By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTWhen SEKO Worldwide decided to change its business model to one where all Strategic Partners (owners of its 53 U.S. offices and 40+ international offices) and its senior managers became part owners of the international third party logistics provider (3PL), effective January 1st this year, people there had some explaining to do. In one situation in particular, SEKO executives were in the process of bidding a request for proposal (ROP) with a Fortune 100 company. SEKO President and CEO Bill Wascher describes, a competitor on the bid began expounding on how SEKO’s new business model presented great risk. “Their pitch to the client was they would have no control if they came with us because one of our stations could want to pull rank and leave the partnership,” Wascher says. “They presented our stations as being potential renegades.” Even after that situation, the issue did not go away. “It kept rearing its ugly head,” he adds. That was until SEKO executives laid out their equity model and ideology to potential customers, who immediately accepted it. “Their following comments not only suggested that SEKO’s model should be looked at; they said it made our company more attractive than the models of other freight forwarding companies,” Wascher says. The reason is because of SEKO’s model based on Strategic Partners creates a “glue.” “It’s our keystone, what holds SEKO together,” he adds. The concept of Strategic Partners is highly unique for an industry that is fiercely competitive and has faced enormous consolidation. The re-engineering of a global freight forwarding entity to one with an equity model that also allows strategic partner input and ownership is basically unheard of. All key players at SEKO – on the local, national and international level, are now part owners. The move also encourages offices to further utilize each other and all of SEKO’s tools to fully and better serve cleints’ international logistics needs. “Our model is different than most,” remarks Jim Wallace, SEKO’s vice president of global sales, who has been with SEKO only a few months. “All stations are independently owned and operated. Worldwide, we have in excess of 2,000 employees.” What also makes SEKO attractive, Wallace adds, is SEKO has an established leadership team. “It is a financially stable organization,” he says. “It’s well positioned for growth, and has made investments in IT that do not just encompass the buying of systems. The company does its own programming, own codes, and customized solutions for clients.” Wallace works from SEKO’s Itasca, IL global headquarters and report directly SEKO President and CEO Wascher. What Recession? During the global recession, the SEKO’s owners particularly made certain not one single employee was let go. Plus, last year, Wascher reveals, the company saw 33 percent growth. Wascher does not seem surprised. He contends that even during recessionary times, there is growth opportunity. “When the recession hit and I’d go to conferences and conventions, the comments seemed to focus on hunkering down,” he said. “Because we believed in our concept, we did not buy into the recession, but instead looked at market share. There is so much opportunity to grab market share in one’s own economy.” SEKO did renegotiate leases, review contracts, invest in technology, and implement total supply chain solutions. “But from a field standpoint, its ownership structure helped the company remain with clients and within the marketplace,” says Wallace. “Meanwhile, the competitors took their eyes off the customer.” Wallace adds that consolidation within the freight forwarding industry also has particularly instilled a lack of confidence by employees in their future with their employers and pushed many out of their jobs. “People at the desk level and facility management really don’t know where consolidation is going to lead them,” Wallace says. But Wascher emphasizes his company operates with blind trust that allows