b'34American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comBinational approach to(FLOURISHINGcontinued fromnotsharethesamebusinessmodels page 30) as trucking companies and the market restructuring mode has led to assump- dynamics are different. They have far the Great Lakes economy tions that the economic downturn mustgreater scope to re-focus and in many being felt more keenly by SME players.cases to thrive.Inaugural Great Lakes Economic Development CouncilHow do you respond to such reasoning?The number of bankruptcies among MARCH:IcertainlydonotWCAworldsmembersremainsvery (GLEDC) gathering invites key stakeholders. agree that SMEs are in a worse posi- lowthankstothefinancialprotection tionthantheirbiggercompetitors.we offer, and the extra revenue created By Julie Gedeon, AJOT LikeinCOVIDtimesandthisyearby being part of a network.withthetariffchaos,ourmembersThisyearhasbeenparticularly TheGreatLakesEconomichave demonstrated that they are high- challengingbuttheextentofthe Development Council (GLEDC) heldly-adaptabletowhateversituationimpactofTrumpstariffsandthe its first annual conference Oct. 22-24comes along be it in terms of pivotingslowdowns in global trade has been at the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit.towards new market opportunities ordetermined,toadegree,byfactors Thebinationalorganizationinvitedchanges in the nature of the businesssuch as customer concentration, type The First 50 founding stakeholderssuch as digitalization. of products and country focus. Not all to share ways of bolstering awarenessOn the horizon is further, majorproducts and countries are affected in of the regions unique advantages forupheaval in IT with the adoption ofthe same way. Of course, it would be economic growth. AItechnologies.Butagain,SMEsbetter for all if the uncertainty weve Wehadgreatdiscussionswithnimbleness and ability to spot trendshad to cope with this was resolved.business leaders, policymakers, thoughtand readily adopt beneficial solutionsAJOT: For some time now, vari-leaders,andeconomicdevelopmentmeansthischallengecanbemet.Ious sources have predicted a wave of professionals from the United Stateswould argue that disruption of thisM&Ainthehighly-fragmentedfor-andCanada,saysTimHindes,kind is more of an issue for the mul- warding sector, with the bigger play-GLEDCs executive director. tinationalplayerswhosesheersizeers eating up the smaller ones or the Incorporated in 2017 in the StateTim Hindes, GLEDC executive director oftenmakesquickdecision-makinglatter simply going out of business. Is ofOhio,theGLEDCbeganopera- attractiveness to create greater pros- andtheadoptionofsomethingnewthis how consolidation is playing out? tions in 2021. The binational organi- perity for communities throughout thevery difficult. MARCH:Notatall.Overthe zation gained full speed late last yearGreat Lakes, Abbas says. AJOT:IntheEuropeanroadpast 20 years, we have defied predic-when Hindes was hired. Conferencehaulagesector,therearereportsoftions of the demise of small forward-planningbegansoonafterwiththeT Ariffs Ands uPPlyc HAinr esilience awaveofbankruptcies,especiallyers,predictionswhichcompletely help of others, including Alia Abbas,Supplychainresiliencewasaamongindependent,small-scaleignore the added value offering they the founder/CEO of the Alia Consult- key focus in a shifting tariff climate.operators.Canparallelsbedrawnbring to the market.ing economic development firm and aTheresanestimated$6trillioninwith SME forwarders?Forexample, WCAworldmem-GLEDC member at large. gross domestic product that happens inMARCH:No.Roadhaulageisbers have built up strong local teams Weve initially focused on eco- theUS-CanadaGreatLakesregion,struggling in other parts of the worldandaretrueexpertsintheirloca-nomic site selectors and policymakersAbbas emphasizes. As the voice fortoo, including the US. The sector hastion with long-standing and mutual-at the different levels of governmentbusinesses, economic developers needbeen beset with difficulties for somely-beneficial relationships with their to get across that this organization istodeterminethechallengesfacingtimenow,anditisnotgettingany(FLOURISHINGcontinued on focusedonthisregionsinvestment(APPROACHcontinued on page 36) better. However, SME forwarders dopage 37)FLORIDAS BREAKBULKDISTRIBUTION HUBClosest port to Floridas largest and fastest growing market Five post-Panamax gantry cranes with plans for two moreMore than 500,000 SF of warehouse and transit shedExpanding lumber, perishable, container, project cargo, and capacity heavy-lift businessMore than 7,000 feet of berth New and expanded container services with Central Floridas largest steel port America, South America, Mexico, and AsiaWWW.PORTTB.COM'