talk about, including one of my favorite topics, which is leadership, real leadership, which is coming next after, uh, Kim tells us more about this, this, uh, the third impediment, third of three, this regulatory political very difficult and sometimes nasty environment that we’re in. Uh, Kim, tell us more about that.

Kim Snyder (00:33:46):

Well, you know, it’s, it’s funny, uh, success breeds contempt sometimes, and it’s interesting how the logistics sector is, is popping right now. It’s just, uh, it’s going very strongly in every community and it draws a little bit of attention because you’ve got, uh, the issue of trucking and traffic congestion. You got the issue of air quality, which we talked about earlier. And, uh, you just have sort of that nimbyism, that inevitably occurs where, uh, people would rather not, they don’t mind. They know they need logistics. They know that anywhere else in distribution, just not, it’s not my neighborhood, if that’s possible, can we just do it in your neighborhood instead? And I think, uh, you know, it’s a fundamental problem with, with, uh, you know, these, these big buildings in particular and the traffic they create, you know, we keep advocating about what the job gains are and the community enrichment from that standpoint, the tax impacts are huge.

Kim Snyder (00:34:38):

You know, the economic benefit in the overall package of, uh, an e-commerce fulfillment center in a community is massive, but it does come with the sort of this balance of traffic, maybe air quality, depending on the operator and how they run their business. Uh, but what I guess I’m getting at is, uh, this goes back to this education of all the good things that we do. Uh, then when you hear about all the negative things that are associated with the good things we’re doing, we’re trying to find this nice balancing act here. Uh, but what it manifests in, in states like California, the Republican California is pretty aggressive and progressive with regard to telling what, telling you what you ought to do, right, as opposed to allowing business to do it on their own, invest in their own, uh, sustainability practices, uh, uh, Goodwill, uh, community, uh, activities that they do, uh, California has a tendency to want or legislate that.

Kim Snyder (00:35:33):

So, you know, we live here, it’s fantastic. You know, it’s a great place to do business. Uh, if you can figure out a way to digest all these regulatory elements. So I think it’s, it’s not necessarily a horrible problem. It’s a problem. We all have to adapt to. It’s a pretty level playing field. They’re not picking on, uh, you know, you know, big landlords versus small landlords. It’s all landlords are affected by this. So we’re all working as a group, you know, I’m, uh, uh, involved with the NAOP. We do, uh, an awful lot of outreach to communities to try to explain the good things we do, understanding that we need to do better on, uh, the other things. And I think that’s a big focus, but I would just say we’re in a cycle of political cycle, uh, regulation. So there’s a lot more coming, you know, potentially in the tax arena, uh, that we’ll, we’ll all be having to digest that at some point.

Kim Snyder (00:36:29):

And, uh, so I think we’re sort of in a period of massive change from the regulatory standpoint from the prior four years. So, uh, maybe it’s just a, again, part of that snapback I was talking about earlier, we got a little snap back that might stay a little too, so we’ve gotta, we’ve gotta weave that into our, our business models going forward and continue to be very, uh, forthright as to who we are and what we’re doing, the, all the good things that we’re trying to do, the communities, you know, I’m just a huge fan of this concept of in community engagement. You know, that Stephen mentioned about, uh, Dallas and Miami were there forever. That’s how Prologis plays the real estate game. We go into a community, recreate a series of clusters that become its own ecosystem. And we’re there for the long haul.

Kim Snyder (00:37:13):

We’re not waiting until it stabilized and selling it to somebody else. We, we hold for long-term. That means we’re there in the community. We get involved, we have our people get involved in volunteerism constantly to show that, you know, you can rely upon us. You were a trusted advisor to the community at times where we’re helping them think, uh, uh, long-term as well. Uh, that’s the way we like to operate. And I think our people are that are like-minded, they’ve embraced that concept of, if we’re going to work here in Los Angeles, we have to embrace this community and take good care of it because it takes good care of us. And that’s, that’s sort of the fundamental

Scott Luton (00:37:53):

Do that. And, and we’ll get your last thoughts here around this current environment and the ward, you can lead us into the more of a leadership discussion here. So, but Steven, uh, speak to the environment a bit.

Steven Hussain (00:38:03):

Yeah. I mean, I became hit on it. It’s a very tough environment. There’s a lot of regulation that’s coming out. That’s not informed by business realities. Um, and also I think there’s just a lack of, of, of engagement, uh, with the private sector here to understand the realities, right? Logistics is not, uh, you know, an extremely profitable business. Um, there are, you know, our customers, aren’t rolling in the dough. Um, it’s, it’s a tough business, uh, and it’s hard. Um, but as you think about, you know, th the nimbyism the further that you push logistics facilities out, the less likely it is that somebody can work at that building right population centers, uh, and, and job opportunities have to somewhat align, uh, in order for there to be effective economies. And so that that’s key. Um, but I would say to the listeners is you, you better get engaged. Um, you better start getting engaged because it’s happening at the local level, what’s happening at the state level. And it’s happening at the federal level show up, um, start talking to your local chambers of commerce, your local maps, uh, whoever it is that, that represents you and get engaged, because it’s important that the public sector hears from you.

Scott Luton (00:39:11):

I love that. And it’s also to you, uh, Steven’s last few comments there. Ramana may have a previous guest here, shear Cassandra’s PhD, former, uh, uh, basically a NASA engineer, uh, big part of the, uh, efforts to identify what, what happened wrong with the Columbia disaster. And, uh, we get asked all the time, how can I advance in my career and how can I succeed and all that stuff. And her, her advice was simple. Do the work, do the work. And it became a mantra and a lot of what Steven saying, Hey, get involved, do it, you know, don’t sit on the sidelines, don’t talk about it, you know, plug in. So, okay. So that’s, uh, I think that’s a great segue because I think the leaders that are the most successful are those that do lead by example. And I think a lot of what we’re gonna talk about next are some, uh, a variety of things that Kim and Steven are seeing organizations that are succeeding are doing right ward that’s

Ward Richmond (00:40:05):

Right. Scott. And, uh, I mean, I think we were talking Kim about your local boots on the ground, and you’re here to stay in Dallas. Um, I’m happy about that because I love doing business with Prologis. My customers love doing business with Prologis. You make it easy for us to do our jobs, even in this challenging environment where there’s massive, um, you know, lack of supply, low vacancy rates, skyrocketing rents. Um, and I know I, this culture, um, is amazing to me how you, how you keep this culture with becoming such a global behemoth of a company. Um, yet you’re still so in touch with these local markets. So I’d love to hear, you know, leadership style in today’s environment. And, uh, maybe we can just start with, uh, that pro-life is culture that I know, like everyone, uh, like somebody walked down the street may not know the name pro lodges, but when you’re in the commercial real estate business, especially industrial, it’s a household name. And, uh, like, and I would love to hear what the secret sauce is to your culture.

Kim Snyder (00:41:10):

Well, uh, one of my start, uh, cause I think this is something that I can completely relate to here. And why I’ve been with this firm for over 16 years is this concept of customer centricity. We make that the most important thing, and it’s such a great rallying call for everyone in our organization. And we drive and attract and keep people who think about the customer. First, our customers, our tenant, we and our other customers are our brokers. And the two are mixed together. We need to take really good care of our customers to be sustainable and to fulfill those long-term objectives are referred to. And I think how you do that is you make that customer the priority. You keep track of them. You check in with them, we, you introduce this concept of a care visit. You know, we really care. Let’s go talk to our customer at least once a quarter, how are you doing?

Kim Snyder (00:42:08):

Is there anything we can do for you? Is there anything we dropped the ball on? How can we fix it? And can we fix it right now? And taking a sort of a proactive approach with our customer management has been a huge part of that cultural piece. But then so then there’s this listening, listening to art, our people and our field teams, what the feedback they give us, what do they say about those customer visits? What do they say about their workload? What do they say about me? Begging them to come back to the office and work in an office again? How do they feel about that? It sounds a little puffy, but you know, the reality is that’s, that’s what we need to understand is what are people feeling? What are their pain points? We talked about pain points for customers, but keeping an employee engaged comes with listening to them and responding to them.

Kim Snyder (00:42:59):

And then as important is adapting and adjusting a little bit here and there. So we have to be flexible. And I think in particularly in the stage of kind of post pandemic, uh, we’re all still figuring out what that’s gonna look like. You’re in a year, uh, getting people back into office environment. You know, some people may not come back. Some people may say, you know, I can do this job three days a week from the office two days at home, we got every scenario working. I think all companies in the us are going through the same thing. Uh, but what’s really important. I want to stress this is that, uh, that listening need to pay attention. So what do we do about that internally? We do a little pulse surveys, how people feel on we have town hall meetings to sort of engage people and just get that candid feedback.

Kim Snyder (00:43:47):

And I think what we found is when we get our, our team, just tell him the truth, comfortably, speak up comfortably, raise an objection and say, this may not be very popular, but I don’t like this. And is there any way we could do it differently? And then, you know, as important as listening is, is actually responding to it, acknowledging those objections, trying to do something about it and keep improving. So, you know, one last part of my big commercial here on the culture is that, uh, this business of innovation, it’s not just, uh, you know, uh, devices and tools and software. It’s innovating how we manage our people slightly different in a new environment. None of us have ever experienced our lifetimes. You know, a post pandemic environment is new for everybody. So we’re trying to, uh, make adaptations and adjust and be flexible, be smart about it.

Kim Snyder (00:44:43):

We still have to earn a living. We have shareholders who demand that, uh, we pay attention to the bottom line, but then find that middle ground of keeping the best employees, making sure we recruit more employees and keep them for long periods of time. That that is sort of, I think the measure of success from a cultural standpoint, if you have less than 10% attrition, you’re doing pretty good. If you have less than four, you’re doing great. And if you’re finding people fighting to come work to your, your, your company, you’re doing fantastic. So I think that’s how we sort of look at all this and try to keep that going, keep that momentum.

Ward Richmond (00:45:22):

That’s amazing Kim, and you know, something that I’ve got to bring up. And I, I’m going to speak on the perspective, my perspective of being in the industrial real estate business for 15 years. But if you go to an industrial real estate conference, there’s a lot of white males in the room and there’s a very, uh, there’s a big lack of diversity in the industrial real estate sector as a whole. And, um, I know that’s something that we’re doing at Colliers to make a big effort and a big push to, um, recruit, um, new diverse recruits. Um, and I mean, I’m in the process of recruiting new teammates right now. And that’s something that we’re really looking for, um, not, not to meet some quota or something, but to get new perspectives. Like I want new perspectives. I want to see through different people’s eyes and that’s going to make us better when it comes to listening to our customers because different people from different backgrounds are going to hear things differently. And I think it all goes with your customer centricity. Um, but I, Steven, do you want to maybe take this and, uh, let us know what you guys have been doing in terms of, uh, contributing to the diversity at pro lodges?

Steven Hussain (00:46:34):

Yeah. I mean, this is a top priority for Prologis and it has been for quite a while now. I mean, and you hit audited is it is an industry that’s dominated by white men. Uh, and it’s not an easy thing to change. It takes time to build out programs, systems, investments, uh, to do it the big way. Um, but it’s also about, uh, you know, take a leadership position. And if you look at what Prologis is doing, um, we’re putting our money where our mouth is, uh, and we’re making meaningful changes to when you recruit, we’re making meaningful changes to how we think about inclusion and diversity across the board. Uh, we’re thinking about how do we apply it to, you know, our basic management and leadership standards. Um, and that’s been, that’s been con and I actually, you know, I know you pointed to me, but Kim within the PR world has been a leader here, um, and has been driving this organization forward for a long time, um, push, uh, investments into these programs. And, um, whether that’s focusing on bringing more women into the workplace, um, recruiting a new college grad from, uh, HBC use or other universities, um, there’s an opportunity there for, I think the broader sector to do that, but can have a seat at all.

Ward Richmond (00:47:49):

Let’s hear your perspective. That’s amazing what a good intro. I’m glad I went to you first even see, give us a little background because I know Kim wouldn’t have told us all that upfront, but I’d love to hear about your name. Well,

Kim Snyder (00:48:02):

Sure. I mean, uh, we have a lot of initiatives, whether it’s a women in the workplace, you know, you mentioned white men, uh, it’s amazing what it does to your organization. When you have more than half of your, uh, staff is female. It’s different, you know, having worked in an all male company and in my current, uh, staff is about 53% female. It’s different. It’s I think it’s better because it’s balanced, it’s got different perspectives and that’s, that’s also true with regard to ethnicity and background and, you know, country of origin and that diversity breeds a more holistic thought process from different perspectives. But I think ultimately allows us to make better decisions, better investments, and have better behavior in a community. When you go into a, a big community meeting, uh, to present a project, and you’ve got a staff of the entire set of departments at the city of Los Angeles, and you look around the room and do you, is your team similar looking to those people you’re presenting to, if they are, there’s this different kind of chemistry that takes place that is often advantageous, or at least it’s, everybody’s understanding each other.

Kim Snyder (00:49:15):

If, if that’s the outcome that’s also a win. So, uh, I guess we think it’s really important and you gotta, you gotta put your money where your mouth is. You gotta walk the walk, you can’t just talk about this stuff. And as Stephen pointed out, it’s a long game. This doesn’t just transition overnight. You know, so we’ve started a number of programs. Uh, we really advocate, uh, women in the workplace. We are big proponents of, uh, you know, crew as a, you know, national sponsor for that I met, uh, mentioned earlier my involvement with NAOP, we started this, uh, NAOP Prologis, uh, diversity scholarship that we’re actually hosting, uh, young people of, uh, varying backgrounds to come to an icon event in Los Angeles coming up where every year what we’ve been doing is having a little essay contest. If you would, uh, to get people of diverse backgrounds, to submit some reasons why they’d be a great candidate to come to this program.

Kim Snyder (00:50:11):

And, uh, so we’ve known that for three or four years now, it’s been super successful. We’ve got alumni from there. We always meet these incredible people that we might not have otherwise met, and whether we’re looking to hire them, looking to promote them in our industry, uh, but just get them engaged more, uh, you know, uh, significantly in the industry. That’s part of this process, you know, so whether it’s diverse hiring, it’s promoting diversity in the workplace and in these big trade associations, you know, I’m super excited. I’m going to host, you know, I think about 15 of these, uh, young people in long beach or in about a month and a half. Uh, and we, we celebrate the heck out of them. We make sure they get to meet, uh, my peers. I grab a few and take them along with me through an entire conference, as an example, again, it’s, it’s somebody sort of dragging you along, giving you opportunity that you wouldn’t otherwise have. You know, we have so many great, talented people out there, uh, what we don’t have as so many great opportunities for them. And to the extent that for a lobbyist can push that forward a bit, create those opportunities for those people to get more and more exposure. Eventually they’re going to be, uh, leading the band in this industry, in my opinion.

Scott Luton (00:51:27):

So as we start to wrap up a wide ranging conversation here with Kim Snyder and Stephen Hussein with Prologis and my dear friend ward Richmond, you know, Minda Harts, uh, joined us for a live stream, not too long ago, she’s the author of the memo. And she had a great quote. That’s going to stay in my brain for a long time. We have an obligation as leaders to make work, work for everyone, right? All walks of life, uh, all types of whether you work from home, work in the office, Harvard, you name it, you think just a, of the wide variety of ways that can be applied. What I’m hearing here today, especially, especially from the real estate industrial real estate industry space, um, is we’ve got to make industry and sectors work for everyone as well. And, and do the work and do the work that Kim was just describing.

Scott Luton (00:52:15):

And Steven has described, um, that takes real leadership hands-on leadership. And not just, it doesn’t just take a, um, a process that ensures successful, diverse hiring, but then you’ve got, we’ve got to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome and included in the cultures that we are create and lead and in the businesses they’re within. So a lot of good stuff here. And, and I think, you know, ward, as we’ve, as we talked, pre-show you, while a lot of these best practices that we’re hearing in this segment of the interview are illustrated, uh, via the Prologis culture. This is also, this is what, you know, w uh, industry leaders are doing, right? A lot of what Kim and Steven are talking to going back, I’d go all the way up upstream to the customer centricity stuff that, that Kim was talking about. That’s so important. I mean, there’s a reason why the best retailers in the world that know their consumers, the best are constantly asking craving feedback so they can continue to tinker with, with how they do things. So a lot of good stuff here today on, or before we wrap though innovation, I don’t think we’ve touched on this. And if I zoned out for a second, I apologize.

Ward Richmond (00:53:21):

I don’t think we’ve touched on this my fault, Scott, because I’m supposed to the co-host that talks about innovation. And I got sidetracked and excited about hearing about the diversity and the culture. And by the way, I know I’ve heard this quote before, but since we’re doing quotes, I was speaking with one of my advisors this morning and he reminded me of the great Peter Drucker quote that is culture eats strategy for breakfast, like 40 pebbles. And, uh, but moving on and I mean, well, part of, I think every great company’s culture is innovation. So, uh, what’s happening on the innovation front and I’m going to go with Kim since I went to Steven last time.

Kim Snyder (00:54:04):

Sure. Well, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll try and be brief, but I think, you know, w we realize how important innovation is, uh, you know, I alluded to this earlier, but, uh, our employees love innovation. It it’s stimulating, it’s enriching, you know, it’s not doing things the same old way all the time. It’s still looking for ways to improve and looking for ways to get better and being a competitive bunch in the real estate business when we like winning. So to the extent that we can channel that, that competitiveness to innovation, uh, it’s, it’s a good thing, but we also, uh, you know, recently formed a, an entity, you know, a few years back now, uh, uh, Prologis ventures, which has really focused on setting aside some capital to go invest in these disruptive technologies that affect our industry, uh, whether it’s, uh, you know, how, uh, how four clips or are our design, uh, flexible by the pallet rental streams, you know, for, uh, using flexi as an example, uh, looking at, uh, technology for, uh, gate management or yard management systems.

Kim Snyder (00:55:12):

That’s been a fascinating thing that I’ve jumped into here recently in terms of looking at not only issues of compliance on those truck trips I alluded to earlier, but also having that information available for yard security or a yard efficiency, uh, communication between the driver and the, uh, dispatch operator at a large warehouse and distribution center, having that interaction improved and then recorded and have that data later in the month to reflect on. And how can we do things differently, understanding the flow of materials coming and going through the gate, simple things like that. We also have been incorporated some sensor re uh, information, uh, gathering, uh, devices inside the building and affect heat mapping. Where are the areas of congestion? Where are the areas of constant or areas where there is no traffic? And we be locating our material in those spots that are here for six months, rather than having them out front to make travel time inside a warehouse. So all of these things is a mishmash of a unique things that we’ve been working on trying to pay attention to what’s going on out there from a technological standpoint, and how it ties in, I think to labor is when there’s labor, uh, enrichment with tools like this, the precious labor that you have can do more things, and they also learn more skills, which is also good for retention as well. So there’s a lot of good about having innovation as part of your overall culture.

Scott Luton (00:56:43):

That’s great. That’s great. So, Steven, what else would you add to what Kim just shared?

Steven Hussain (00:56:48):

Yeah, I mean, I think if you look at, at Prologis, there’s, there’s truly a culture of innovation and that comes from the top. There is a, uh, a clear mandate to try new things and to be comfortable with learning because not everything is going to go, right. It comes from the top that you have to continue to push. You have to continue to learn and be thinking about what’s going to happen three months from now be thinking about what’s going to happen for years now. Um, and it’s important for an industry that is changing this fast to be looking ahead. And again, I think it, I think it truly comes from the topic for lodgers to say, yeah, we’re going to do this, uh, everybody get on board and get comfortable with making mistakes. Um, and, and then just continuing to push

Scott Luton (00:57:30):

Love that Stephen and Kim, thank you both for sharing and, and war before we kind of go around the horn and make sure everybody knows how to connect with our panel here, your final word on innovation. Well,

Ward Richmond (00:57:42):

I, you know what, I, I wanted to ask a question and not give a word, but, um, and I don’t know who’s the best to answer this, but tell me about innovation in terms of green building initiatives, solar panel electric for the future electric trucks. Like what are you guys doing anything on your spec buildings, um, to try to, you know, um, make, I mean, I just think these, these regulations are going to continue. I think they, they need to continue to a certain degree, um, with everything that’s happening with this amount of construction. So what’s, Prologis doing to be proactive

Steven Hussain (00:58:18):

About that. Yeah. I think if you look at us now, uh, Prologis is the leader in solar. So we’re the third largest on-site solar installer in the U S only behind Walmart and target. Uh, and we have been the leader and we will continue to lead in that space, uh, when it comes to electrification, our teams are already doing the work, uh, to begin to prepare for that transition, what it’s going to look like, including on the regulatory side. So how are we going to engage with utilities, uh, state boards, the federal government to think about infrastructure, uh, and how that will be deployed at scale. Uh, and we’ve always been there when it comes to building designs and, and, um, and, you know, I think we, we benefit and Ken can certainly speak to this as well from being an international company. We operate in countries.

Steven Hussain (00:59:01):

These are not new technologies. These are things that are big baked into the standards. Uh, and because we have that kind of global purview, you know, we can always stay ahead of what’s next. Uh, and I think that’s a really unique piece of our, our portfolio that nobody else can compare to. You know, we focus on that learning that we do globally. You know, we, we learned from our friends in Japan and Asia with regard to multi-story warehouses and how to do those efficiently and build a speculative three-story building in Seattle a couple of years ago. You may recall, um, we’ve, we’ve learned from our friends in the Netherlands about water conservation and how to recycle all water and reuse it, and really reduce the demand of fuel on the water. It’s a fascinating set of techniques using, uh, wind power and solar in a combination, you need a windy place to do this, but there are places and they do apply in certain parts of the U S.

Kim Snyder (00:59:59):

So the, the point I’m making is we use a best practices approach to what’s working here. How is it similar to where we are today? What can we adapt and apply here to actually keep improving and get the most sustainable environmental condition that we can for all of our buildings, but then what’s also, uh, that feedback. It goes back to this customer. When our tenants see this as a really neat thing, they want to know what we’re doing too. They want to know if we’re actually preparing the roof in advance for the weight of a solar array. We’re doing that, of course, right? If you don’t do that, you’ve got some retrofit issues on putting that stuff up there. Uh, are you running a cabling, uh, or conduits under the slabs under the parking lots out to the guard shack, just in case you might want to have a, a cat five cable to run to and fro to be able to create, uh, access to information that would otherwise be available and that to a sustainable, rather than turn it up after the fact, and we have gone through every, every new project that’s in the urban environment involves some form of demo is figuring out strategies to be, uh, particularly sensitive to, uh, reusability of materials.

Kim Snyder (01:01:13):

Uh, as materials are getting increasingly dear, as we’ve seen this year, got to have that as part of your equation. So again, it’s a fundamental practice of learning from across the planet, uh, reusing materials, finding those best practices that can be shared and applied in different locations than they had in the past.

Scott Luton (01:01:32):

I love that. Yeah, so much, so much good stuff here from this episode I expect, I fully expect I’ll be disappointed if it’s anything less that your inboxes are filled up with inquiries from social media, to your email, you name it, uh, the team of Prologis. But if anyone can handle that, the level of inbound traffic, I am sure pro-life

Ward Richmond (01:01:54):

If I was a real estate developer, just starting out and listened to this podcast, I’d be ready to rock. I think so you guys just dropped so much knowledge on us really, right.

Scott Luton (01:02:05):

And warden knows how to rock by the way. He is a talented Brock musician, moral gnats in a later episode, but, uh, Kim and Steve, and let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you. I really appreciate, uh, the time you spent here, you know, it’s a great kind of second installment installment of this, uh, re-invigorated supply chain real estate series. So Kim, let’s start with you. How can folks connect with you and the Prologis team?

Kim Snyder (01:02:29):

Sure, well, uh, you know, we, we have a pretty interactive website, uh, prologis.com. Uh, all of us are registered on there, uh, by name and location. And, uh, we’re easy to find and areas of interest that you might have at that a website can sort of also target where these people are, who might be available to answer questions like that. Uh, we also have a pretty significant, uh, communications department, uh, PR section we’ve got, uh, shareholder relations, et cetera, all of that. So, well, how these things impact, you know, more broadly than just the straight real estate deal or some of the cultural things. We’ve, we’ve got a big map in there that will give you the ability to contact just about anybody, but, uh, and then obviously, uh, you know, our, uh, our email format is, uh, is pretty active. I’m on LinkedIn, I’m on, uh, you know, Instagram online to hate Facebook. You can find me just about anywhere. Uh, we’re all kind of working to communicate effectively, uh, for our industry and for our company. So to the extent, uh, I think you’ll be able to find us

Scott Luton (01:03:33):

Wonderful, uh, Steven, anything to add to that as a very holistic answer to that question, Kim

Steven Hussain (01:03:38):

I’m impressed. Yeah. Yeah. Reach out, reach out on LinkedIn. Email me. We’ll we’ll respond. Cool.

Scott Luton (01:03:47):

Well, this, uh, outstanding conversation, big, thanks to Kim and Steven or Bobby remiss though. It’s been really neat to see, you know, our very first episode was had a backdrop of in-person event way long before the pandemic, and we’ve come a long way since, and really conversations like this with our friends over at Prologis are great, um, testimony to that. So how can folks connect with the Wolf one and only ward Richmond?

Ward Richmond (01:04:13):

Thanks for that, Scott. Yeah, I was thinking it’s actually like exactly two years since we met, I think in Atlanta at the, uh, the three PL um, summit that we went to. So, um, best way to get ahold of me is, uh, I have a blog called supply chain real estate.com. So that is a great way. And that has links to all my social media. I’m on LinkedIn, and I’m very active on Instagram as well. I know Scott, you and I connect on there a lot. So Instagram at ward 2, 1, 4, TX, and then you can just, uh, go.

Scott Luton (01:04:47):

Awesome. Wonderful. Yeah. And if you, if you join me on Instagram, you’ll see pictures of my dogs, my kids, all kinds of sunset sunshine know I’m still figuring out Instagram on my end, but nevertheless, uh, what, uh, how, uh, powerhouse panel here today, ton of really practical best practices really have enjoyed talking with Kim Snyder and Steven Hussein, both with Prologis big, thanks to my cohost ward at Richmond, check him out@supplychainrealestate.com and to all of our listeners. If you’d like conversations like this, be sure to check us out@supplychainnow.com. You can find us and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts from on behalf of our entire team here, Scott Loudin signing off for now challenging you to be like Kim and Stephen and Warren. Hey, do good. Give forward. Be the change that’s needed. And on that note, we’ll see you next time right here at supply chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (01:05:40):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.

Would you rather watch the show in action?

Tackling the Top Three Challenges in Industrial Real Estate: Supply Chain Real Estate Series

Featured Guests

Kim Synder is responsible for all activities for Prologis’ West region, including development, acquisitions and operations. Key markets include San Francisco, Seattle, the Central Valley, Southern California, the Inland Empire, Las Vegas and Phoenix. He joined AMB Property Corporation in 2005, bringing extensive experience in real estate development and construction, acquisitions and industrial leadership. As managing director and senior vice president during his tenure at AMB, Kim managed AMB’s Airport Group, as well as Mexico and Brazil operations. Prior to AMB, he was president and CEO of Paragon Capital Corporation, and served as managing director for Insignia-ESG’s Western region development operation before working at Paragon. Prior to Insignia, Kim was a partner with Investment Building Group based in Los Angeles. Connect with Kim on LinkedIn.

Steven Hussain joined Prologis in June of 2019 and serves as the Vice President of Community Workforce Programs and Community Relations. In that capacity, he leads the organization’s efforts to generate shared value for customers and deepen relationships with community stakeholders. Before joining Prologis, Steven served as the Chief Mission Services Officer for Goodwill San Antonio. He led education and employment services to individuals within the Agency’s 24 county service area. Steven previously worked as the Director of Community Initiatives for San Antonio Mayor, Ivy R. Taylor, where he helped to develop education, workforce, and economic development policy and launched the local My Brother’s Keeper initiative. Steven also worked for the P16Plus Council of Greater Bexar County as the Director of Community Partnerships. Steven holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Texas at Arlington and is currently pursuing his MBA at Baylor University. Connect with Steven on LinkedIn.

Ward Richmond is an Executive Vice President and shareholder at Colliers International (NASDAQ: CIGI). His team within Colliers specializes in working with C-level executives and operational specialists to develop and execute corporate real estate strategies on a local and global basis in an effort to maximize operational efficiencies and value. Ward’s primary focus is representing dominant logistics companies in the acquisition and disposition of “supply chain real estate”: distribution centers, truck terminals, last mile hubs, manufacturing facilities and industrial land. With over 12 years of experience, Ward has developed an unparalleled understanding of Supply Chain Real Estate strategy via negotiating 500+ transactions, globally, in 50+ cities while generating millions in value for his customers. Ward enjoys reading, writing and speaking about eCommerce and the logistics industry. He’s been featured on podcasts like the GaryVee Audio Experience and interviewed by multiple publications including The Wall Street Journal. Ward has also been a featured speaker at multiple real estate and logistics conferences around the globe. Ward currently serves on the steering committee for the Colliers International Logistics & Transportation Solutions Group and is an active member of IWLA, IAMC, and the semi-legendary, Texas Warehouse Association. Be sure to check out Ward’s blog at: www.SupplyChainRealEstate.com and learn more about Colliers International here: https://www2.colliers.com/en

Hosts

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

You May Also Like

Click to view other episodes in this program

Additional Links & Resources

Learn more about Supply Chain Now

Subscribe to Supply Chain Now and all other Supply Chain Now programs

Learn more about Prologis

Register for the 2021 Supply Chain Insights Global Summit

Register for the OMNIA Partners Connections Conference

WEBINAR- How Digital Transformation Accelerates & Strengthens Your Supply Chain with Esker Inc

WEBINAR- Mini-Master Class: Tips & Tools for Optimizing Professional Development & Job Seeking

WEBINAR- What You Can Learn From a Digital-First DTC Brand: Quip’s Omnichannel Evolution

2021 Supply Chain and Procurement Awards

Check Out Our Sponsors

Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By 2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached, having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.

Connect on :

Mary Kate Love

VP, Marketing

Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.

Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Connect on :

Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic design, content creation, asset logistics, and more.  In his free time he likes to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in journalism and communication, including three Peabodys.  She has 30 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.

Connect on :

Vicki White

Controller

Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat? Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes, she loves to clean!) and learning new things.

Connect on :

Ben Harris

Host

Ben Harris is the Director of Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Ben comes to the Metro Atlanta Chamber after serving as Senior Manager, Market Development for Manhattan Associates. There, Ben was responsible for developing Manhattan’s sales pipeline and overall Americas supply chain marketing strategy. Ben oversaw market positioning, messaging and campaign execution to build awareness and drive new pipeline growth. Prior to joining Manhattan, Ben spent four years with the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center of Innovation for Logistics where he played a key role in establishing the Center as a go-to industry resource for information, support, partnership building, and investment development. Additionally, he became a key SME for all logistics and supply chain-focused projects. Ben began his career at Page International, Inc. where he drove continuous improvement in complex global supply chain operations for a wide variety of businesses and Fortune 500 companies. An APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Ben holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration (EMBA) and bachelor’s degree in International Business (BBA) from the Terry College at the University of Georgia.

Connect on :

Page Siplon

Host, The Freight Insider

Prior to joining TeamOne Logistics, Page Siplon served as the Executive Director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, the State’s leading consulting resource for fueling logistics industry growth and global competitiveness. For over a decade, he directly assisted hundreds of companies to overcome challenges and capitalize on opportunities related to the movement of freight. During this time, Siplon was also appointed to concurrently serve the State of Georgia as Director of the larger Centers of Innovation Program, in which he provided executive leadership and vision for all six strategic industry-focused Centers. As a frequently requested keynote speaker, Siplon is called upon to address a range of audiences on unique aspects of technology, workforce, and logistics. This often includes topics of global and domestic logistics trends, supply chain visibility, collaboration, and strategic planning. He has also been quoted as an industry expert in publications such as Forbes, Journal of Commerce, Fortune, NPR, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, American Express, DC Velocity, Area Development Magazine, Site Selection Magazine, Inbound Logistics, Modern Material Handling, and is frequently a live special guest on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Radio Show. Siplon is an active industry participant, recognized by DC Velocity Magazine as a “2012 Logistics Rainmaker” which annually identifies the top-ten logistics professionals in the Nation; and named a “Pro to Know” by Supply & Demand Executive Magazine in 2014. Siplon was also selected by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Georgians” for 2013, 2014, and 2015. He also serves various industry leadership roles at both the State and Federal level. Governor Nathan Deal nominated Siplon to represent Georgia on a National Supply Chain Competitiveness Advisory Committee, where he was appointed to a two-year term by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and was then appointed to serve as its vice-chairman. At the State level, he was selected by then-Governor Sonny Perdue to serve as lead consultant on the Commission for New Georgia’s Freight and Logistics Task Force. In this effort, Siplon led a Private Sector Advisory Committee with invited executives from a range of private sector stakeholders including UPS, Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Delta Airlines, Georgia Pacific, CSX, and Norfolk Southern. Siplon honorably served a combined 12 years in the United States Marine Corps and the United States Air Force. During this time, he led the integration of encryption techniques and deployed cryptographic devices for tactically secure voice and data platforms in critical ground-to-air communication systems. This service included support for all branches of the Department of Defense, multiple federal security agencies, and aiding NASA with multiple Space Shuttle launches. Originally from New York, Siplon received both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering with a focus on digital signal processing from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He earned an associate’s degree in advanced electronic systems from the Air Force College and completed multiple military leadership academies in both the Marines and Air Force. Siplon currently lives in Cumming, Georgia (north of Atlanta), with his wife Jan, and two children Thomas (19) and Lily (15).

Connect on :

Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and loves every opportunity to help people do more good.

Connect on :

Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her daily life.

Connect on :

Katherine Hintz

Sales and Marketing Coordinator

Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

Connect on :

Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL, E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation, Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices, he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair international events.

He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic Free Zone.

A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney) executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria Universities (NZ).

Connect on :

Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions, always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.

Connect on :

Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global Logistics.  He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

Connect on :

Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile. José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración, inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.

Connect on :

Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it. With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and greener.

Connect on :

Allison Giddens

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company through the pandemic.

She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.

Connect on :

Billy Taylor

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.

Connect on :

Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.

Connect on :

Chantel King

Social Media Manager

My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.

Connect on :

Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.

Connect on :

Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.

Connect on :

Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.

Connect on :

Constantine Limberakis

Host

Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

Connect on :

Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.

Connect on :

Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.

Connect on :

Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.

Connect on :

Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include CiscoMicrosoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane UniversityO’Reilly MediaLinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems EngineeringCarrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.

Connect on :

Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!

Connect on :

Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.

Connect on :

Greg White

Principal & CMO, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain Now and TECHquila Sunrise

When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.

Connect on :

Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.

Connect on :