Whether it is for Georgia’s favorable cost of living, business-friendly policies, superior workforce, educational assets, or solid air, land, and sea resources, logistics and other companies consistently choose Georgia because they know they can rely on the state’s pro-business culture and infrastructure to sustain growth.

“Successive governors, local and community elected leadership, and the Georgia General Assembly have consistently supported our partnership approach to economic development, allowing our state and local teams to be responsive to business,” says Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

“Our university system and technical college system of Georgia have been ahead of the curve in working with us to prepare Georgians for the workforce needs of tomorrow, giving Georgia a competitive advantage,” Wilson adds.

Reflecting this growth trajectory, Gov. Brian Kemp announced in February 2024 that Doowon Climate Control America, a South Korea-based auto parts manufacturer and supplier, will invest more than $30 million in a new manufacturing facility in Metter, in eastern Georgia. The company will be a key supplier for Kia Georgia and Hyundai Motor Group.

“Georgia’s growth as a national leader in auto manufacturing continues to pay dividends for communities in all four corners of Georgia,” Kemp said.

Georgia’s vast business network goes well beyond automaking, embracing everything from tourism to health care. The support of the state’s logistics providers is as strong as the network they serve.

Technology and Workforce Are Major Draws

For Duane Kalinowski, founder, owner, and CEO of All Points, a multi-faceted 3PL based in Atlanta, the greatest logistics asset of the state he adopted as his home 30 years ago is the quality of its workforce—particularly those who work for All Points. “We have an unbelievable workforce here,” he says.

Kalinowski opened the company with a mattress—he lived inside his warehouse—and a fridge, a TV, his dog Baxter, and an entrepreneurial spirit on June 1, 1995. All Points has now grown into an industry leader in fulfillment and distribution, print and promotional product management, ecommerce, direct response project management, retail display production, and 3PL services.

Several members of his executive team began with the company more than two decades ago—Controller Sandra Duncan, for example, and IT Director Adam Zawacki, a Georgia Tech industrial engineer grad who spearheads constant evaluations of fulfillment processes, looking for ways to improve efficiencies and reduce costs.

Kalinowski puts a high premium on All Points’ tech stack, believing it is a vital key to logistics success. “If you’ve been in business 30 years,” he says, “you have to stay on the cutting edge of technology—or you’re not going to be in business.”

Those two keys—technology and workforce—make Georgia an ideal logistics home, Kalinowski believes, citing the outstanding logistics degree programs offered by the state’s colleges and universities. All Points hires many graduates of Georgia Tech, “which is in All Points’ backyard,” he says.

Building on Logistics Advantages

All Points provides fulfillment and distribution, print and promotional product management, ecommerce, direct response project management, retail display production, and 3PL services.

“Think about both the culture and tremendous education resources for logistics in Georgia,” Kalinowski says. “Not only that, think of all the trade shows and economic forums, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and how they all work in unison for the logistics hub that Atlanta has become.

“These are efforts that start at the governor’s level and work their way down to the local level,” he adds. “It’s no mistake that Atlanta has the largest airport, the most trafficked in the world, and that UPS is located here.”

Additionally, he says, “Georgia’s miles and miles of actual freeway help us with time to market. All these things—from the support of the governor’s office to the logistics infrastructure and economic forums—work together to perpetuate Georgia’s logistics advantage. It has taken off to the point it’s hard for other regions to catch up to what we have here.”

Since he landed All Points’ first major contract with Coca-Cola shortly after he opened the company—leading to a contract to distribute some $80-to-$100 million of Olympic pins for the 1996 Summer Olympic games held in Atlanta—Kalinowski has capitalized on Georgia’s rich logistics resources to achieve remarkable growth.

He believes the strength of the Georgia logistics environment—along with treating his team members as partners in the business—will keep the company thriving long into the future.

“When I meet with prospective companies, I sell the culture of our workforce and our ability to solve problems,” Kalinowski says. “Atlanta has such a great logistics network. It really gives us an edge, being here in Atlanta. There’s a lot of opportunity here.”

Focusing On Ports and Progress

Georgia’s logistics assets acted quickly and effectively to meet the pandemic-related challenges of all types of infrastructure faced with surging consumer demand. Case in point: Georgia Ports.

Aside from the period affected by the pandemic, 2023 was the best calendar year on record for containerized trade for Georgia Ports, according to the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), which oversees the state’s two deep-water ports and three inland terminals. “Georgia Ports’ demand for containerized imports normalized since the end of the pandemic,” says GPA President and CEO Griff Lynch, who adds that GPA is using this time to invest in capacity for future needs.

“GPA is committed to investing $4.2 billion in the next 10 years,” Lynch says. “With the new year, we are beginning to see renewed strength in container volumes, which should result in more favorable comparisons moving forward the next six months.”

In terms of roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) cargo, the Port of Brunswick handled a record 775,565 units of autos and machinery in calendar year 2023, an increase of 15.6% over the previous year. At its current rate of growth, the Port of Brunswick is poised to become the nation’s busiest gateway for Ro/Ro cargo.

Expanding both trade and capability at the flagship ports of Savannah and Brunswick is part of a two-pillar strategy at GPA, with Savannah focused on containers and Brunswick focused on Ro/Ro trade. Both pillars of GPA’s business will be positively impacted by the growth of manufacturing in Georgia, such as the new Hyundai Meta Plant now under construction in Elabell, on the outskirts of Savannah.

Boosting Capacity

Because the threat of supply chain disruption is a constant, GPA’s infrastructure investment philosophy is to have 20% more capacity than the current cargo demand, thus enabling its terminals to better absorb sudden influxes, Lynch says.

Capacity-building projects include Garden City Terminal West at the Port of Savannah, which will add 100 acres and 1 million TEUs of annual capacity adjacent to Garden City Terminal proper. Now 70% complete, the yard will offer a new, long-term storage option for port customers to help them flex to supply chain demands.

GPA also is expanding its inland port offerings. Along with the existing Appalachian Regional Port in Northwest Georgia, GPA is building the Blue Ridge Connector rail terminal near Gainesville, Georgia. Additionally, North Carolina importers and exporters can tap into a faster supply chain through a direct rail connection between Savannah and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, via the CSX Carolina Connector (CCX) intermodal terminal. Supporting GPA’s intermodal cargo expansion is the Mason Mega Rail Terminal in Savannah, a foundational gateway terminal component.

Lynch credits state infrastructure improvements for making the ports’ growth possible. “GPA has been able to add capacity because of unmatched room for expansion on the 1,500-acre Garden City Terminal in Savannah and the 1,700-acre Colonel’s Island Ro/Ro Terminal at the Port of Brunswick,” he says.

“GPA has strong partners in the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Department of Economic Development in terms of building a robust statewide freight transportation system, and attracting companies to build or expand in Georgia,” Lynch adds. “Both help to drive business through Georgia Ports. Georgia is a truly integrated state when it comes to attracting and keeping business.”

Providing Knowledge and Power

Prominent among the vast array of Georgia’s unique logistics resources is SMC³, a one-stop knowledge hub for everything less-than-truckload (LTL). Shippers, carriers, logistics service and technology providers rely on SMC³ to translate intricate LTL transportation pricing and transit detail into data-centric solutions, spanning the entire shipment life cycle.

A trusted industry partner for more than 88 years, SMC³ is an established thought leader, hosting premier supply chain conferences and educational events across North America.

“Our status as a trade association provides close connections to all less-than-truckload carriers across North America,” says Brian Thompson, the organization’s chief commercial officer. “SMC³ utilizes our proprietary technology infrastructure to connect asset-based providers with their customers, shippers, and logistics service providers, with high-speed connectivity around the clock.”

Leading the LTL Industry

Based in the master-planned community of Peachtree City, just south of Atlanta, SMC³ is at the center of the $50-billion LTL industry, managing more than 4 billion pricing and transit transactions per month. To help accomplish its goals, the organization accesses the knowledge and power of the state’s leading logistics innovators and thinkers.

For example, SMC³ partnered with logistics professor Dr. Karl Manrodt at Georgia College & State University to develop and launch a new online educational program focused on the LTL industry.

“The educational program is a self-paced, online program leveraged by some of the largest logistics providers across the country,” Thompson explains. “So many new people have entered the industry in the past four years that educational programs are imperative to prepare them for these careers.”

The infrastructure—from fiber cable to roads and bridges to the busiest international airport in the country—all enable SMC³ to be effective in reaching its audience across the country, he adds.

Post pandemic, SMC³ has shifted from requiring all employees to work from the office to allowing them to work either in the office or remotely. This policy has allowed SMC³ to attract and retain top talent from across the state and the country, Thompson says.

SMC³ has greatly increased the use of videoconferencing and online media in its new educational programs for the freight industry. Additionally, it hosts monthly hybrid learning programs with panels of guest speakers discussing critical issues facing the freight industry and solutions to those issues.

SMC³ now offers Dynamic PriceBuilder®, a new application that lets carriers develop rates dynamically and enables them to make better pricing decisions. Through the tool, carriers can manage yield versus volume with on-demand control pricing and access levers, including location, weight, density, day of the week, and calendar date.

“With this dynamic solution, carriers immediately feel the impact of enhanced visibility into load-level costs, pricing, and profitability paired with their custom business rules engine to provide the data needed to quickly offer customer-specific pricing on a shipment-by-shipment basis,” Thompson says.

SMC³ continues to develop integrations to connect shippers, logistics service providers, and their asset-based providers across the freight industry.

“There is a tremendous demand to digitally connect and leverage data to create automated solutions that result in savings and more effective management across the supply chain,” Thompson says. “SMC³ is the premier provider of API and EDI integrations for the less-than-truckload industry.”

Recruiting the Best

Atlanta Bonded Warehouse is a leading provider of temperature-controlled 3PL warehousing, co-packaging, and LTL/TL transportation services in the Southeast.

For Atlanta Bonded Warehouse (ABW), the Southeast’s leading provider of temperature-controlled 3PL warehousing, co-packaging, and LTL/TL transportation services, the new year has brought about a heightened focus on recruiting and hiring the best of the best among Georgia’s superior logistics workforce.

Hal Justice, ABW’s vice president of sales and operations, says this focus means finding new ways to attract a new generation of technology-savvy employees.

“Our wage and benefit packages are exceptionally competitive for our industry and for the markets in which we have operations,” he says. “But today we are recruiting a different generation of 18-to-26-year-olds who do not respond as well to the recruiting efforts that have been historically successful.”

Both the demands of the industry and the skills and expectations of potential employees are putting a premium on applications of technology.

Enhancing Technology

“We’re enhancing our technology beyond just pure materials-handling movement and engaging automation where it makes sense and is cost-effective,” Justice says. “It’s not just moving pallets. Paying people for hours to move pallets from one end of the warehouse to another does not add value to our business process, and does not develop the skills our employees want or need. It’s not a good use of resources.”

Such tasks are not especially attractive to upward-bound workers either. Having almost halved the progression from starting wages to mature wages was helpful but still not enough.

ABW is aggressively recruiting online for new employees for positions in warehousing, transportation, and co-packaging. The growth in the company’s business means opportunities for new employees and for promotion for existing employees.

“We get lots of online inquiries every day,” Justice says. “We get from four to six inquiries every day regarding employment. When you think 20 a week or 1,000 a year is pretty good, you need to realize this is only the top of the funnel. Successfully recruiting, training, onboarding, and ultimately retaining is a long way from the top of the funnel.”

ABW is considering hiring a full-time recruiter to enhance its efforts to keep its workforce on top. At the same time, the company continues to measure productivity through “engineered standards”—using technology to carefully measure workers’ time management. The combination of these efforts enables ABW to mitigate cost increases—and, as a result, its costs to customers.

Automation is not a panacea, Justice says. Equipment must be carefully selected to fit the application, then calibrated and continually monitored to make sure it is doing what you tasked it to do. “Quality and safety remain most important,” he says. “Nothing suffers.”

ABW pays keen attention to industry measurements of success. “We’re holding our own in the industry with KPIs (key performance indicators),” Justice says. “I would put our numbers up against any of our competitors and we have some great competition.

“We focus on being a high-performance, low-noise operator. We’re in the top 50 of U.S. 3PLs. Everyone says size has its advantages and we would agree,” he continues. “Smaller has its advantages. Our size makes us more agile. We can make decisions quicker, make changes to our technology quicker, and change mid-course a lot easier. We don’t have to go through management hierarchy for approvals. We make two calls, meet for five minutes, and just do it.”

All of this takes place in the environment of an extraordinarily business-friendly state. “Georgia has done an incredible job of making the state a preferred location for industry,” Justice says. “Georgia has done a solid job of attracting business. We’ve got a good workforce and we’re always attracting more manufacturing. More and more of our customers are looking at how they can manufacture or process their products here and not rely on someone 8,000 miles away and where it takes five or six weeks to get here on a container. The pandemic taught everybody the value of shortening their supply chains.”

Forging Ahead

Syfan Logistics Executive Vice President Steve Syfan (left) credits Gov. Brian Kemp (right) and others in state government for their ongoing support of business in Georgia.

Steve Syfan, executive vice president of Syfan Logistics, is equally bullish on both the field of logistics and the company’s Georgia home.

“Georgia is a very forward-thinking state,” says Syfan, whose company is located some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gainesville, Georgia.

Syfan Logistics specializes in the transportation of refrigerated/frozen foods and manufactured automobile parts as well as the transportation of pharmaceutical products. The company moves many pharmaceuticals that have special temperature regulations and specifications.

The critical importance of the company’s specialized services was made manifest at the height of the pandemic, and Syfan says the business-friendly environment of the Peach State was especially helpful during that challenging time.

“Georgia did not shut down like some other states did,” Syfan says.

He credits Gov. Brian Kemp and others in state government for their ongoing support of business. For 10 years in a row, Georgia has been recognized as the country’s best state for business.

Syfan Logistics, in turn, invests heavily in the future of Georgia logistics. Steve’s father and company founder Jim Syfan serves as a member of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents.

The company has established internship programs with several of the state’s leading colleges and universities, including the University of North Georgia, North Georgia Technical College, Georgia Southern, and University of Georgia. The company also works with Appalachian State University in North Carolina and the University of Tennessee.

“The majority of the population doesn’t even know this industry exists, except that they see the trucks on the road,” Syfan says, adding that he believes the next generation should be educated on how logistics represents a rewarding career path with rich opportunities for growth. Syfan Logistics offers a mentorship program and currently has one dozen employees in its training department.

Nurturing Entrepreneurs

Syfan is proud that as many as 17 other logistics companies have been spawned by individuals who began their careers at Syfan Logistics. “There’s enough for everybody,” he says, “and they make us better.”

He points out that his father was an entrepreneur, and the company encourages individual success. “We don’t have non-competes; I don’t believe in them,” Syfan says. “It would be wrong to say you can’t better yourself if this is what you believe you need to do.”

Another expression of the company’s culture is the fact that employees are not described as working “for” the company but rather “with.”

“It’s just a word but it’s a big word for us,” Syfan says. “We work with each other.”

It all goes back to the code his father put in place when the company was established. “My dad said back in 1984, our number-one principle is we’re going to do the right thing and we’re going to do it every time. And because we’re human, if we don’t do the right thing, we’re going to make it right.

“We do that internally and we do it externally. That’s always our goal,” Syfan adds.

Syfan believes a persistent challenge for logistics and other industries is the need for tort reform, and once again he is buoyed by the forward thinking of Georgia’s state officials.

“I’m very encouraged by what our legislators are doing,” he says. He is optimistic that “substantive decisions” are being formulated to further help Georgia continue to compete and grow.

Room to Grow and Flourish

Savannah-based JIT Warehousing & Logistics delivers just-in-time service with responsiveness and a personal touch.

Asked for her perspective on the most important assets of Georgia that help qualify the region as ideal for logistics, Anna Lockwood, vice president of Savannah-based JIT Warehousing & Logistics, doesn’t hesitate.

“A large port with steady growth is essential,” she says. “And so is having lots of options to move the cargo and containers from the port, particularly rail. That’s important too, as well as having ample warehouse space.

“Fortunately, we have all of that and more in Georgia,” she adds. “Our warehouse space is constantly expanding to meet ever-increasing demand.”

Evie Goldberg-Davis, JIT’s executive vice president, agrees. “Having the space geographically to grow is vital,” she says. “And not just the Georgia Ports Authority, but private terminals and warehouses in Savannah and throughout the state; developing inland ports and expanding the rail infrastructure and roadways connecting the Savannah terminal hub to the entire region.”

Ben Goldberg, the company’s president, adds this key ingredient to the region’s success: “Rapid expansion of manufacturers building plants in Georgia.”

In other words, it’s all about growth. And when it comes to logistics, growth not only defines Georgia in general but JIT specifically.

A family business, JIT was founded more than three decades ago by Ben Goldberg with the idea that companies in the Southeast, particularly those that receive seaborne products via the Port of Savannah, need world-class logistics support.

The company has five locations, all of which are within 3.5 miles of the Savannah port’s Garden City Terminal and one of which is within a half mile of the port’s Garden City Terminal.

Providing Responsive and Personalized Customer Service

As the company’s name suggests, JIT’s mission is to deliver just-in-time service to its clients. It accomplishes that mission by having big-company capabilities while providing small-company responsiveness.
Its experience, family ownership, and flexibility set it apart. “We’re big enough to support some of the world’s largest companies, and small enough to give small and mid-sized companies the very best in personalized customer service,” Goldberg says.

Adding greener low-emission trucks (CNG trucks) to the company’s asset fleet and building rail capacity are examples of JIT’s forward-thinking decision-making that enables the company to keep pace with the growth of Georgia itself.

A new location with Norfolk Southern and JIT’s expanded heavy-haul/cargo fleet to accommodate new facilities and plants being built in the region further solidify the company’s standing as a star in the logistics constellation of Georgia.

Establishing A Solid Foundation

For more than a century, Georgia has fostered healthy industry practices, encouraged collaboration and innovation, and positioned itself as a leader in developing and harnessing emerging technologies, including for the evolving automotive and mobility industry.

As the electric vehicle market continues to grow, for example, Georgia has pursued the entire supply chain, creating more than $25.7 billion in investments and 30,200 jobs since 2018.

Other industries thrive as well. For example, Gov. Kemp recently announced Gerresheimer, a manufacturer for the pharma and life science industry, will invest more than $88 million in expanding its manufacturing operations in Peachtree City in the southern Atlanta metropolitan area. Dusseldorf-based Gerresheimer currently supports more than 260 jobs in Georgia, and its existing manufacturing facility will support an additional 180 jobs with operations beginning in April 2024.

“Employers from across the globe can find a skilled workforce here that we continuously invest in through innovative programs like the GEORGIA MATCH Direct College Admissions Initiative,” Kemp said.

The program, officially launched in 2023, is intended to make higher education more accessible to Georgia’s youth, and it helps pave the way for a new generation to continue Georgia’s leadership in logistics.
The state’s pursuit of this type of leadership in logistics, together with its other assets, continues to successfully attract business and drive growth.

Georgia Logistics: 7 Stunning Stats

Port of Brunswick (photo courtesy of the Georgia Ports Authority)

Across every category, Georgia’s advantages as a logistics hub can be quantified with eye-popping numbers. Here are a few:

1. Georgia has a labor force of 5.3 million, with an especially strong talent pool in transportation and material moving.

2. The state’s logistics sector is powered by more than 15,000 logistics establishments employing more than 181,000 people in direct logistics industry jobs.

3. The University System of Georgia is made up of 26 higher education institutions, of which 25 offer concentrations and degrees in logistics and supply chain.

4. Georgia has 327 public and private airports, including 105 public-use airports. Two international airports—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Savannah/Hilton Head—and nine of the top 10 cargo airlines in the world call Georgia home.

5. The state has 1,244 miles of interstate highways, 81,829 miles of country roads, 19,095 miles of state highways, and 13,731 miles of city streets.

6. With more than 4,600 miles of active rail lines, Georgia has the largest rail network in the Southeast. The railroad system in Georgia includes 28 freight railroads, including two Class I railroads—Norfolk Southern and CSX. Georgia provides direct rail access to the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest regions of the United States.

7. Georgia’s two deep-water ports in Savannah and Brunswick, together with inland terminals in Chatsworth, Bainbridge, and Columbus, are gateways to the world. Sitting on 85 acres at the Port of Savannah, Mason Mega Rail is the largest on-terminal intermodal facility in North America.

Sources: Georgia Department of Economic Development, Georgia Center of Innovation for Logistics, University System of Georgia, Georgia Department of Transportation, Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) Office of Economic and Community Development, Georgia Ports Authority.

1. Driven by current economic challenges is the necessity to extract every ounce of ROI from each sale’s dependency on inventory and the infrastructure that supports that inventory. Extracting that value takes visibility, control, and speed to connect demand (sales) to supply for the lowest cost possible.

2. The burning need to drive the sales cycle—grow sales and expand markets. The crossroads of that need run right through the warehouse or DC. Antiquated, manual, slow, or out-of-date ways to move product stalls sales, period. When times are flush, the focus is elsewhere. When times are lean, those failings become clearer and gain importance.

3. Today’s buyers have delivery fulfillment expectations that border on unreasonable. Faster touches cost more. Amazon created this customer expectation as a way to dominate markets. Now, the etailer and others are instituting delivery charges based on order size, offering perks for delayed delivery and a cash bounty if you drop off your returns instead of expecting a pickup.

This same challenge, especially in a down economy, has created a smaller, local and direct-to-consumer warehouse movement requiring investment in new facilities or in retrofitting retail locations abandoned by shoppers.

4. Labor. On-site worker scarcity is still a thing, way past the COVID shutouts. Even if you can find and hire fulfillment workers, wage increases are tracking inflation. That appears to be the new normal if you want to get and keep reliable warehouse workers.

If there is little motivation within the company to raise pay, the government is here to help. Several states are pushing new minimum wage levels, which will raise all boats. Compliance is tightening. New York State, for example, has a new Warehouse Worker Protection Act that takes effect in June 2023. Others may follow. But the net result of having humans in the warehouse is that compliance costs will increase substantially.

If these four reasons sound a bit like trying to stave off the four horsemen of the economic apocalypse, there is a bright side just over the horizon. At some point we will come out of this and enter the economic promised land.

Investment in automation and robotics will deal with those challenges, making our networks fast, efficient, and—most of all—ready to handle an explosion in economic growth.

You might say that Jones—who held degrees from Atlanta’s Georgia Tech and Emory universities and picked up another degree from Harvard for good measure—was a master of logistics before the term was commonplace in business and industry.

It is only fitting that he called Georgia home.

Managing the movement of products from one place to another quickly and efficiently—through the air, across the water, and over winding terrain, if not sand traps—is the essence of logistics, the Peach State’s stock in trade.

Businesses of all types and sizes thrive in Georgia, thanks in large part to the state’s pro-business government policies, traditionally low unemployment, available real estate, and ideal location—the latter especially important to the providers of distribution and logistics services.

Add to all that the state’s plentiful educational and organizational resources that are readily accessible to logistics professionals. The sum total is a treasure trove of logistics assets.

Soaring Higher

Georgia’s comprehensive logistics infrastructure includes Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), the busiest and most efficient airport in the world—and, many say, the best in North America.

ATL is an economic star of Georgia, generating a $34.8-billion impact for metro Atlanta and providing more than 63,000 jobs on-site, making it the state’s largest employer.

Hartsfield-Jackson is a global gateway, offering nonstop service to more than 150 domestic and 70 international destinations. These locales include major commercial centers in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, and South and Central America.

In addition, ATL holds the distinction of being the first airport in the world to serve more than 100 million passengers in a single year.

Georgia also is home to Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport (SAV), where passenger traffic reached an unprecedented high in 2022: more than 3.5 million passengers, a 27% increase from 2021.

The airport’s record growth has been spurred by expanded services offered by airlines and by visitors to the region’s popular destinations of Savannah and Hilton Head Island.

SAV is currently engaged in capital projects totaling more than $150 million. Not only will improvements allow for additional growth in passenger traffic, but they also will lay the groundwork for a new air cargo complex and an expanded general aviation complex. These improvements will stimulate regional development and add to the airport’s $4.2-billion economic impact.

In all, Georgia’s airport system includes 104 publicly owned, public-use airports, nine commercial service airports, and 95 general aviation airports.

The airports are essential to the state’s transportation and economic infrastructure, supporting distribution and logistics as well as other diversified industries including technology, manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture.

Over Land and Sea

Georgia’s location provides direct rail access to the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Midwest regions of the United States. Both Eastern U.S. Class I railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, along with 24 short-line railroads, track across the state.

The Intermodal Division of the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) conducts planning and project development for freight, passenger, and commuter operations within the state, and oversees the development of the State Rail Plan, which identifies long-range freight and passenger needs.

Also crisscrossing the state are six U.S. interstates—1,200 miles of highway—connecting shippers to 80% of the country in two days or less driving time. To keep cargo and passenger traffic moving smoothly, GDOT even has a formal online and telephone program for reporting potholes.

Meanwhile, Georgia’s extensive port assets—which include deepwater ports in Savannah and Brunswick—continually improve their logistics operations. Savannah is poised to increase and expand services across an arc of inland markets, from Atlanta to Memphis, extending to St. Louis, Chicago, and the Ohio Valley.

Georgia’s resources enable the state to handle and haul more than $900 billion in cargo each year.

Empowered by Expertise

Geographical and infrastructure strengths notwithstanding, the true power behind Georgia’s logistics throne is expertise. Specialized programs in the state’s colleges and universities, as well as professional associations, combine to place Georgia at the leading edge of logistics thinking and innovation.

In addition to Georgia Tech and Emory, logistics programs at Georgia Southern and numerous other universities and technical colleges are among the most respected and best endowed in the world.

A particularly notable example of government-based logistics resources is the Georgia Center of Innovation, a strategic arm of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, which offers logistics as one of its six areas of assistance and expertise.

The Center of Innovation annually hosts the Georgia Logistics Summit, bringing together speakers from prominent shippers and leaders in the state’s infrastructure and economic development communities, as well as speakers from some of the world’s most prominent supply chain focused companies.

Moreover, the state’s logistics network is both powered and utilized by more than 15,000 logistics establishments. It is from this community of colleagues that Georgia ultimately derives its definition as the logistics state.

Georgia Ports Authority: Port Leadership

A principal player in the extraordinary logistics success of Georgia is the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), which directly employs 1,800 logistics professionals and oversees the state’s two deepwater ports and three inland terminals. The GPA is committed to making Georgia a national leader in the response to challenges brought about by the supply chain issues of the past few years.

“The recent challenges have powered a transition toward a more digital marketplace,” says Cliff Pyron, the GPA’s chief commercial officer. “As more consumers have adopted online shopping, the supply chain has begun a long-term shift to better serve e-commerce. This involves greater warehouse capacity closer to population centers, with these distribution centers carrying a wider array of SKUs than traditional warehouses.

“Additionally, more cargo owners are diversifying their ports of entry into the United States as a hedge against delays caused by port congestion,” he says, adding that many cargo owners are now discovering the efficiencies of landing freight closer to major population centers east of the Mississippi River.

Tapping into Large Markets

The main differentiator for East Coast ports is proximity to most of the nation’s largest markets. Some 44% of the U.S. population is within a 5 to 16 hour drive of the Savannah deepwater port. These trends have resulted in greater demand for port services at GPA.

The GPA has instituted an aggressive expansion plan to ensure cargo fluidity. In November 2021, the GPA commissioned the final set of working tracks at the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, boosting GPA’s rail lift capacity to 1 million containers per year, an increase of 30%.

Additionally, the Port of Savannah’s Peak Capacity Project added 1.2 million TEUs of annual capacity by expanding container yard space at Garden City Terminal.

GPA also is conducting renovations to Berth 1 at Garden City and the significant expansion of container storage there. The Authority is establishing two large-ship berths at Savannah’s Ocean Terminal and renovating that 200-acre facility into an all-container terminal.

These projects will double Savannah’s capacity to handle 16,000-plus TEU vessels. The Savannah Transload Facility, slated to open at Garden City Terminal in July 2023, will speed the transition of cargo from containers to over-the-road delivery trucks.

“Our philosophy of maintaining capacity at least 20% over current demand allowed our terminals to keep cargo moving, despite unprecedented volumes over the past three years,” Pyron says, adding that the state’s transportation infrastructure improvements augment the GPA’s efforts.

“GPA has a strong partnership with the Georgia Department of Transportation, which is making major improvements to truck routes through Savannah, Atlanta, and other markets,” he says. “Direct access to Interstates 95 and 16 means truck cargo gets on the way to its destination without metro traffic congestion.”

Meanwhile, on-terminal rail at the Port of Savannah links to Georgia’s 4,600 miles of active rail lines, the largest rail network in the Southeast. GPA is now also providing domestic intermodal service through its Mason Mega Rail Terminal for 53-foot containers.

In addition, Georgia features a wealth of available near-port land that has aided aggressive investment within the third-party logistics sector.

IFS Freight: Simplifying Connections

Georgia’s ideal location puts it securely in the driver’s seat for transportation and logistics. “For the Southeast region, shippers can get their products the next day for the most part,” says Dan Witt, CEO of IFS Freight.

As the price of transportation assets such as tractors and trailers increases and availability decreases, IFS has implemented an improved preventive maintenance program so its fleet assets meet and exceed clients’ needs.

“We can transport anything or find the right carrier who can,” Witt says. “If you can’t find a carrier with enough capacity, we can ship it for you with our own trucks and carriers.”

In 2014, the company purchased its own transportation assets to help a client. That fleet has since grown to five tractor trailers, 16 tanker trailers, and three dry van trailers.

“IFS Freight connects you with the best carriers for less-than-truckoad (LTL), full truckload, or intermodal shipping,” Witt says. “We make LTL and full truckload simple, so you can focus on your business and not worry about logistics.”

Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, IFS Freight is part of the Atlanta metropolitan region. The company ships domestically across the United States and Canada through an expansive carrier network. Witt says IFS prides itself on customized solutions to reduce shipping costs and boost efficiency through multiple transport modes.

Beyond Rates

“Our team has direct experience working with different carriers in nearly every role,” he explains. “We understand firsthand how logistics works from an inside perspective.

“We’ve applied our extensive third-party logistics knowledge to create a superlative shipping experience,” Witt adds. “Our goals are simple—top-notch service and comprehensive long-haul, regional, and local shipping options that exceed expectations.”

IFS Freight opened its doors in 2005 with a goal to connect businesses with the best shipping rates from the industry’s best carriers. “Today, we still do just that,” Witt says.

“We’re more than just a logistics services provider,” he adds. “We’re problem solvers. We go beyond helping you find the best rate by solving your real business problems—even when the carriers can’t address your unique requirements. Our clients love us because we make their job easier.”

IFS Freight distinguishes itself as a unique Georgia logistics asset. “We provide a niche transportation service; we transport non-hazmat liquid bulk in tanker trailers,” Witt explains. “While we also provide dry van services, our core is in the tanker field.”

He is enthusiastic about the impact of electric vehicles (EVs) in logistics. “We provide trucking services within a 250-mile radius of Atlanta, so we are particularly interested in EVs,” he says.

The forward-looking focus is yet another way that logistics professionals in Georgia are leading the way for their peers.

“We offer more service options and savings opportunities every year,” Witt says.

Syfan Logistics: The Southern Way

Georgia’s value proposition in the logistics field is an extension of its way of life, according to Steve Syfan, executive vice president of Syfan Logistics.

“There’s something about Georgia,” he says. “Georgia has the right people. It’s that Southern hospitality. When we ask how you’re doing, we really mean it.”

That friendly and familial approach to business has worked well for Georgia and for Syfan Logistics, which remains a family company nearly four decades after it was founded by CEO Jim Syfan, Steve’s father. The senior Syfan worked in the transportation brokerage industry before launching his original company, Turbo Transport, in 1984 in Gainesville, Georgia.

Today, Syfan Logistics is an asset-based $450-million company with more than 450 employees. Yet the company’s leadership team—which also includes Steve’s brother Greg, who serves as company president—still holds its values as important as its value.

Company literature puts it this way: “Though we are a successful high-tech, multi-million-dollar corporation, Syfan Logistics remains a family business at heart—and an old-fashioned American success story. It’s our job to transport your cargo to its destination with zero complications—on time, every time, drama-free.”

Sales efforts are characterized by adherence to the mission. “Our philosophy is to find out what you need from us, not the other way around,” Steve says. “We strive to find out what our customers’ needs are and offer them a solution. By doing this we earn their trust and respect, which allows us the opportunity to grow a stronger relationship that will last.”

He credits Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp with setting a similar tone in state government’s relationship with business. He points out that Georgia was among the first states to reopen its workplaces when pandemic concerns began to ease. “I told the governor that he paused us, he didn’t shut us down,” Steve says.

Syfan Logistics took advantage of the opportunity to return employees to in-person work, but also recognized that employees’ personal costs were affected. “When they came back, so did their expenses—primarily food and fuel,” Steve says. “We compensated them for that.”

It was a demonstration of the culture that his father imbued the company with from the start. “My dad’s philosophy is to show it more than say it,” Steve says.

Expanding Into Drayage

The company further demonstrated its commitment to Georgia with its expansion into ocean drayage services, providing final-mile delivery of containers both ways between ports and Syfan’s carrier partners. The Syfan Ocean Dray Team has been building its operations since 2021 to provide greater convenience to shipping customers.

Another plus for Syfan’s entry into maritime services is the development of a new inland port for Northeast Georgia near Syfan’s headquarters in Gainesville. The company also has a new office in Savannah.

“We’re in a growth pattern,” Steve says. “We’re in the midst of doubling our office space.”

And initiatives such as an extensive paid internship program through regional colleges and universities continue to define the company’s commitment to its Georgia home. He lauds the state for playing its part by its diligence in maintaining and improving conditions for logistics professionals.

“The Georgia Department of Transportation stays on top of the interstate system and the needs of business,” he says. “The infrastructure is in place and Georgia is good at planning ahead.”

Atlanta Bonded Warehouse: Meeting Challenges

For all its assets, Georgia is not immune to the economic challenges facing every region of the country—and the businesses that operate within them—in an era when the only constant seems to be change.

In logistics as in other sectors, however, it helps that Georgia enjoys an economic climate that is the envy of the nation. The state continues its perennial occupancy of the top position on popular lists of the best states in which to do business.

Hal Justice, vice president of sales and operations for Atlanta Bonded Warehouse (ABW), says Georgia’s business-friendly environment is especially helpful to businesses struggling to attract and retain qualified workers.

“Georgia is doing everything that it can and should to get people to move here,” he says. “The state has done a terrific job in making Georgia attractive for business. We’re exceptionally pro-business.”

For logistics businesses like ABW—the Southeast’s leading provider of temperature-controlled and ambient warehousing, co-packaging, and LTL/TL transportation services—Georgia’s “very positive influx of new residents” helps soften some of the impact of labor shortages, he says.

LABOR PAINS

“I can speak for the whole industry, not just Atlanta and not just Georgia,” Justice says. “Everybody is dealing with the same pains. Number one is labor and number two is cost—the cost of labor and the cost of rent.”

ABW compensates its employees at the “higher end of the market,” yet the challenge of filling positions remains. “The gig economy has hit the logistics business,” he says, and the situation is aggravated by inflation. “We’re all subject to the same market forces. There’s a lot of hand-wringing over the economy.”

The bright side, Justice says, is that Georgia is coping as well or better with national economic challenges than other parts of the country. The major distribution markets of Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, as well as the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, are all experiencing the same challenges.

Forging Ahead

ABW has found that increased automation and an expansion of engineered standards—wherein workers’ time management is carefully measured—have enabled the company to maintain its history of success.

“Demand for storage capacity and warehouse services remains strong,” Justice says. “We focus on improving productivity, selective automation, and configuring our WMS (warehouse management system) to improve or streamline our internal workflows.”

For its WMS, ABW relies on Blue Yonder, a leader in digital supply chain transformations and omni-channel commerce fulfillment.
Through such efforts, Justice says, ABW has effectively dealt with the issues intrinsic to the “new normal” of logistics operations management. Likewise, these initiatives have enabled ABW to minimize price increases to its customers—an especially notable benefit in the food industry, where the effects of inflation have hit particularly hard.

With more than 70 years of third-party logistics experience, ABW remains a Georgia standout by offering clients a distinct competitive advantage through its singular focus on providing an optimal customer experience in the 3PL industry. Services include supply chain management and integrated warehouse management systems or proprietary systems provided by its customers.

ABW offers an additional asset: Colonial Cartage Corporation, an in-house carrier that provides comprehensive transportation services throughout the Southeast, Southwest, Midwest, and the Great Plains.

Taylored Services: Ability to Adapt

In uncertain times, Georgia’s logistics providers have demonstrated an exceptional ability to adapt. For Taylored Services, which marked its 30th anniversary in 2022 as a leader in 3PL warehouse, distribution, and fulfillment services, flexibility has been a key to success.

With both East Coast and West Coast locations, the company added new luster to Georgia’s logistics landscape in 2022 when it opened a new distribution site near the Port of Savannah.

Although the pandemic created challenges and caused a few shifts in the way the company operates, including an increased focus on digitalization driving enhanced efficiency and cost savings, Taylored Services has thrived.

In addition, demand for contactless delivery has increased significantly due to associated health and safety protocols. This has led Taylored Services to increase its use of virtual signatures and contactless delivery methods, and to focus more on technology to ensure timely and safe deliveries.

Companies providing logistics services have improved overall through their innovative responses to change. All companies have been forced to create more flexible and resilient supply chains in order to respond to changing customer demands and deliver high-quality products.

Taylored Services works with Georgia’s local and state government organizations to identify and utilize the best resources available to expand and improve the logistics capabilities of the state.

The company collaborates with regional partners to develop and execute initiatives that enhance and strengthen transportation, supply chain, and infrastructure networks. It also provides training and technical assistance to increase the capability and capacity of local logistics service providers.

Education and Innovation

Taylored Services has leveraged the expertise of the state’s technical college system and Georgia’s Department of Economic Development (GDEcD). Through the Georgia Quick Start program, the company was able to quickly onboard staff at the start of the pandemic, as well as help retrain existing staff to keep up with industry changes.

Moreover, Georgia’s Innovation Fund has been instrumental in providing additional capital for the company’s Logistics Computer and Software Upgrade project, completed in late 2020.

And the Logistics Certification Program offered by the GDEcD has provided a number of certifications to members of the company’s staff, allowing them to remain up to date on industry standards, regulations, and best practices.

For Taylored Services, Georgia is an ideal logistics location because it offers advantageous distribution networks, excellent infrastructure, convenient access to global markets, and the support of both a business-friendly environment and exceptional workforce development.

Taylored Services provides a variety of logistics services in Georgia, focusing on areas such as global logistics, regional trucking, dedicated regional truck fleets, and warehousing services. The company has invested heavily in innovation, including software and technology upgrades.

The 3PL has also invested in a new customer relationship management system to improve communication with customers and ensure improved customer service. In the near future the company will introduce a self-service portal enabling customers to access their accounts and make changes online.

SMC3: Whipsaw and Rebound

“The pandemic caused a whipsaw in demand and then supply, straining supply chains around the world,” says Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer of SMC³, a Georgia over-the-road data and solutions provider, optimizing freight transportation across the supply chain.

“But the logistics sector has risen to the challenge so that supply chains are now more diversified, connected, and resilient than prior to the pandemic,” he adds.

Headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Peachtree City, SMC³ has a unique perspective of logistics in Georgia. In conjunction with faculty at Georgia College & State University (GCSU), SMC³—a “one-stop knowledge hub of everything LTL”—developed an online educational curriculum and the only program that certifies LTL expertise.

The company produced the program in partnership with LogisticsTrainingCenter.com, headed by GCSU logistics professor Dr. Karl Manrodt. The LTL Online Education program offers five courses from the fundamentals of LTL to advanced topics like LTL business analytics.

Addressing Challenges and Opportunities

The pandemic’s effects have especially impacted e-commerce and digitization in the industry, Thompson says. More frequent, smaller shipments have become more common as fulfillment centers proliferated near population centers, and that has translated into stronger demand for LTL and parcel.

Tight capacity strongly affected carrier service performance in the LTL business. “This unpredictability in service intensified shipper interest in shipment visibility as they struggled to manage inventory,” he says. “The need to leverage the benefits of technology drove many shippers to seek solutions from 3PLs that already had access to advanced technology solutions.”

Despite a slowdown in LTL bid activity for the past three years, Thompson says, good news has returned.

“Pent-up demand and easing capacity in early 2023 resulted in increased interest from shippers to test market prices through formal bid events,” he says. SMC³ has bid technology that enables shippers to reach out to a broad set of providers for capacity and price offers through automation of the many components of the bid process.

Then there are the unique advantages of Georgia’s place on the map.

“Georgia offers tremendous infrastructure—from ports to roads to an international airport—that has attracted numerous high-quality freight carriers, manufacturers, logistics and transportation, and technology companies,” Thompson says. “Their presence ensures there are many partners within a geographically concentrated area with which to innovate and collaborate.”

As part of its corporate citizenship and community outreach initiatives, SMC³ partners with nonprofits and educational institutions around Atlanta to provide community assistance and work with young adults to educate them on the professional benefits of pursuing a career in logistics and supply chain.

In addition, SMC³ distinguishes itself as a particular Georgia logistics asset through its annual Jump Start conference in January. The conference brings together more than 600 key players and executives from across the country to meet, network, and learn from transportation industry experts.

SMC³ plans to continue developing integrations to connect shippers, logistics service providers, and their asset-based providers.

“There is a tremendous opportunity to increase proactive monitoring, automation, and leverage data to create solutions that result in savings and more effective management across the supply chain,” Thompson says. “Watch for SMC³, as a top-tier logistics data and technology provider, to continue innovating in this space with new solutions to be unveiled in 2023 and beyond.”

“Georgia offers tremendous infrastructure—from ports to roads to an international airport—that has attracted numerous high-quality freight carriers, manufacturers, logistics and transportation, and technology companies.”

-Brian Thompson
Chief Commercial Officer, SMC3

nVision Global: Worldwide Reach

More than just a North American logistics powerhouse, Georgia’s strength and reach extends around the world. That power is exemplified by the role of Atlanta-based nVision Global, a world leader in global freight management solutions and services.

The company specializes in freight audit and payment, order management, supplier management, visibility, TMS, and freight spend analytics. Its Impact TMS (transportation management system) platform allows clients to plan, organize, and manage their global shipments in one easy-to-use global solution.

In addition to its Atlanta headquarters, nVision has corporate offices strategically placed around the world. Locations include Costa Rica (Central America); Ningbo, China; Noida, India; Kolkata, India; Cluj, Romania; Maastricht, Netherlands; and Glasgow, Scotland.

Global Perspective

“While headquartered in Atlanta, we focus on global companies to partner with and that is why we have offices all over the world,” explains Stewart Dunsmore, nVision’s senior vice president, supply chain services.

That global perspective gives nVision a special appreciation for the unique assets of Georgia. Dunsmore cites the state’s centralized location for distribution and fulfillment; the advantages of its Charleston, Brunswick, and Savannah ports; and its geographical position as a “gateway to Florida.”

Furthermore, a major plus is access to Georgia’s array of top universities and supply chain professionals, including the Atlanta branch of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

“We have partnered with and financially support the local CSCMP chapter to help further their cause and to work with local supply chain professionals,” says Dunsmore, who adds that a past nVision executive served as the Atlanta chapter’s president.

One of the most significant changes in logistics that has occurred in recent years is an increased demand for visibility and tracking shipments in transit—a demand that can be satisfied by nVision’s Impact TMS. Companies are looking for more ways to save—with solutions provided by nVision’s freight audit, TMS and claims products.

nVision has adapted to the supply chain challenges of recent years with continuous TMS enhancements, enabling the processing of global parcel shipments, application programming interfaces (API) integrations with transportation providers and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms; customs integration and documentation capabilities; and an updated and enhanced business analytics platform, notes Dunsmore.

“We have refined our Transportation Management Solution for our global customers to ensure it has all the features they need to seamlessly integrate their internal systems, their suppliers, and all transportation providers into a single application,” Dunsmore says. “The TMS seamlessly integrates with our Global Freight Audit & Payment platform as well.”

The company’s stature throughout the world is enhanced by its Georgia home, he says. “With so many large corporations, we are able to target them as potential customers,” Dunsmore says, adding that each region of the world requires familiarity and expertise.

“We have spent more than 30 years designing and developing some of the best solutions worldwide to address global freight management,” he says. “Our global infrastructure gives us the ability to manage global supply chains utilizing our global control towers within the regions.”

“While headquartered in Atlanta, we focus on global companies to partner with and that is why we have offices
all over the world.

We have refined our Transportation Management Solution
for our global customers.”

-Stewart Dunsmore
Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Services, nVision Global

JIT Warehousing & Logistics: Family and Future

When all is said and done, it is the job of logistics professionals to get your cargo from here to there seamlessly and with as few detours as possible. That does not mean there are no twists and turns along the way, but a quality logistics provider makes the needed adjustments without interrupting the flow.

Georgia’s logistics professionals get it. And they lead the way in making the adjustments necessitated by supply chain challenges that have caused so much disarray elsewhere.

Savannah-based JIT Warehousing & Logistics serves as a prominent example. As the company’s name implies, JIT’s mission is to deliver just-in-time service to its clients.

Vice President Anna Lockwood cites the driver and labor shortages that have bedeviled the industry as a primary challenge that the pros have taken in stride. Offering competitive wages and incentives has been key to maintaining JIT’s quality service and labor.

“We’ve grown our over-dimensional division with an additional crane yard and added trucks and specialized trailers and equipment,” she adds.

JIT responded to meet a surge of imports. While the surge has now ebbed, she says, the issue was the catalyst for a long-lasting benefit: “We grew to accommodate and then, when the influx leveled off, we have maintained diversity to keep that growth,” Lockwood says.

Like many Georgia logistics firms, JIT is a family business. Other family members include President and Founder Ben Goldberg, Executive Vice President Evelyn Goldberg-Davis, and Vice President Trevor Lockwood.

The company has been in operation for more than three decades and enjoys both the literal—it is located just a half mile from the GPA’s Ocean Terminal and about 3.5 miles from the Garden City Terminal—as well as historical advantages of its deep roots in the logistics state.

At the same time, JIT keeps its vision on the future. “We have explored using CNG trucks and now have five in our fleet,” Lockwood says, adding that some of the older diesel-consuming trucks have been traded in to make way for the more modern vehicles.

JIT also is building an additional 240,000-square-foot Norfolk Southern-served rail facility to handle more export commodities.

In addition to operating facilities on the Norfolk Southern rail line, JIT maintains several other Savannah locations offering more than 750,000 square feet of warehouse space.

JIT is exploring strategies to keep the business robust regardless of whatever economic challenges—pandemic-related or not—that may place obstacles in the road down the line. “JIT is finding additional avenues to maintain business with importers through not only our local terminal but also through other terminals back to our local facilities,” , Lockwood says.

“Due to our variety and capabilities, we are a first call for problem solving for many of the lines and entities that work alongside the GPA,” she says.

It is precisely this level of cooperation and collaboration that keeps logistics as a constant Georgia state of mind.

“The critical location factors for manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution are different and will become more so as integrated digital manufacturing operations technologies develop and as warehousing and distribution activities become close to fully automated,” says Edward (Ned) Hill, professor of economic development and senior research associate for the Ohio Manufacturing Institute at Ohio State University.

“Critical location factors are financial and resource considerations that dominate location searches,” adds Hill, who has done extensive research on best practices in site selection as well as issues involving state and local economic development.

Sharpening Your Focus

When choosing the ideal spot for your logistics facility, the individuals and teams leading the charge must be prepared to sharpen their pencils.

“Locating a facility remains a data-driven financial spreadsheet exercise subject to a series of must-have site-specific factors,” Hill says. “Locational decisions often take on a North American focus, rather than a purely U.S. focus.

“Since the population centers of Canada are stretched along the border, many distributors are including those markets in their analysis,” he adds. “Similarly, companies that service manufacturing operations in Mexico need to consider how those customers will be served.”

Geography, workforce quality, and regional educational assets as well as the advantages—and sometimes incentives—offered by government and local utilities all play a part in the decision-making.

If the task is to relocate an existing facility, companies can benchmark prospective locations against the current site.

“The team can see how marginal investments in current sites can recalibrate the benchmark,” Hill says. “It does not surprise me that marginal investments in either the current site or current market area can outperform new sites because the comparison is between marginal cost investments versus total cost.

“The exceptions are expansions to accommodate new growth or when the existing site has become toxic for some reason,” he adds.

Who’s in Charge?

As in all aspects of business, a key consideration in site selection is leadership: Has the company put together its site-location team and who will head it?

“Often the search is influenced by the job of the person who heads the effort,” Hill says. “Not surprisingly, chief financial officers pay more attention to rates of return, while those with production responsibilities focus on resource availability and the current pain points in operations.”

Regardless of functional bias, the journey begins in the same place. “You start with data—lots and lots of data,” Hill says. And questions—lots and lots of questions. (See sidebar below.)

General critical location factors include whether the new site is shovel-ready or close to move-in ready.

It’s also important to determine if the state or economic development authority serving the area has a certified site program to ensure the site meets requirements such as whether it is in an updated flood zone; has the appropriate zoning; utilities are in place; there is room for expansion; and whether the area enjoys business-friendly public officials, building inspectors, and approval processes.

Funneling Information

“Site selection is a funnel,” Hill notes. “Think of the search process as taking part in three phases. The first phase is internal with the search team, possibly aided by a consultant. At this stage, information is sifted with the goal of identifying the regions that the search will focus on.”

In this phase, the team defines the elements of success and the critical location factors to be considered.

The second phase, he says, is outward-focused. The team begins to search commercial real estate and economic-development organization data to identify potential sites. The third phase is site analysis, where the team conducts comparative site-specific cost analyses and investigates the feasibility of specific sites.

In the logistics field, Hill says, “location, location, location” boils down to “access, access, access—then operating cost.”
Some long-established sites and services stand ready to help in that analysis, and electrify your search for the ideal location.

Hoosier Energy: Power to Succeed

Eager to help companies find their sweet spot amid the galaxy of logistics stars in Hoosier Country is Hoosier Energy, an electric generation and transmission (G&T) cooperative based in Bloomington, Indiana.

Owned by 18 Rural Electric Member Cooperatives (REMCs), Hoosier Energy serves 760,000 member consumers in 59 Indiana counties in central and southern Indiana and southeast Illinois.

The region is crisscrossed by five interstate highways (I-70, I-64, I-65, I-69, I-74) with direct access to the FedEx hub in Indianapolis and the UPS hub in Louisville. The territory also includes extensive railroad transportation options and access to multiple inland ports.

“The Hoosier Energy Economic Development Team works with individual companies to develop custom solutions to meet their current and future electric needs should they be facility or transportation-related,” says Hoosier Energy Economic Development Manager Jeremy Sowders, who is a certified economic developer (CEcD).

The economic development team works with and supports state, regional, and local economic development organizations to identify and develop new potential sites near logistics assets.

In addition, Hoosier Energy assists companies in their exploration of power-related methods to economize and improve their operations, such as the use of electric vehicles (EVs).

“As EVs become increasingly important, we work with the consumer to identify the most appropriate way for them to meet their transportation goals,” Sowders says.

“As a nonprofit cooperative, our rate structures allow us flexibility to quickly and efficiently make decisions related to large projects with tight timelines,” Sowders adds. “This flexibility includes developing special contracts for specific projects that meet a company’s corporate carbon goals, including providing up to 100% of their energy needs through renewable resources.”

Meeting Evolving Needs

Together with member systems, Hoosier Energy provides reliable and affordable energy and member-driven services to meet evolving and different needs safely and sustainably, guided by cooperative principles that include democratic member control and commitment to environmental and community concerns.

“As part of Hoosier Energy’s long-range resource plan, we are going through a major power production transition with the proposed sale of our 1,000-megawatt coal-fired Merom Generating Station in 2022,” Sowders says.

“Upon completion, this will dramatically change our energy portfolio and decrease our carbon footprint by shifting toward more renewable energy resources, purchased power, and a variety of natural gas generation,” he says.

The organization’s 2021 annual report included an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) update. ESG is a framework designed to be integrated into an organization’s strategy. It creates enterprise value by expanding organizational objectives to include identifying, assessing, and managing sustainability-related risks and opportunities for all stakeholders and the environment.

“We work every day to make a better life for our member communities,” Sowders says. “As the energy transition evolves, we will continue to seek innovative ways to provide economical, reliable, and socially responsible electricity that meets the energy needs of end consumers.”

CLX Logistics: Taking a Worldview

CLX Logistics has a truly global perspective on great logistics sites and services. “We ship all over the world and we import from all over the world,” says Stephen Hamilton, Jr., vice president of ChemLogix Global, a subsidiary of CLX Logistics.

CLX is a global third-party logistics (3PL) and fourth-party logistics (4PL) provider of chemical transportation management solutions, supply chain consulting, and intermodal transportation. In addition to locations in Philadelphia and Chicago, CLX maintains a European presence with offices in the Netherlands. The company also plans to open a new office in Houston by the end of 2022.

Hamilton’s personal expertise lies in intermodal logistics. “That’s where I’ve spent my life,” he says, adding that he previously worked for both Conrail and Norfolk Southern.

“Intermodal is my bailiwick,” he adds. “As I like to say, I’ve been working for, with, and against the railroads for the past 30 years.”

In the intermodal arena, CLX primarily serves North America—Canada, Mexico, and the continental United States as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
Asked to name the most important factor businesses should consider in choosing a location for a manufacturing facility, warehouse, or distribution center, Hamilton cites accessibility to rail lines. “That’s critical,” he says.

This is especially true during periods when rail and/or truck capacity is limited. “Over these past 18 months, truck capacity has been a real problem,” he says. “And the way we’ve been able to mitigate that for customers is by providing intermodal service. It’s a lot easier to send drivers to a local dray than it is to find drivers who are willing to drive a few thousand miles and be away from their family for a few weeks.”

Creating Economic Value

CLX prides itself on providing superior service and cost efficiencies. “We create economic value through people, process, and technology,” Hamilton says.

An important part of that formula is the deployment of a global transportation management system (TMS) designed for chemical shippers. “The mantra we use is that whenever we talk about customers, we try to bring economic value and look for continuous improvement opportunities,” he notes.

Toward that end, the company’s involvement abroad has been instructive.

“Logistics in Europe, Asia, and South America are extremely different from what we deal with in the United States,” he says. “It’s important to understand when it’s appropriate to bring what we’ve learned in the United States to these places, and also when it’s appropriate to recognize that what we do in the United States will not work in Germany or Korea, for example.”

Many of these international differences are regulatory, but Hamilton cites cultural differences as well, such as differences in the way truck drivers are treated.

It’s an important lesson that has carried over into the company’s operations in the United States. “Our approach has to be different in every region as we find efficiencies and savings for our customers,” he says.

Regardless of locale, CLX is known for providing white-glove service. “We provide all our services in a white-glove fashion,” Hamilton says. “We’re a fairly flat organization, so customers get a lot of exposure to upper management, including the CEO.”

Watson Land Company: Choice Properties

Location and choice serve as the hallmarks of Watson Land Company, a developer, owner, and manager of industrial properties throughout Southern California and the East Coast.

With more than 23 million square feet of warehouse and distribution facilities throughout the South Bay of Los Angeles, the Inland Empire (a metropolitan region that lies adjacent to Los Angeles), and the East Coast, Watson’s buildings are designed and located to improve companies’ supply chains as well as their distribution and warehousing operations.

Watson’s properties include 13 master-planned communities in California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Sites are positioned for proximity to seaports, airports, highway systems, and rail lines. Many feature Class A industrial buildings and cross-dock warehouse distribution amenities.

Watson’s Inland Empire sites are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of companies and logistics operations that are drawn to the region as it further develops into the industrial location of choice.

Watson Center, Redlands, for example, lies in the heart of an area dedicated to industrial use and is ideally positioned along Interstate 10.

The site provides an abundance of prime access to the 210 and 215 freeways as well as additional transportation centers including San Bernardino International Airport, Ontario Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In addition, there is easy access to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific rail lines.

Meanwhile, Watson Commerce Center, Fontana, features 652,174 square feet of industrial space on 32 acres within San Bernardino County, a distribution magnet in Southern California. With private parking lots exclusively for tenants, Watson Commerce Center, Fontana, fronts Interstate 10 and is close to the 15, 210, and 215 freeways. The site is within 50 miles of the Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific.

Taking the LEED

Totaling 3,680,000 square feet within 60 acres, Watson Commerce Center, Chino, is the first industrial project in Southern California to target LEED® certification, and four of its buildings have been certified Gold for New Construction.

The site features Class A offices and mezzanines with abundant clerestory glass and skylights for maximum natural light as well as 36-foot minimum clear heights, large fenced concrete truck yards, and 7-inch reinforced floor slab.

In Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, West Hills Business Center boasts two Watson-owned buildings that feature an abundance of sustainable warehouse space. The site offers proximity to several large metropolitan cities including New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore.

As part of its ongoing East Coast expansion, Watson has announced its latest acquisition in New Jersey. Located in East Greenwich Township, this logistics center offers two warehouse buildings totaling 535,790 square feet, including Class A design features, clear heights of 36 feet, and abundant dock high positions.

Strategically positioned within the Northeast Distribution Corridor, this state-of-the-art industrial park offers easy access to the Ports of New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, as well as the Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport.

Port Tampa Bay: Smooth Sailing

Fundamental to site selection for logistics purposes is access to transportation routes, not only of the air and land variety, but also sea. Case in point: Port Tampa Bay, which offers the added advantage of easy transfers from one transportation mode to another.

“Port Tampa Bay is perfectly positioned to serve not only as the most efficient gateway to the huge and expanding Florida market, but to also reach customers throughout the Southeast and beyond by taking advantage of attractive northbound backhaul trucking rates,” says Raul Alfonso, the port’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer.

As the closest port to the growing Tampa/Orlando I-4 Corridor, Port Tampa Bay’s location allows for multiple round-trip deliveries per day from roadway to waterway. “This capability reduces trucking costs and empty trucks on the road, providing numerous economic and environmental benefits,” Alfonso says.
Port Tampa Bay also serves as the closest port to Florida’s hub for the grocery and food and beverage sector.

“Our partner Port Logistics Refrigerated Services developed a state-of-the-art 135,000-square-foot cold storage warehouse, with 148 reefer plugs, and fumigation services, as well as an adjacent berth served by two dedicated mobile harbor cranes,” Alfonso says.

Moreover, the port’s ideal location provides shippers all the logistics assets of Florida’s Distribution Hub with more than 400 million square feet of distribution center capacity.

Florida now has the 15th largest economy in the world and is one of the fastest-growing states in the country. The state’s rapidly expanding population has overtaken New York, making it the third-largest state in the United States.

“Importers and exporters who support this huge consumer market are demanding a Florida-first supply chain strategy with expanded direct ocean container services,” Alfonso says.

Hot Market With Ample Room For Growth

Home to nearly half of the state’s 22 million residents and welcoming most of the state’s more than 125 million visitors each year, the Central Florida region is one of the hottest industrial real estate markets in the country.

Of particular interest to site-selection teams is the region’s room for growth.

“Port Tampa Bay is blessed to have plenty of land for expansion and stands ready to welcome new business and serve as a supply chain alternative and solution,” Alfonso says. Port Tampa Bay’s container volume has increased by 18% over the past year, he adds.

“Our port has easily accommodated this growth by staying ahead of the curve thanks to our terminal build-out program and working closely with our terminal operator partner Ports America by aggressively expanding capacity,” he reports.

As a result, berth calls at Port Tampa Bay are smooth and efficient.

“Importers and exporters experience no waiting or congestion,” Alfonso says. “Together with Ports America, the port has recently doubled its paved storage area, constructing a new gate complex. And we expect to receive three additional container gantry cranes later in 2022.”

The new cranes will be operational by early 2023. The port also will soon break ground on a new on-dock transload warehouse, he reports.

Site Search Checklist

Jolt your location quest by answering these questions, says Ohio State University Prof. Edward (Ned) Hill:

• Is your company using a site-location consultant or is the search being done in-house?
• How does your company account for real estate and does it want fixed assets on its books or not? If the company is privately held, how are the firm’s real estate holdings structured?
• Is the search strategic or tactical? If it is a “fire drill” to solve an immediate production or space problem, the company runs a greater risk of “sub-optimizing” (a polite term for making the wrong choice). If it is strategic, make sure the entire team understands the goals.
• Has your company implemented lean management across the organization and is the search part of lean optimization?
• Is your company clear on the purposes of the proposed facility? Or another way of asking this question is: What is the problem that will be solved or the opportunity that is being addressed? The use determines the search, and clarity on the use will save time and money.
• Is your company currently using outsourced providers to fulfill the function? Should the function be reintegrated? If the function is integrated, does it provide some form of competitive advantage? If so, what is it?

Once you identify potential locations, explore these three critical areas:

• Taxes. How expensive are the taxes to your company and to its employees? What are the services provided in return? How important are those services to the company or to its employees?
• Quality of life. Does the location have the quality-of-life attributes your company seeks? Specific quality-of-life factors are important to specific demographic groups who are target employees. These can include housing availability and cost, education, recreation, childcare, and other social services.
• Business services. Does the region have service providers that are critical to the firm’s operations?

To support companies looking to reshore manufacturing and supply to keep business from cratering, the U.S. Administration floated initiatives in February 2022 aimed at encouraging the reshoring trend. Mandating where private companies source and manufacture products is difficult even with a mix of incentives—subsidies, tax breaks, loan-guarantees and funding for R&D—to encourage them to bolster domestic supply chains.

But government efforts to spur reshoring are exactly wrong, say some global trade deep thinkers, especially considering that national policy created more headwinds in the past two years despite the incentives. For starters, there’s an anti-transportation and manufacturing energy policy. Add overall inflation and dramatically rising domestic costs for manufacturing. Tax rates are not going down, either. Is an activist U.S. government intent on more regulations? Ya think? How about green policy costs? High over here, very low, if at all, over there. Then there’s the labor issue, if you can get enough skilled workers.

Logistics thrives in Georgia, Wilson says, because leaders have long understood that logistics is the art and science of making connections. Under the leadership of Gov. Brian Kemp, Wilson’s department is charged with the responsibility of linking the state’s assets to form what Wilson describes as a “logistics juggernaut.”

In addition to the state’s geographic, economic, education, and infrastructure advantages, the most vital links in the supply chain are Georgians themselves. Wilson tells the story of a CEO who made a site-selection visit to the state. After deciding to locate in Georgia, the CEO said what impressed him most was the familiarity business and political leaders had with one another.

“Everybody in that room knew each other,” Wilson quotes the CEO as saying after meeting with business and government leaders. It was, the executive said, an experience unlike any other.

Site-selection experts often teach the lesson: In order for a location to attract business, it first must be somewhere that people want to live. For both business and pleasure, that requires great schools, great services, and an environment of hospitality, cooperation, and mutual support.

It all comes down to connections. And in Georgia, those connections often begin at the GDEcD. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is being a one-stop shop for companies,” Wilson says. “We are the connection. We help leverage all the resources. That’s our place in the model.”

“All the resources” include technical colleges, universities, and local partners such as utilities, in addition to the state’s ports, airports, rail lines, roads, and highways.

The GDEcD’s Global Commerce team focuses on helping companies of all sizes, industries and regions—from Georgia and from across the globe—make the connections they need to ensure their businesses flourish in the Peach State.

Rapid Response

To achieve that goal, external problems must be dealt with promptly and effectively. In March 2020, for example, Gov. Kemp called on businesses to assist in providing necessary medical resources in the wake of the pandemic.

The Global Commerce team continues to help Wilson’s department spearhead this effort along with the department’s Center of Innovation by connecting with manufacturers, small businesses, and innovators from across the state to produce, store, and distribute critical healthcare supplies.

“The response that our team has received from our partners has been remarkable,” Wilson says. Across responsibilities—including international trade—the GDEcD team has helped companies pivot from their original strategies, source raw materials for their retooled production, and navigate new protocols for health, safety, and sustainability.

Locales as diverse as China, Brazil, and Canada have provided direct aid and support while continuing to work with the state government to keep their Georgia-based employees safe and productive.

The Center’s specialty is drilling down to the details and linking new and expanding businesses to staff experts and external partners and to independent mentors who can help spark inspired solutions for challenges and opportunities of any size.

The Center identifies “touch points” for businesses, including private sector partners, says Wilson. All services are free of charge. The Center’s logistics team helps companies improve supply chain efficiencies, support growth, and increase global competitiveness. It connects companies to the technical industry expertise, collaborative research, and partnerships that cargo-owning companies need.

Long-term Support

Not only does the state government pride itself on recruiting businesses to Georgia and providing assistance in times of urgent need, but it also is structured to provide long-term support “once a company lands in Georgia,” Wilson says.

“If you are employing Georgians, we are going to work with you as you continue to grow,” he says. “You have become part of the Georgia family of companies.”

That ongoing sense of community and partnership is “truly a differentiator for the state,” he says. “That’s what sets Georgia apart.” Georgia seeks to be a place where people want to “live, work, play, and enjoy their lives,” he adds.

“For 150 years, the reason the economy has boomed in Georgia is logistics,” Wilson says. “Throughout our history, we’ve had governors and General Assemblies that have made investment in logistics a priority.”

The state’s logistics assets reflect these efforts:

• Two international airports—Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta and Savannah/Hilton Head—and nine of the top 10 cargo airlines in the world.
• Both of the Eastern U.S. Class I railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, along with 24 short-line railroads.
• Two deep-water ports, Savannah—the fastest-growing port in the United States—and Brunswick.
• Six U.S. interstates—1,200 miles of highway—connecting shippers to 80% of the country in two days or less driving time.

Superior Ports

Prominent among Georgia’s logistics assets is the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA), a major driver of jobs and business opportunities in the state. Georgia’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support some 500,000 jobs and contribute $29 billion in income annually in Georgia. The ports generate $122 billion in revenue and $3.4 billion in state and local taxes.

The Port of Savannah handled 9.3% of total U.S. containerized cargo volume and 10.5% of all U.S. containerized exports in the 2020 fiscal year, GPA reports. Behind those numbers is an impressive record of service.

“GPA provides greater scheduling flexibility and market reach through Savannah, with 35 weekly containership services, direct interstate connections, and on-terminal rail,” explains GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “Intermodal service is provided by Class I railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern.

“The Port of Savannah is closest and fastest by rail to the major population centers of Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte, Huntsville, and Birmingham,” he adds. “On-terminal service from two Class I railroads means more schedule and routing choices.”

A major expansion project, the Mason Mega Rail Terminal, has increased the Port of Savannah’s rail lift capacity to 2 million TEUs per year, Lynch reports.

As the most westerly major container port on the U.S. East Coast, Savannah is poised to take advantage of its broad global shipping network and enhanced rail capacity to provide expanded intermodal service to major inland markets. This stronger rail link will provide customers a new opportunity to take advantage of Savannah’s timely, reliable terminal services.

Additionally, the Port of Savannah enjoys superior truck connections. Immediate access to I-16 (East/West) and I-95 (North/South) means key cities and manufacturing points throughout the U.S. Southeast and Midwest may be reached within a one- to two-day drive.

Responsiveness to Change

Lynch says the increasing role of digitalization in shipping has strongly affected GPA’s approach to its work.

“Traditionally, the data used by the terminal operator is inclusive of the waterside operations, and lacking on the landside,” he says. “GPA strives to improve the sharing of data and knowledge with the landside operations to improve the flow of cargo from berth to store.

“This is a pioneering effort, not standardized, and is gaining traction every day,” Lynch adds.

For those considering moving to or expanding within Georgia, the state provides a series of job tax credits, including special enhancements for port-using industries. Additionally, there is ample land available near Georgia’s port facilities and rail hubs to ensure the efficient movement of manufacturing components and finished goods.

Lynch describes the state’s Quick Start program, which provides targeted workforce training, as a national model. Quick Start develops and delivers fully customized, strategic workforce solutions for qualified companies investing in Georgia.

Quick Start helps companies assess, select, and train new hires. Services are provided free of charge as a discretionary incentive for job creation for clients opening or expanding manufacturing operations, distribution centers, headquarters operations, and customer contact centers in a broad range of industries.

GPA grew its workforce by 145 employees in 2021. Lynch says the increase is due in part to Y.E.S., a workforce development program aimed at career-ready high school seniors, launched by GPA in early 2019.

The program, which has accepted 26 students to date, has been so successful that GPA recently expanded the Youth Learning Equipment and Safety/Youth Elevating their Skills and Training program, now known as Y.E.S.+

The initiative previously focused on terminal operations and maintenance positions, but Y.E.S.+ will begin including other departments such as finance and human resources when the 2022 program kicks off in August.

Partners in Growth

Connectivity and communication go hand-in-hand in the supply chain, and the state’s emphasis on forging strong links all along the way is a vital factor in Georgia’s logistics success. Nowhere is this aspect of Georgia’s logistics leadership more evident than the links that exist with its ports.

“The people we deal with at the Georgia Ports Authority are always on their game,” says Hal Justice, vice president of sales and operations for Atlanta Bonded Warehouse (ABW), a long-time provider of temperature-controlled and ambient warehousing, co-packaging, and LTL/TL transportation services.

National and international logjams made the past two years particularly challenging for logistics providers, Justice acknowledges. But, he says, timely, open, and reliable communication helped minimize the stress of short inventory and limited flexibility in outbound transportation.

“Our contacts at the port are very upfront, very responsive,” Justice says. “They give us the facts-on-the-ground so we can communicate expectations accurately to our customers.”

The experience is typical of the cooperation that exists among the key links in Georgia’s supply chain. “We rely a lot on drayage from the port,” he says. “The drayage carriers and railroads were responsive. Everybody was working to fix the problems. Everybody put a shoulder into it.”

This positive logistics environment contributed to another year of growth for ABW, which annually handles more than 700 million cases and 9.4 million pallets across 6.4 million square feet of space from 15 facilities across the Southeast and Southwest.

“We added a lot of business in the back half of the year,” Justice says, “and our throughput volumes were up more than 14% over 2020. This increase was in spite of short inventories.”

The continued record of growth is especially remarkable in light of the unpredictable nature of 2021’s inventory needs, stretched transportation resources, and evolving health regulations brought about by the pandemic.

“To say that 2021 was a challenge would be an understatement,” Justice says. “Some customers had no issues with getting us inventory but those were the exception, not the rule.”

Rising to the Challenge

Employment challenges likewise complicated matters, but Georgia employers such as ABW rose to meet those challenges.

“We have never seen a year quite like last year for scheduling labor on top of finding, recruiting, and retaining a skilled workforce,” Justice says, adding that ABW emphasized—and continues to emphasize—the importance of maintaining a skilled workforce whose primary focus is serving the customer.

Among other things, competitive wages figured prominently in the solution. “If you don’t have enough applications to cover your growth and turnover, you are not offering a competitive starting and mature wage,” he says.

Finding solutions, in turn, contributed mightily to Georgia’s ability to maintain its status as a standout on the national logistics landscape by distinguishing the state from other regions of the country. “We had several large customers shift out-of-region volume to us in spite of a transportation penalty simply because we could handle their orders,” Justice says. “It was difficult, but we have a great operations team who figured out a way to handle the volume.”

Plentiful Resources

As its name suggests, nVision Global Technology Solutions takes a world view of logistics. From its perspective, Georgia is more than just a peach—it is a veritable orchard of logistics resources. And to keep the crops growing, water is as essential as the sun.

“Georgia continues to thrive in the supply chain,” says Stewart Dunsmore, senior vice president, supply chain services, at nVision Global. “This is driven by many activities such as the Savannah Port providing more access for larger vessels and additional open space for volume.

“Also, many shippers have made Georgia home for both corporate offices and logistics operations along with the distribution facilities required to support their growth in the Southeast and up and down the Eastern Seaboard,” Dunsmore says.

Georgia seaports have long been considered to be among the top ports in the United States, serving as gateways to the world. But, Dunsmore says, there’s more to the state’s “liquid assets” than just that: “Georgia has inland ports as well,” he points out. “Atlanta is one of the largest ports for both rail and air activity. Additionally, Georgia has a very extensive Foreign Trade Zone network throughout the state.”

As a world leader in end-to-end order management, nVision Global also enjoys a unique perspective on the progress achieved through supply chain digitalization.

“We have spent more than 30 years designing and developing some of the best solutions worldwide to address global freight management,” Dunsmore says. “Today, in the world of ‘digital order management,’ the old manual processes that were previously involved with global logistics have been replaced with a faster and more efficient digital approach.

“Our solutions provide customers with a frictionless experience to quickly deploy and evolve configurable technology solutions around their constantly changing requirements,” he adds.

All of this translates into enabling nVision’s customers to leverage the company’s cloud-based order-management platform, real-time intelligence tools, and customizable reporting to manage their day-to-day supply and demand chain activity.

“Our customers rely on this technology across every aspect of their business to ensure they deliver for their customers,” Dunsmore says. “Our global spend management solutions are built upon the cornerstone of our technology services—our pricing, rating, and auditing technology. These tools drive our worldwide robust freight auditing services.”

The company’s proprietary freight audit and payment technology is the most advanced in the market, according to Keith Snavely, nVision’s senior vice president, global sales and marketing. “Our solutions are built on Microsoft DNA, our web portals are user-friendly and focus on real-time visibility and transparency,” he says, adding that new system updates are released monthly.

The financial return for freight audit goes well beyond the errors identified during the audit process. “As it relates to freight audit and spend management, the potential savings are hidden in the details,” Snavely says. “Something might seem simple at a first look, but upon further analysis with comprehensive spend management solutions, our customers maximize their returns. Freight audit and payment is just the first step in global transportation spend management.”

Snavely says nVision’s extensive experience in transportation and logistics provides the company with a comprehensive understanding of all the peculiarities of freight invoice data.

“It helps us to understand how to harmonize charge items as well as global origin and destination data,” he says. “Our analytical tools are optimized to deliver detailed insights on specific line-item charges, freight, shipments, and much more.”

Thinking Ahead

The rapid changes and ever-increasing demands in today’s logistics marketplace require logistics providers to keep pace with—and anticipate—growth as never before. Fortunately, forward thinking is yet another way in which the state’s logistics providers have contributed to the state’s leadership in the industry.

Case in point: JIT Warehousing & Logistics, a Georgia family business with more than three decades of experience in the import/export field.

Located just a half mile from the GPA’s Ocean Terminal and about 3.5 miles from the Garden City Terminal, JIT—which stands for Just In Time—provides warehousing, trucking, shipside delivery, port pickup, container drayage, stripping, stuffing, cross-docking, and over dimensional/crane services. The company’s over-dimensional division includes local road escort, rigging, cargo transfer on and off flat racks, securement to line requirements, and additional specialized trailers for heavy haul.

In response to increasing demand, JIT is now expanding both its vehicle fleet and its facilities. “We are expanding our over dimensional department,” reports Ben Goldberg, company president. “We’ve added a new heavy-haul truck and three heavy-haul trailers. We’ve also opened a second yard to service import and export over dimensional loads.”

Goldberg says JIT is putting a crane at its second Savannah heavy lift facility, enabling the project cargo division to handle heavier lifts at both yards.

Trevor Lockwood, JIT’s vice president, project cargo, says the new equipment will enable JIT to significantly increase its capacity to assist importers and exporters with their project cargo needs.

Additionally, the company is breaking ground on a new 226,000-square-foot rail facility to service cargo to and from Norfolk Southern. JIT operates facilities on the Norfolk Southern rail line, in addition to several other Savannah locations, offering more than 750,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The fleet and warehousing footprint expansions coincide with the GPA’s port expansions. “We’re excited about bringing online our new warehouse with Norfolk Southern rail line,” says Evelyn Goldberg-Davis, JIT’s executive vice president. The company is working with Norfolk Southern to transload more boxcars to ocean containers and ocean containers to boxcars.

“With additional trucks and company-owned chassis, our container volumes continue to increase,” notes Anna Lockwood, vice president.

The company’s driver dispatch software links with the port authority system for continual container updates. “Due to our variety and capabilities, we are a first call for problem solving for many of the lines and entities that work alongside the GPA,” she says.

For company founder and patriarch Ben Goldberg, it all adds up to maintaining the company’s place as a star on Georgia’s logistics crown. “I’m very proud of our family’s roots in Georgia,” he says. “And you can be sure we will continue to study our assets to stay ahead of the curve.”

Anticipating Needs

The exchange of data between various heterogeneous systems is a major challenge for logistics, says Steve Syfan, executive vice president of Syfan Logistics. Located some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gainesville, Syfan is a full-scale, asset-based logistics management company and a well-recognized logistics leader in Georgia.

“We have been developing a digital footprint that places us in a strategic position to rapidly handle these challenges,” Steve Syfan says. “Leveraging relationships with technology partners inside and outside the logistics space allows Syfan to think outside the box and provide creative solutions to industry issues.”

Syfan believes Georgia’s technology infrastructure is one of the most redundant and robust of any state. The Atlanta region, he points out, is the hub for several large carriers and service providers.

“The state has always placed an importance on economic development, which attracts businesses to the state and creates an environment for existing businesses to grow,” Syfan says, adding that Syfan Logistics distinguishes itself as a particular Georgia logistics asset in part through the broad reach of its offerings.

Cultivating Solutions

“Syfan is diversified with a network of services to provide much more flexibility in addressing virtually any need of a shipping customer—from third-party brokerage representing thousands of carrier partners to its own fleet of trucks for dedicated loads or filling in gaps,” he says.

“Syfan also has a sister company that provides terminal tractors and trailers for fleet leasing or new sales to warehousing and distribution customers,” Syfan adds.

He says Syfan Logistics embraces technology “not as the driving force of logistics, but as a tool to extend the services offered to partners, and act as an advocate for the industry’s digital transformation.”

Like allbusinesses, logistics has been impacted by nationwide employmentchallenges. One way Syfan copes with the challenge of finding sufficient qualifiedworkers is to tap into the state’s rich logistics education assets.

“To meet our region’s need for a professional logistics workforce, our company is proud to partner with the University of North Georgia in nearby Dahlonega to create the area’s first supply chain academic curriculum and logistics laboratory,” Syfan says. “We are always looking for innovative ways to build a larger pool of quality professional candidates for our industry and our growing company. We believe this collaboration with UNG will expose many more students to career opportunities in logistics, helping them while building an even stronger workforce in our backyard of Northeast Georgia.”

Syfan has an extensive internship program that exposes potential team members to the industry. Company CEO Jim Syfan, who worked with the University of North Georgia on this project, was recently appointed by Gov. Kemp to the University Systems of Georgia Board of Regents.

Meanwhile, Steve Syfan, who serves on the board of directors for the GDEcD, looks forward to the planned 104-acre Northeast Georgia Inland Port, set for completion in 2024. The inland port will provide a direct link to the Port of Savannah via Norfolk Southern.

Providing Proven Expertise

Georgia’s infrastructure advantages certainly are key elements of the state’s logistics success. “Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the Port of Savannah remain tremendous assets for Georgia logistics,” says Brian Thompson, chief commercial officer for SMC³.

But expertise and innovation are equally vital. As a leading provider of logistics intelligence solutions, SMC³ plays a critical role in facilitating high-speed, electronic communication between carriers, shippers, and third-party logistics providers across North America. With corporate headquarters in the Atlanta suburb of Peachtree City, SMC³ enjoys a solid track record of pushing the LTL industry forward for more than 85 years.

“Georgia is a top state for doing business,” says Thompson. “It has nationally ranked infrastructure and IT operations to effectively reach domestic and global markets, so Georgia plays a huge role in effective supply chain operations.”

SMC³ offers a range of freight transportation solutions that contribute to Georgia’s logistics prominence. Thompson says the company is uniquely positioned to help customers of any size across the continent, including those with diverse requirements.

“Our products continue to support customers’ needs as they grow, whether they’re a shipper dealing with 10 shipments per week or a logistics service provider handling 10,000 shipments per day—or a carrier transporting those shipments,” Thompson says.

Focused on Solutions

SMC³ delivers solutions for those requiring high-powered tools to support transportation optimization and advanced modeling as well as those seeking simpler, secure solutions, he adds.

For example, Thompson says, shippers look to the company’s over-the-road transportation procurement solution, Bid$ense, to optimize freight spend and streamline transportation planning. LTL carriers share data and shipment information via APIs (application programming interfaces) and EDI (electronic data interchange), and SMC³ offers solutions for both methods of communication.

The company continues to develop new technology solutions all with an eye to what Thompson calls a simple truth: “The introduction of innovative supply chain solutions into established supply chain processes is the best way to solve complex transportation issues,” he says. “This has never been more evident than during the pandemic.”

SMC³ offers CarrierConnect XL, a solution enabling LTL carriers to communicate operational capabilities, such as lanes served, published transit times, and direct/indirect points. In 2022, the company is enhancing the program with advanced messaging capability that allows carriers to communicate location and lane-specific service disruptions directly into the shipper’s transportation management solution (TMS).

“The carrier can inform their customers about when the disruption begins, ends, and the reason for the disruption such as a storm, hurricane, fire, or even capacity constraints,” Thompson says. “During a time of unprecedented supply chain challenges, it is imperative that information be available to all parties in a manner that is immediate, efficient, complete, and accurate.”

CarrierConnect augments the company’s existing suite of standardized API and EDI solutions that work to close the communication gap in LTL transportation.

Market Growth

In the end, the definition of logistics leadership is subjective and the factors that set one state or region apart are as numerous as customers’ logistics needs. This explains why Taylored Services is scheduled to open a new distribution site within 10 miles of the Port of Savannah in summer 2022. Taylored Services offers a range of high-quality and efficient logistics solutions that allow it to scale expeditiously to meet customers’ needs.

“Over the past few years, we tracked all the key renovations that the Savannah port has achieved to accommodate larger ocean vessels,” says Mike Letzter, Taylored’s vice president of distribution and fulfillment. “Taylored Services feels this is the next strategic port for our company growth to support our customers.”

The company, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is building on its established record of success in New Jersey and California, near the ports of Elizabeth (New Jersey) and Los Angeles.

“Taylored Services has been recognized as a Top 100 logistics company for the past seven years due to our company growth, brand recognition, and omnichannel capabilities,” Letzter says. Savannah’s $1 billion investment in deepening the water level to accommodate the larger and wider ocean vessels has paid off, he adds, making the port the third largest in the United States.

“Savannah’s commercial real estate has been booming with new distribution sites over the past few years, so Taylored wants to participate in this regional market growth,” Letzter says. He notes that Taylored’s employee-centric culture meshes well with Georgia’s existing workspace. “We feel our company culture will be a terrific fit with the existing Georgia workforce,” Letzter adds.

“Taylored Services has doubled our revenue growth from 2015-2020, and then doubled again over the past year, which has created tremendous job growth for our current distribution markets,” Letzter says. “We see Georgia as another strategic region to establish these employment opportunities that are beneficial for us and the local job markets.”

The company has adjusted to the labor shortfalls that have occurred since the pandemic. “Our job market has been affected through economics, fear, illness, and government intervention regarding compensation, which encouraged the labor force to consider staying home instead of continuing employment,” he says.

“Taylored Services had to pivot off of our normal labor strategies to overcome these challenges through enhancing our work environments to be even more employee friendly to encourage the workforce to return and be retained,” Letzter says. The company enhanced its workplace environment through weekly prize raffles, onsite food trucks, performance bonuses, and competitive wage adjustments.

The company plans to be a major contributor to Georgia’s logistics culture in ways that go beyond the workplace. “Historically, Taylored Services has been a strong supporter and contributor to local communities and school environments through volunteer work and financial support,” Letzter says. Taylored also takes pride in being a “green” company, with company policies and procedures designed to ensure a high level of recycling.

“Taylored Services has been built on flexibility, innovation, and fearlessness over the first 30 years,” Letzter says. “We will continue to pursue these same core values as we move forward into Georgia.”

Incentives frequently enter the decision-making process after a company identifies qualified locations. At that point, incentives become instrumental for their potential cost savings and cost avoidance impact on other site criteria, says Linda Burns, incentives practice leader for Wadley Donovan Gutshaw Consulting, a Bridgewater Township, New Jersey-based advisory services provider for location decisions.

Incentives play an increasingly prominent role in site selection since the pandemic because companies are considering factors such as financing and loan guarantees earlier as part of a site’s business case, says Jason Hickey, president and CEO of Hickey & Associates, a Minneapolis-based site selection company. This is also true because companies need more support to hire, train, and retain workers than ever before.

“Companies need more help to make site selection decisions on the financial side, and incentives go way beyond just the tax breaks and the grants that make the news,” Hickey says. “There are many other factors that transcend the more stereotypical or traditional incentive base.”

The value of specific incentives varies depending on a company’s needs. Incentives that can be quickly realized typically are more attractive, but some locations may be able to provide a greater total benefit with longer terms, such as through property tax abatement, tax credits, or utility discounts, notes Brandon Talbert, managing director of Austin Consulting, site selection consultants based in Cleveland.

Tax credits that can be refunded or sold at near-market value are attractive to companies, particularly those that do not carry the tax liability to fully utilize the credits.

Among the most appealing incentives, “cash is still king, especially in the current economic climate,” Burns says.

“The ability to negotiate a cash grant incentive brings the greatest benefit to a company, especially if it is performance-based to minimize default recovery,” Burns says.

Talbert says he has seen an increased focus on new and expanded workforce training incentives as many businesses struggle to hire and retain qualified workers. Workforce incentives often are directed to regional technical colleges or institutions rather than companies, and their offerings may not translate to a company’s specific needs, which may include specialized training.

“States that can offer greater flexibility in targeting incentives in a way that aligns with the company’s needs and schedule have a leg up in this area,” Talbert says.

The workforce’s current prominence as a site selection consideration means “a more forward-looking approach is needed to help companies better prepare to minimize future risks,” such as a pandemic, Burns says.

“Regions should work together to develop and promote labor talent pipelines to support retention of existing businesses and recruit others,” Burns says. “State and county-based incentive programs should be modified to return to earlier practices where the cash was given directly to the companies versus channeled through community colleges or managed via state training.”

Incentive packages often emerge from a cohort of community partners. The stalwart efforts of two regional power organizations demonstrate the value of that kind of collaborative commitment to economic development.

A Valuable Partner

ElectriCities of North Carolina is a not-for-profit membership organization comprising public power communities in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia and providing management services to North Carolina’s two municipal power agencies. As part of its efforts, ElectriCities supports its communities with an in-house economic development team that provides a variety of services, including extensive site selection advocacy to attract business investment.

Brenda Daniels, manager of economic development for ElectriCities, says its services are free to companies and site selectors considering North Carolina for a project.

“We will make sure that site selectors are picked up at the airport and taken to each site to meet with the county and/or municipality and at some point with state officials,” Daniels says.

A recent success story for ElectriCities came at the end of 2019 when Aircraft Solutions, an aircraft recycling company, announced plans to invest nearly $100 million into the community of Kinston, creating 475 jobs. Aircraft Solutions’ new center will be located at the Global TransPark—a 2,500-acre multimodal industrial property. Daniels says ElectriCities worked with the company for two years to bring them to North Carolina.

“After intensive research and great support from various sites, such as the ElectriCities Business Relocation Program, as well as excellent communications with each of the involved public departments, we are confident that Global TransPark is the right location for our tremendous project,” said Sven Daniel Koechler, Ph.D., general manager of Aircraft Solutions USA Inc., at the time of the announcement.

Smart Certification

ElectriCities’ Smart Sites program is a major incentive for companies considering the area. If they pass a rigorous engineering review, pieces of property in public power communities across the state are designated as “Smart Sites,” meaning they are ready for new tenants. The certified sites program eliminates approximately six months of work for clients, Daniels says. All engineering work is completed. A key aspect of Smart Sites is each property’s on-site municipal electric service; sites also have water and sewers within 500 feet and are within five miles of an interstate or interstate-quality highway.

“It adds up to encourage faster construction with fewer uncertainties and less risk,” Daniels says. “It is effective for those companies looking to identify the one site for their new facility quickly since all the work has been completed.”

ElectriCities also offers funding for community improvement projects that can help attract economic development. For instance, its Smart Communities Grant is a matching grant of up to $5,000 for anything related to economic development within its member communities. The more extensive Downtown Revitalization Grant is offered at the $10,000 non-matching level and dedicated for projects in downtown districts.

ElectriCities collaborates with local partners to develop incentive packages for companies considering the area.

“We work directly with our members on their incentives and then work with the counties on helping match the incentives for the clients,” Daniels says. “We try to encourage them to provide the best package first rather than waiting for the company to come back for another round. Sometimes you don’t get that chance.”

Generating Incentives

Hoosier Energy, a generation and transmission electric cooperative based in Bloomington, Indiana, can offer an array of incentives tied to electrical power to businesses considering its region for a new site or investing in improvements to an existing one.

Those incentives start with economic development riders (EDR) that discount electric costs for facilities for a period of six years.

Harold Gutzwiller, manager of economic development and key accounts for Hoosier Energy, says the EDRs have proved helpful in attracting businesses to the cooperative’s region.

Hoosier Energy provides wholesale power and services to 18 member distribution cooperatives in central and southern Indiana and southeastern Illinois. The cooperative’s energy resources deliver power through a nearly 1,700-mile transmission network.

Substantial benefits

“Projects we participated in with the EDR have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of new investment and created thousands of new and retained jobs,” Gutzwiller says.

The discounts start at 30% in year one and decrease by 5% per year. The average savings over the six-year period is 17%. Hoosier Energy currently has “a number of EDRs in force at this time,” Gutzwiller says.

“The EDR is particularly helpful for consumers with high energy use,” he adds. “With the savings being front-loaded, it is especially helpful to new facilities as they begin operations.”

In addition to EDRs, Hoosier Energy has a robust rebate program related to new facility construction and existing facility upgrades to encourage the installation of high-efficiency equipment and lighting. The company has provided millions of dollars in rebates.

“Rebates continue to be popular as commercial and industrial consumers desire to become more efficient in their use of electricity,” Gutzwiller says.

Focus on RenewableS

Renewable energy is critical to Hoosier Energy’s future. Earlier this year, the cooperative’s board of directors voted to close its last coal-fired power plant in 2023.

With the closure, Hoosier Energy expects to reduce its carbon footprint by nearly 80% as renewable energy plays a major role in replacing existing coal generation. That emphasis on renewables benefits its customers.

“Hoosier Energy and our member/owner cooperatives offer new and existing consumers a number of renewable options—anything from renewable energy credits to onsite renewable generation,” Gutzwiller says.

Among its newer incentives offerings, Hoosier Energy has the capacity to provide a market-based rate for new projects with a minimum demand of 20MW. Hoosier Energy will act as the load-serving entity for the new load.

Ultimately, Hoosier Energy’s focus in economic development is about assisting its member/owner distribution cooperatives in their efforts to attract new investment and employment opportunities.

“In this role we work with the distribution cooperatives, municipalities, and the state to ensure we are participating as a full partner and offer the appropriate incentives for each individual project, understanding one size does not fit all,” Gutzwiller says.

Crucially, Hoosier Energy has the flexibility to tailor incentives to fit the needs of individual projects.

“Hoosier Energy and our member/owner distribution cooperatives are governed by a board of directors that, if necessary and warranted, can quickly develop individualized incentive packages based on the specific requirements of a project,” Gutzwiller says.

Winning Together

An incentive package should be “win-win” for both company and community because it’s in the parties’ best interests that each succeeds, says Hickey. “There needs to be the right amount of accountability and transparency on both sides of the deal,” he says.

In pursuit of win-win agreements, post-performance incentives are on the rise. These incentives kick in after a company has opened a new site and met predetermined milestones. If they don’t meet the milestones, companies don’t earn the incentives—but they also don’t face penalties or clawbacks.

“Companies want to make sure that the government doesn’t take on too much risk and governments don’t want businesses to take on too much risk,” Hickey says. “This is part of that evolution.”

Flexibility is an essential element of incentive programs that align with both parties’ interests. Locations that tailor their incentives to provide the greatest value to a company will be the most appealing, Talbert says.

“Having the flexibility to tailor incentives that fit a particular project’s needs or that target a specific location weakness will send a positive message to the company and can be the difference-maker in their final decision,” Talbert says.

Incentive programs must remain in step with trends to properly serve businesses, notes Burns. As an example, she points to the rise of home-based workers.

“This was an increasing trend due to enhancements in technology that have exploded with the onset of the virus pandemic,” Burns says. “Economic development organizations must modify their practices and policies to factor in those jobs when determining eligibility and amount of incentive benefits.”

The current downturn has illustrated that incentive packages can be undermined with steep penalties when companies fail to comply with an agreement, noting that “penalties or clawbacks at a time when companies are struggling is not ideal for either the company or the location in the long run,” notes Talbert.

On that point, Burns says incentive programs should be re-examined and revised in the current environment to increase flexibility and modify existing agreements to avoid default penalties.

Ultimately, incentives are a key element of a site location package but should always be viewed within the full perspective of a site’s advantages and shortcomings.

“There is often significant variability in operating costs and one-time costs from one location to another,” Talbert says. “Furthermore, selecting a location with suboptimal logistics or that can’t support a company’s workforce needs, can have significant negative ramifications on the business.

“Conversely,” he adds, “selecting the right location can pay dividends for years to come, irrespective of incentives.”

1. Available real estate. Real estate economists project that every $1 billion of new e-commerce business created will drive an estimated need for 1.25 million square feet of new industrial space.

Kansas City’s move-in-ready, existing building inventory and selection of vertical-ready sites enables e-commerce companies to secure their real estate and begin operations or development of their facility immediately. Locations seeking to replicate this must ensure ample real estate in response to soaring demand.

2. Skilled workforce. Appealing destinations for logistics facilities must offer ample—and trained—talent. Local institutions must also be prepared to expose students to supply chain principles at an early age, extending and developing the "pipeline."

Currently, several training programs in the Kansas City area are focused on preparing the labor force for current and upcoming jobs in transportation and logistics. Numerous education institutions around the Kansas City region have supply chain management programs in place, including high schools and technical schools.

3. Transportation infrastructure. A city’s existing transportation infrastructure—and flexibility to expand—must also give the region a competitive edge. The Kansas City region provides a clear advantage to e-commerce operations, especially as approximately 75% of companies report supply chain disruptions due to coronavirus-related restrictions.

4. Central location. Geographic advantages are pivotal when it comes to logistics and distribution, as companies will want a favorable, central position to access nearby markets. Kansas City sits at the intersection of four major U.S. interstate highways and is served by five Class 1 rail lines. And a new terminal facility is under construction at the Kansas City International Airport.

Companies evaluating their supply chain to match current demands may reconsider inventory on hand, sourcing locations, and the need for safety stock. Numerous third-party logistics companies located in the Kansas City region provide an option for safety stock with flexible warehousing and other services.

Additionally, Foreign Trade Zones provide an option for safety stock and value-added production activities so that inventory is easily accessible.

5. Logistics resources. Many areas that continue to emerge as logistics "hubs" have been expanding and adding to their distribution portfolios in recent years. These locations typically boast ample infrastructure and transportation capacity to adapt to demand spikes in the wake of COVID-19.

In the past five years, the Kansas City region has attracted related companies pledging to create more than 7,000 jobs, invest $1.3 billion, and occupy 15 million square feet of industrial space. Kansas City’s attraction pipeline includes 2.6 million square feet of active e-commerce prospects and 2.5 million square feet of active food-related prospects.

These five factors have played a part in transforming Kansas City into a logistics hotspot. Developing and leveraging these factors may help any region become attractive to large distributors.

Uncertainty is causing many companies to rethink globalization in favor of localization. The coronavirus is having a large impact beyond sickness and death—global supply chains that send high volumes of commodities and components to China are seeing large downward revisions in their GDPs. Global supply chains that depend on the output of components and finished goods based on those materials are feeling pinched as well.

Tariff threats and growing global tendencies toward higher levels of protectionism contribute to reduced trade flows. On a positive note, the continued communications revolution is expected to ease trade and consumption. The Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G are promising greater capabilities and efficiencies for procuring, producing, and tracking the international flow of goods using cloud-based software as a service.

It appears 2020 will be a year of supply chain hesitations, and then continued growth.

ASIA

Asia remains the most dynamic region in the world, accounting for more than 70% of global growth in 2019 (China accounts for 40% of that). A tremendous volume of goods flows within the region as well, and all these countries have strong import/export and production capabilities.

All other countries in the region have benefited from the diversification away from China, but have also been hurt by trade tensions overall.

Tourism remains strong and welcome. Continued growth is expected throughout the region, resulting from substantial infrastructure investments. Hong Kong’s long-standing role as the open financial and trade capital of the region may shift to Singapore.

CHINA

GDP: $13,608
EXPORTS: $2,656
IMPORTS: $2,549
US FDI: $117
X FACTOR: -1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.61

Doubly challenged due to the coronavirus and trade tensions with the United States.

• Highly criticized internationally for authoritarianism and ever-changing adjustments to views about Hong Kong and Taiwan.
• The second-largest economy, leader of the ASEAN Economic Community, and still growing strongly despite all other issues.
• Has developed into a highly influential world power with many investments in countries around the world, primarily for access to commodities.
• Infrastructure investments are still strong through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Greater Bay Area plan.

VIETNAM

GDP: $245
EXPORTS: $260
IMPORTS: $251
US FDI: NA
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.27

One of the strongest GDP performers during the past decade, with projected growth of 6.5%.

• Economic and political reforms led to rapid growth, primarily as a manufactured products and components exporter. Also seeing a robust growth in services.
• Foreign investment continues to be strong.
• Unlike the rest of the region, 70% of the population is under 35 years old. Average age is rapidly rising, however.
• Education quality is high, with strong Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores.

South Korea

GDP: $1619
EXPORTS: $713
IMPORTS: $631
US FDI: $42
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.61

Strong industrial leader and exporter. Expected to grow 2% in 2020.

• Diversified manufacturer of steel, automobiles, electronics, and semiconductors (its largest export category at 20%).
• High tech and highly educated. Recently announced $51 billion in infrastructure spending and interest-rate cuts.
• On-again, off-again disputes with Japan cause some uncertainty.
• K-pop and the Academy Award-winning movie Parasite are well-known exports, but don’t move the needle economically.

JAPAN

GDP: $4,971
EXPORTS: $917
IMPORTS: $904
US FDI: $125
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 4.03

Facing a recession after the effects of a value-added tax increase from 8% to 10% in October 2019, hurting private consumption.

• Economy also hurt by both trade tensions in the region and the coronavirus. Ultra-low interest rates are attempting to counter the trend.
• Hosting the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics can help (if they happen). Growth will be small, if any, in 2020.
• Still a stable, diversified, well-educated country with strong tech and road infrastructure. However, population is aging and shrinking.

HONG KONG

GDP: $363
EXPORTS: $683
IMPORTS: $683
US FDI: $83
X FACTOR: -1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.92

Social unrest is hurting Hong Kong, and current projections find no growth in 2020.

• Heavily dependent on the flow of people and goods. Tourism is expected to drop sharply, as is domestic spending.
• There are typically four times the number of visitors compared to the population.
• Exports, which include tourism, are twice the GDP.
• The government is pursuing stimulus measures to ride out the current storm.
• Trade with China is high in both directions as many goods are re-exported worldwide.

SOUTHEAST ASIA & INDIA

Countries in Southeast Asia and India have benefited from the diversification away from China, but have also been hurt by trade tensions. India’s growth pace and size is the counterweight to China. Malaysia and Indonesia together are large, business-friendly sites with a combined population approaching that of the United States.

Tourism has been welcomed and is strong. Singapore may be turning into the open financial and trade capital of the region, shifting slightly from Hong Kong’s historical role. Continued strong growth is expected as infrastructure investments are substantial throughout the region.

THAILAND

GDP: $505
EXPORTS: $337
IMPORTS: $285
US FDI: $18
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.41

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is experiencing its slowest growth in five years.

• Experiencing high household debt. Trade tensions hurt a country heavily dependent on exports and investment.
• A surge in value of the Baht against the dollar hurt exporters and tourism, which has been a focus for the country.
• Population is rapidly aging.
• Offering a 50% tax cut for five years to manufacturers relocating production.
• Labor rules are easing and training support is provided to further stimulate foreign investment.

INDIA

GDP: $2,719
EXPORTS: $537
IMPORTS: $643
US FDI: $46
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.18

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos told the Financial Times: “I predict that the 21st century is going to be the Indian century.”

• The United States and India are strongly connected democracies in trade and the exchange of expertise, but tariffs create a cloudy outlook.
• Logistics costs as a percentage of GDP are well above those of other developing countries.
• Vast country with the second- largest population at 1.3 billion.
• Larger cities need significant infrastructure investment to reduce congestion and delays.
• E-commerce is growing quickly.
• Has been called the electric scooter capital of the world.

MALAYSIA

GDP: $359
EXPORTS: $247
IMPORTS: $221
US FDI: $14
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.22

One of the most open economies in the world and Southeast Asia’s third-wealthiest country.

• Its diversified economy includes agriculture and commodities, but it is a leading exporter of electrical appliances, parts, and components.
• Labor is tight, and 40% of jobs are linked to exports.
• Growth has averaged more than 5% since 2010.
• Recently created two national cars and a national motorcycle to spur development and exports.
• Benefiting from diversification away from China.
• Leadership transition uncertainty is a concern.

SINGAPORE

GDP: $364
EXPORTS: $642
IMPORTS: $546
US FDI: $219
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.20

The regional center for fast, open, high-volume global trade.

• Global trade is three times the GDP, which was revised downward due to the coronavirus.
• Investing strongly to become a global hub for tech firms, but also spending heavily on protection from rising seas.
• Phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040.
• Small, agile economy is also a strong financial center.
• Manufacturing focused on value-added electronics, which have taken the strongest hit due to contagion fears.
• Low unemployment makes it challenging to find new employees. Land constrained, but converting islands into mini-hubs for industries.

TAIWAN

GDP: $590
EXPORTS: $336
IMPORTS: $286
US FDI: $18
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.60

Reelected a pro-growth leader in January 2020.

• Encourages Taiwanese companies to invest capital back into the country while building infrastructure.
• Modern, highly diversified manufacturer and exporter that also has well-developed and growing private consumption.
• Growth is slowing and should hit slightly more than 2%.
• Democracy and level of independence clash with China, causing uncertainty in long-term plans.
• The United States is its third- largest trading partner behind China and Hong Kong.

INDONESIA

GDP: $1,042
EXPORTS: $218
IMPORTS: $230
US FDI: $11
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.15

Growth expectations of 5% should continue, aided by government incentives and stronger infrastructure spending.

• Many troubled, state-owned enterprises have been targeted to become more efficient and less wasteful.
• Labor regulations are being overhauled and foreign investment is strongly encouraged.
• New leadership with a business background is seen as a strong positive.
• Building a new $34 billion capital city, involving a planning committee of international business leaders and former government chiefs of state.

Bangladesh

GDP: $274
EXPORTS: $41
IMPORTS: $64
US FDI: NA
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 2.58

With an average of more than 6.5% GDP growth during the past decade, the country is becoming a fast-growing, low-cost manufacturing resource for the world, primarily in labor-intensive apparel; however, exports of ready-made garments have slowed.

• Infrastructure growth is not keeping pace, resulting in congestion and delays related to movement of goods.
• Continues to face weather-related risks, such as flooding and cyclones, because 60% of its land surface is five meters or less above sea level.
• Financial concerns rising due to underperforming loans.

NORTH AMERICA

The biggest development in 2019 was renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), replacing it with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). USMCA is more of an adjustment to NAFTA, but adds provisions that greatly affect agriculture and wages.

The U.S.-Mexico border flow and operations remain strong as both countries benefit greatly from the back-and-forth trade to produce products in stages. The border wall between the countries is controversial, but has little effect on trade flow so far, despite occasional threats to close the border for not curbing the flow of people and drugs from Mexico into the United States.

Canada and the United States continue a strong, stable trade relationship that is highly interdependent. Infrastructure links are good, but cross-border crossings using highways can get highly congested at some points.

CANADA

GDP: $1,713
EXPORTS: $551
IMPORTS: $584
US FDI: $402
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.73

Natural resources of oil, minerals (potash in particular), and timber are abundant.

• Highly educated and more open to immigration than the United States, but does apply strong standards.
• May need better internal trade policies as IMF says non-tariff trade barriers resulting from different regulations among provinces hurt labor mobility, limit consumer choice, fragment markets, stifle competition, and limit scale of production, lowering productivity growth.
• The United States’ second-largest trading partner (China is first), but its No. 1 export market.

MEXICO

GDP: $1,221
EXPORTS: $480
IMPORTS: $502
US FDI: $115
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.05

Stands to benefit from the USMCA, primarily due to reduced uncertainty rather than specific policies.

• GDP growth is only about 1% and slowing.
• Corruption is still a concern overall, despite a national strategy to reduce it.
• U.S.-Mexico border continues to have strong connection with heavy flow of goods.
• Uncertainty associated with new leadership, which is viewed as less supportive of free-market policies.
• The trend toward localizing supply chains will benefit border areas.

United States

GDP: $20,544
EXPORTS: $2,510
IMPORTS: $3,148
US FDI: NA
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.89

The No. 1 economy in the world expects to grow 2% in 2020.

• Tariffs and other trade tensions with China and the EU result in shifts of alternate sourcing to limit future risk, but imports are heavy.
• Debt continues to grow as a result of a large tax cut that stimulated the economy, but resulted in large annual deficits.
• Important election coming in November 2020 with a politically and economically divided nation.
• Infrastructure initiative promises are on-again, off-again.
• Trade hubs and innovation in IoT and cloud-based visibility are strengths.

SOUTH AMERICA

Growth overall in the region has been low and looks to stay that way during the next few years. GDP per capita has declined and is below low, long-term rates. International Monetary Fund forecasts for the next five years show growth below the global average for emerging market economies.

Social unrest in several countries doesn’t help, but reforms continue to show promise. Large amounts of natural resources resulted in a heavy reliance on commodity trade, but prices have stayed low. Improvement of trade-friendly policies looks to reverse the trend, but will take time.

Venezuela continues to drag down every measure of trade and growth for the region. Chile, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil continue to be the bright spots in the near-term for trade as well as internal development.

Panama

GDP: $65
EXPORTS: $26
IMPORTS: $28
US FDI: $5
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.28

Panama Canal revenue (more than 10% of GDP) uncertain due to global trade issues related to tariffs and the coronavirus.

• Still a strong trading hub with continued higher growth than the rest of the region.
• Operating a new copper mine can help, but low commodity prices are an obstacle.
• Great location for the region’s services trade—logistics, finance, and insurance.
• Strong for consolidation and reexport services, making it a great base within the region.

Colombia

GDP: $331
EXPORTS: $53
IMPORTS: $69
US FDI: $8
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 2.94

The third-largest economy in South America is rising strongly as an open, pro-business country with a good talent pool.

• An emphasis on IT capabilities (Medellín is now a world-renowned tech hub) and English as a second language results in stronger ties with U.S. companies.
• Growth is still relatively strong at around 3%.
• Infrastructure outside of major cities is challenged, but investment is in progress.
• Open-border policies have resulted in a large number of Venezuelans seeking better opportunities.

Brazil

GDP: $1,869
EXPORTS: $277
IMPORTS: $267
US FDI: $71
X FACTOR: 1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 2.99

By far the largest country and economy in South America (and ninth largest worldwide) with many large ports and population centers.

• China encompasses 28% of exports, decreasing 2020 GDP.
• After three years of weak growth, instituting reforms is expected to attract further investment.
• A member of the Mercosur group of trading countries in the region, focusing on free movement of goods by reducing restrictions.
• Agriculture is strong and agritech is a focus. Infrastructure is sound for access deep into the country.

CHILE

GDP: $298
EXPORTS: $86
IMPORTS: $86
US FDI: $26
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.32

Although one of the most open and diversified economies in South America, recent widespread protests are a concern.

• Commodity export levels still dramatically affect trade health (e.g., China is the top copper consumer, Chile is the top copper producer).
• GDP forecasts for 2020 and 2021 cut to about 1%.
• A long coastline, many ports, and business-friendly policies overall are strong pluses.
• 2019 was a busy year for trade agreements with the U.K., New Zealand, and Singapore.
• The United States is Chile’s second-largest trading partner.

EUROPE

The region is a large producer of manufacturing and transport equipment, but that is where growth has turned negative. A general slowdown puts 2020 projected growth at less than 2%. Export volumes and industrial production rate remain flat.

No-deal Brexit increases uncertainty and will result in many supply chain shifts in the region. Car production is weak across Europe, particularly in Germany. The EU’s new emission standards may reduce GDP.

Negative interest rates are new; when they will end is unknown. Also concerning are the tendencies toward protectionism and the types of leaders and coalitions gaining influence. The Brookings Institution views U.S.-European relations as being at a low 3.1/10.

The EU still serves as a consistently large, diverse market that is attractive for a base of operations nearly anywhere because of its consistent rules and agreements.

FRANCE

GDP: $2,778
EXPORTS: $870
IMPORTS: $892
US FDI: $87
X FACTOR: -1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.84

Debt rises to 100% of GDP. Unrest strong as protests erupt each time leaders try to apply reforms for competitiveness.

• Logistics infrastructure solid.
• Unemployment at 8%, a new low from the economic crisis. President Macron is pushing pension reform to reduce debt.
• A reduction in taxes and red tape for startups results in a sharp rise in new businesses—transport and storage, real estate, manufacturing, and business support services.
• Factory outputs have low growth, primarily due to consumer goods. Food and beverages (expected from cheese and wine) make up 20% of French production.

UNITED KINGDOM

GDP: $2,855
EXPORTS: $857
IMPORTS: $907
US FDI: $758
X FACTOR: -1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.99

For several years it was uncertain what kind of Brexit would take place, but it appears that the no-deal version is in progress.

• Consumer confidence has grown since the final decision.
• Prime Minister Johnson is pushing hard to reduce, if not eliminate, most tariffs to encourage strong trade. GDP growth up in the air, but expected to land at 1%.
• Trade talks with the United States are planned, but automobiles may be an unpleasant hot topic.
• Uncertainty regarding London’s leadership role in the region’s finances when Brexit is complete.

Switzerland

GDP: $705
EXPORTS: $466
IMPORTS: $380
US FDI: $278
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.90

Saw growth in pharmaceutical and precision instruments, including watches.

• Central bank expects less than 1% inflation.
• Projecting growth of slightly more than 1%.
• Unemployment is low.
• Zurich and Geneva rank as highly livable cities, but costs are high.
• Overall one of the best educated and healthiest countries. Strong in high-tech components.
• Was leading in 5G implementation, but now halted for health concerns needing more study.
• Third-highest GDP per capita.

Czech Republic

GDP: $245
EXPORTS: $192
IMPORTS: $177
US FDI: $7
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.68

Predicting 2020 growth around 2%.

• Low unemployment raising inflation. Industrial production is declining.
• Current leadership reversing growth in ties to China.
• Labor shortages hurting growth on production lines.
• Evaluating whether to replace aging nuclear reactors or turn to alternative sources.
• Rising interest rates, but still relatively low historically.
• Recently ranked the No. 1 manufacturing location in Europe by Cushman Wakefield.
• Still seen as a lower-cost producer, but wages are rising.

Belgium

GDP: $543
EXPORTS: $448
IMPORTS: $449
US FDI: $64
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 4.04

Debt at 100% of GDP is one of the highest in Europe. Growth expected to be only slightly more than 1%.

• Lack of new government coalition that needs to deal with debt, an aging population, and climate change.
• Brussels faces heavy congestion and pollution due to its role as the EU hub for politics and industry, but still highly attractive for services growth and company regional headquarters.
• Seen by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as having a rising skills shortage.
• Ranked highly as investment destination.

GERMANY

GDP: $3,948
EXPORTS: $1,872
IMPORTS: $1,629
US FDI: $140
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 4.20

World leader in exports of value-added manufacturing goods with expertise in production machinery, but factory outputs are recently weak.

• Strictest fiscal discipline in the region.
• Planning for a new Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin, but faces concerns about environmental impact.
• New international airport opening near Berlin.
• Minimum wage increase several years ago appears to be having the desired effect without drawbacks.
• Concern that successors to Chancellor Merkel’s leadership may be too protectionist.
• Unemployment at around 5%.
• Plans to phase out coal by 2038, but needs more generation clarity to replace it.

Netherlands

GDP: $914
EXPORTS: $770
IMPORTS: $670
US FDI: $883
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 4.02

The Dutch government cut the maximum speed limit to 100 km per hour to lower emissions.

• Concern regarding rising seas and great amount of infrastructure dedicated to regional logistics.
• Economic stimulus plan of tax cuts and extra investments. 2020 growth expected to be about 1.5%.
• Ranked first in language skills by IMD Talent Rankings. About 70% of masters degrees are taught in English.
• Has seven of the world’s top 80 universities.
• Weaker regional supply chain demands may impact the country. Housing market tight with a dense population.
• Port of Rotterdam ranked “most attractive” to serve the region.

POLAND

GDP: $586
EXPORTS: $326
IMPORTS: $305
US FDI: $13
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.54

Solid growth in domestic demand and rising wages.

• Labor market is tight. GDP gains are around 3.5% in 2020.
• Increasing concerns about political influence on judiciary system. Household consumption growing strongly, greatly changing urban centers.
• Tourism continues to break records. Aging population and tighter labor market lead to more automation, primarily in lower-tech industries.
• Fighting its reputation as a cheap labor location by greatly increasing minimum wages.
• Lower investments in research and development.
• High coal use. Plans to focus on energy security versus carbon footprint.

RUSSIA, TURKEY, UKRAINE

The region is expected to grow 2.5% in 2020. Russia and Ukraine have both had slowdowns, but Turkey was not as bad as originally expected.

Turkey-Russia ties have strengthened and resulted in distancing from the United States. Ukraine and Russia tensions continue, but the new natural gas agreement for flows to the EU eases one major tension in the region.

Russian budget balancing for the past two years has been a surprise while debt greatly increased in Turkey.

UKRAINE

GDP: $131
EXPORTS: $59
IMPORTS: $70
US FDI: NA
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 2.83

President Zelensky, a former comedian, leads a country that has an uneven relationship with the United States overall.

• Tensions with Russia still high, but generally has strong worldwide support. Recent Russia-Ukraine deal eases one of the EU’s biggest concerns.
• Moved to higher natural gas prices, which helped finances. Highly valued soil for agriculture, plus capable of heavy industrial production.
• Labor productivity continues to increase. Software exports rose to 10% of GDP.

TURKEY

GDP: $771
EXPORTS: $228
IMPORTS: $236
US FDI: $5
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.15

Country leaders take measures to support the lira, pushing for 5% growth in 2020 after the previous year’s slump.

• Disputes over new natural gas found in the Mediterranean and a multicountry pipeline it hasn’t been invited to join.
• Closer cooperation with Russia troubles the United States, which passed an act excluding Turkey from the F-35 jet program.
• Agricultural/industrial growth ended on an upswing in 2019.
• Rapid growth of more than 5% during the past decade.
• Women’s participation in the labor force has grown.
• Construction investment high through external investments and credit, but debt grows.

RUSSIA

GDP: $1,658
EXPORTS: $510
IMPORTS: $344
US FDI: $15
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 2.76

Instituted a new value-added tax rate early in 2019 that increased inflation.

• One of the top five producers of precious metals.
• Continued high level of state-owned companies. Their long-time leadership is becoming a greater concern and potentially cuts growth prospects.
• Expecting 2% growth in 2020.
• Government expenditures to increase by more than 10% to stimulate growth.
• United States and EU sanctions from the 2014 Crimea annexation continue.
• Spent trillions to develop internal substitutes for goods that were previously imported.
• Had budget surplus the past two years.
• Plans item traceability by implementing codes and tags for all consumer goods.

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

These regions’ dependence on commodity resource exports disrupts supply chains and lowers demand forecasts due to uncertainty.

In Nigeria, every $10 drop in oil prices is a $500 million drop in income per month, according to economists. Most of this region’s countries face similar drops in oil, gas, and other commodities. Once the crisis passes, similar disruptions will fill gaps using infrastructure that is not yet developed to ramp back up as well as down.

Bright spots include the Expo 2020 World’s Fair in the United Arab Emirates and the FIFA World Cup coming to Qatar in 2022.

South Africa

GDP: $368
EXPORTS: $110
IMPORTS: $109
US FDI: $8
X FACTOR: -1
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.38

The IMF sees the second- biggest economy in the continent as having weak private investment and productivity growth, with pockets of high unemployment in a divided society.

• Services are growing, but other traditional industrial sectors are flat or declining.
• State-run power firm in heavy debt, causing power outages particularly in mining.
• Growth predicted at less than 1%.
• Credit rating drop is a threat.

Qatar

GDP: $191
EXPORTS: $103
IMPORTS: $66
US FDI: $11
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.47

This export-dependent oil producer has become a significant liquefied natural gas supplier. Reserves are estimated to be strong, so the country plans to export even more throughout the 2020s.

• Investing in education and health to diversify the economy.
• Building its first large-scale solar energy plant to provide 10% of demand.
• Spending greatly on infrastructure to prepare to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
• Is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia

GDP: $787
EXPORTS: $314
IMPORTS: $210
US FDI: $11
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.01

Oil economy is still clearly No. 1 (80% of exports) and has dramatically raised the country’s standard of living.

• Working heavily on diversification, but petrochemicals and plastics still dependent on oil. National Industrial Development and Logistics Program helps with diversification to increase focus on mining, other energy sources, and logistics.
• Saudi Aramco’s initial public offering made news in worldwide stock markets.
• New laws open up foreign ownership, bankruptcy, and mortgages. Finally providing greater freedoms to women.

United Arab Emirates

GDP: $414
EXPORTS: $389
IMPORTS: $282
US FDI: $17
X FACTOR: 0
WORLD BANK LPI SCORE: 3.96

Committing $23 billion to Indonesian infrastructure and energy projects, which involves 11 business agreements in energy, oil, gas, petrochemical, seaport, telecommunication, and research.

• Recently low oil prices have hurt finances.
• Ties its own rates to U.S. interest rates.
• Property prices have dropped.
• Dubai will host the Expo 2020 World’s Fair, where a demonstration of high-bay freight container storage is planned, similar to storage racks for pallets.
• Tourism and service industry is stronger than oil.

To be leading performers, site selectors look for stellar logistics locations and services that will facilitate their journey. Which locations and services make the A-list? Who is setting the standard and who is raising it? How are they doing it? Most importantly, what can we learn from them?

The lessons the site leaders teach us—about state-of-the-art intermodal, warehousing, and distribution services—are born of both experience and vision.

Breakout Performance

When determining the best spot to locate a distribution or manufacturing facility, what makes a site stand out?

In addition to strategic location, site managers should base such decisions on the region’s business-friendly environment, labor availability, infrastructure, and land inventory, says Steve Schnur, chief operating officer, Duke Realty, a leading owner, developer, and manager of logistics real estate. Based in Indianapolis, Duke Realty’s varied markets include Atlanta, Central Florida, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New Jersey, Northern California, Pennsylvania, Raleigh, Savannah, Seattle, South Florida, Southern California, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C./Baltimore.

"In selecting sites for development projects, Duke Realty is extremely analytical, delving into the characteristics of specific submarkets," Schnur says. In many larger markets, Duke Realty may operate in only a few submarkets.

"In each of these submarkets, our properties are well-served by key highway networks and, in many cases, supplemented by other forms of transportation including air, rail, and sea," Schnur says. "Our facilities also are in close proximity to major population centers. From our properties, companies can easily and quickly reach their customers, whether business-to-business or the end consumer."

One of the most impactful factors that allows Duke Realty to capitalize on regional logistics assets is the local operating teams the company has in place in each of its markets. "Having boots on the ground gives us intimate knowledge of market dynamics and our customers’ needs," Schnur explains.

The company’s portfolio includes 158 million square feet of space in its 20 major logistics markets. Duke Realty is a full-service commercial real estate company, providing a wide spectrum of services, including working closely with customers on site selection, construction, financing, leasing, property management, and renewal. "By owning the land, using our in-house construction team, and leasing and managing our own properties, Duke Realty is able to provide a seamless delivery system, control costs, and manage risk," Schnur says.

Dynamic growth in the logistics sector has prompted new ideas and innovations. "Though much of the growth can be attributed to general economic expansion, there is no doubt that e-commerce has been a big piece of the equation," Schnur says. "That being said, many of our customers are challenged with delivering goods to customers faster and more efficiently than ever. Increased delivery expectations have led to using technology to better manage inventory and improve facility operations."

In turn, the new facilities being built and designed to create stellar logistics sites are focused on efficient inventory flow, including materials handling automation, product stacking and retrieval, increased dock capacity, power expansion capabilities, security, site layout, parking, and ingress/egress.

"Energy and water efficiency are also important considerations," he adds. "We increasingly incorporate features that reduce resource consumption such as increased glass lines, skylights, and dock door windows for heightened natural light, as well as LED lighting, solar panels, water-saving fixtures, EV charging stations, and efficient HVAC systems."

In addition, tenants are focused on their ability to adapt to ever-evolving logistics needs. The truly stellar site, then, incorporates flexibility and expansion capability in its design.

Top Billing

Having a strategic location as the hub of a company’s logistics operations is a major theme of any story involving stellar logistics sites. This fact is clearly evidenced by the success of Watson Land Company, a developer, owner, and manager of industrial properties throughout Southern California and the East Coast.

Watson’s legacy of success has become well established over nearly two centuries, due in large part to the strategic advantages intrinsic to the locations of its properties. The company’s expanding portfolio of properties now contains close to 20 million square feet of industrial space, affording logistics providers an array of options for their next distribution center, warehouse, or company headquarters.

Watson delivers functional, high-quality buildings within master-planned centers. Its history is rooted in the Rancho San Pedro, the first piece of land granted to a private citizen in Southern California. The property eventually evolved into Watson Estate Company, founded in 1912, and was later renamed Watson Land Company.

Developing a New Role

For more than 50 years, the land owned by the company was used for agriculture and oil production. But in response to Southern California’s rapidly changing business landscape, Watson Land Company shifted its focus to real estate development. Its goal was to enhance the value of its holdings by creating master-planned centers for industrial buildings.

In the 1960s, the master-planned Watson Industrial Center in Carson, California, where the company is based, would pave the way for the firm’s further evolution into one of the region’s most influential real estate companies, serving a broad range of regional, national, and international clients.

Watson customers enhance their location advantages—and significantly reduce their operating costs—through the activation of Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status. Granted through the Port of Los Angeles within the Watson subzone of FTZ 202, the FTZ status can be activated for some 12 million square feet of Watson facilities.

Companies can use the FTZ status to reduce operating costs for their manufacturing and inventory facilities. The non-privileged foreign position allows the duty rate for goods entering into an FTZ to be assessed according to the condition of the merchandise.

In addition, with access to product for display or exhibition purposes without customs intervention or supervision, utilizing an FTZ can significantly minimize bureaucratic regulations.

The FTZ designation also offers operational benefits, which companies can use to gain a competitive edge in their market. Companies have better inventory control with lower customs supervision. And the duty payable on FTZ goods doesn’t need to be included in the calculation of insurable value, which lowers insurance costs. The FTZ may be utilized to examine product so it meets accurate specifications before duty is paid.

Merchandise not meeting the requirements can then be repaired, re-exported, or destroyed without having to make duty payments. Furthermore, goods may be stored in an FTZ for unlimited periods, even if they are subject to U.S. quota constraints.

Certain types of merchandise can be imported without going through formal customs entry procedures or paying import duties until the products are transferred from the FTZ sites for U.S. consumption. If the products never enter U.S. commerce or are re-exported to other countries, duties do not need to be paid on those items.

Watson’s strategic location advantages are not limited to Southern California. In 2016, the company acquired two distribution buildings in the West Hills Business Center in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, which is located on the I-78 corridor. Watson’s East Coast expansion totals 678,000 square feet of space.

Making it to the A-list

While "location, location, location" still describes the most important element in real estate, logistics professionals know it doesn’t amount to anything if property owners and tenants do not make the most of the particular spots they claim as their own. CenterPoint Properties, which invests primarily in real estate used for intermodal freight transport, knows the lesson well.

The company, which began its industrial real estate operations in 1984, invests in the coastal and inland port markets that anchor North America’s most important freight lanes. With headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, CenterPoint has offices in Los Angeles, Oakland, Houston, New Jersey, and Miami. The company owns 326 buildings containing 61.3 million square feet, including the CenterPoint Intermodal Center in Joliet/Elwood, Illinois, and SoCal Logistics Center in Buena Park, California.

The company’s success is built on choosing the right place at the right time, and then capitalizing on its property selections by enhancing natural logistics assets with the ultimate tenant in mind. "In its simplest form, I like to say we develop Class A and we buy Class B for functionality in the port markets," says Ryan Dunlap, senior vice president, investments, West Coast. "Not a lot of groups can do that."

Dunlap, who has been part of the CenterPoint team for three years, works out of the company’s Los Angeles office. "As the logistics sector becomes increasingly nuanced, it becomes more about the functionality of the asset," he says. "What kind of tenants need clear height? Who requires quick inventory turnover, which translates into bigger yards?"

It is the dissection of these concerns and others that spells the difference between success and failure. The key is recognizing those concerns and responding with practical solutions. "You see a lot of sophisticated premium spaces that are not functional," Dunlap explains, adding that CenterPoint reliably delivers forward-thinking solutions matched to its tenants’ development, acquisition, and management needs.

Going Places

If the three most important words in logistics are location, location, location, the three next most important words are mobility, mobility, and mobility. Put another way: It’s not just where you are, but where you are going.

The definition of a stellar logistics site, then, has everything to do with the feasibility and services it provides. CN, headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, understands that well. The Class I freight railway serves Canada and the midwestern and southern United States.

CN, "North America’s Railway," services an area encompassing more than 20,000 miles. It has the only rail network that touches three coasts in North America, accessing the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts.

As Canada’s only transcontinental railway company, CN offers integrated transportation services including rail, intermodal, trucking, freight forwarding, warehousing, and distribution. Its rail network serves all major Canadian cities and ports as well as the U.S. metropolitan areas of Duluth, Minnesota; Superior, Wisconsin; New Orleans; Mobile, Alabama; Chicago; Memphis, Tennessee; Detroit; and Jackson, Mississippi, with connections to all points in North America.

CN moves overseas container traffic to the U.S. Midwest from the Canadian ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert B.C.; Montreal, Quebec; and Halifax, NS.

CN services 15 ocean terminals and well over 23 strategically located intermodal terminals across its network. The company’s five logistics parks—in Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, and Memphis—are designed for quicker transit times, efficiency, and superior rail service. Co-location of the parks within CN intermodal yards eliminates one truck move. Moreover, each site is easily reached by North America’s largest highways and puts access to all key logistics services—rail, intermodal, warehousing, and distribution—in one place. Easily accessed by North America’s largest highways, CN’s logistics parks are modern, state-of-the-art facilities with dedicated teams to handle cargo.

CN transports more than $250 billion Canadian worth of goods annually for a wide range of business sectors, from resource products to manufactured products to consumer goods.

On the rise

Like the many tons of cargo it handles, CN is constantly on the move. Among recent expansions is the company’s new intermodal terminal opening later this fall in Regina. The terminal will connect southern Saskatchewan to global markets and offers an intermodal option for shippers from North Dakota and Montana to get their products to West Coast ports for trans-Pacific shipping. The facility is the first privately operated, state-of-the-art intermodal terminal and is located in the Chuka Creek Business Park.

Meanwhile, CN recently announced two new agreements with COSCO and Evergreen shipping lines, extending their longstanding intermodal partnerships.

These recent announcements are the product of CN’s focus on strategic and profitable growth in the intermodal sector as CN remains committed to offering the best intermodal rail service in North America.

In September, CN announced that it again has earned a place on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI). This marks the eighth consecutive year that CN has been listed on the DJSI World Index and the 11th consecutive year that CN has been listed on the DJSI North America Index. CN is the only Canadian company listed in the Transportation and Transportation Infrastructure sector.

The DJSI tracks the performance of the top 10% of the 2,500 largest companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index that lead the field in terms of sustainability. The DJSI follows a best-in-class approach, surveying sustainability leaders from each industry on a global and regional level. The annual review of the DJSI family is based on a thorough analysis of economic, environmental, and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, climate change mitigation, supply chain standards, stakeholder engagement, and labor practices.

"We are honored that CN’s sustainability performance continues to earn us a place among the world’s best," said JJ Ruest, president and chief executive officer of CN. "2019 marks CN’s 100th anniversary and we have a great deal to be proud of. As we move into our next century, we renew our commitment to be a leader in safety, sustainability, innovation, and growth."

Playing a Pivotal Part

In the end, for a logistics site to be stellar, it all comes down to proximity. In logistics, the word means more than just nearness in space and time, though those advantages are surely vital. Even more important are the synergies achieved through the locations of intermodal facilities and supply chain services.

A prominent case in point, and certainly qualifying the region as a stellar logistics site, is the area served by the North Carolina State Ports Authority, otherwise known as North Carolina Ports. As a congestion-free mid-Atlantic gateway, North Carolina Ports provides immediate proximity advantages for supply chains in the region.

North Carolina is home to two ports. The Port of Wilmington services containers and general cargo, while the Port of Morehead City handles general cargo—bulk and breakbulk. Both ports are mileage favorable to all North Carolina metropolitan areas—the Greater Charlotte region, Piedmont Triad, Research Triangle, Greater Fayetteville, and the southern and eastern coasts.

Supporting Turn

"Our best-in-class yard and gate productivity, fast truck turnaround times, crane productivity, and lack of berth congestion make North Carolina Ports a logical choice for speed to market for all industry sectors in North Carolina," says Hans Bean, senior vice president of business development for North Carolina Ports.

"Our average turn time for truckers is a best-in-class 32 minutes for a dual move," he adds. "With this consistent best-in-class port performance, we are seeing importers attracted to the area to achieve necessary flow velocity, gateway diversification, and risk-mitigation objectives."

In addition to its proximity and performance advantages, Bean says, area exporters also appreciate the user-friendly nature of North Carolina Ports in supporting their business requirements.

"Our ability to be nimble, combined with our out-of-the box thinking, allows us to serve all industry segments in North Carolina and beyond," he says. "For many of the area’s core industry segments, North Carolina Ports is the closest to source/production and to market/distribution."

Coupled with recent infrastructure upgrades and a vision for serving the future, he says, these proximity advantages have positioned North Carolina Ports well to deliver value across supply chains.

In 2015, North Carolina Ports developed a five-year strategic plan that included capital investment for future growth. The authority committed more than $200 million for a new terminal operating system, gate and terminal operations reconfiguration, three neo-Panamax cranes, and turning basin enhancements.

Additionally, on-dock rail service was revitalized in 2017, linking the Port of Wilmington to the western part of the state including eastern Tennessee, northwest South Carolina, southwest Virginia, and southeastern Kentucky.

The overnight rail service operates seven days a week between Wilmington and the Charlotte Inland Port. This reduces carbon footprint as well as truck miles in the western area and provides the fastest rail service inland on the East Coast.

North Carolina Ports continues to invest in refrigerated capability to serve as a cold chain gateway for imports of produce that complement the region’s significant refrigerated agricultural exports. The authority has commenced construction on an investment of more than $15 million in a refrigerated container capacity expansion with vertical racks that increase fixed plug capacity from 350 to 550, with phase two adding approximately 300 additional plugs and further room to expand to serve the market.

"We are strategically investigating partnerships with refrigerated warehouse operators that would enhance our cold capabilities to support the North Carolina grocery sector and beyond," Bean says.

"We are also continuing to look at alternatives to the growing agricultural segment of North Carolina as well as provide another East Coast gateway for Midwest agriculture products. These alternatives include an on-dock transload facility that can be both rail and truck served."

Red Carpet Treatment

North Carolina Ports partners with local and regional trucking companies as well as local and regional warehouses, Bean says, adding that there are multiple megasites available in North Carolina for future expansion. He says the authority is consistently working with its economic development partners to attract business to those sites.

North Carolina Ports offers on-dock rail just a few hundred feet from vessel berths. Inland connectivity with Norfolk Southern and CSX includes legacy tracks that can be further networked for optimized services, and inland ports near rail ramps offer flexible staging and access options.

"In today’s environment it is all about visibility, speed, and cost containment," Bean says. "North Carolina Ports will continue to be the best on the East Coast for port productivity. We will invest in technology that will allow us to proactively push information not only to the end customer, but also to the freight forwarding and trucking communities, allowing for operational process improvement and informed operational decision making."

Not surprisingly, all these factors fit into logistics site professionals’ definition of a stellar logistics site.