AI graduated from UCLA in 1970 with a bachelor’s degree in economics and then went to work as an
economist for the California Public Utilities Commission,
which regulated trucking in those days. I spent six or seven
years with them, participating in rate-making and regulatory proceedings. At one of those proceedings, the head of the
California Trucking Association’s research department saw
me in action. He offered me a job with the group, which I
accepted.
I started out in the research department, and 15 years
later, wound up running the whole organization. During
my time there, I grew the finances and grew
the membership in a trial-and-error way. I
learned through the process how to run a
pretty good government affairs shop and a
pretty focused industry association.
I took a medical retirement in July 2005
when I had surgery for cancer. Afterwards,
while I was sitting around trying to decide
what to do next, I put my resume on the
American Society of Association Executives’
Web site, and it just so happened that IWLA
was searching for a new president and CEO
at that time. The search firm picked up my
resume. I went through the process, got
interviewed, and then received an offer to
come here.
I started with IWLA in April 2006. In the first year, we
grew a little bit, and in the second year, 2007, we grew substantially. 2008 was a retrenchment year—a time for
realigning, refocusing, and restructuring the organization.
In 2009, we began growing again, so I feel real good about
the changes we made in 2008 to give us a better foundation
to build on.
QWho are IWLA’s members?
AI would say that facility-based third-party logistics ervice providers are the core of our membership.
They range from the company that operates a single 50,000-
square-foot warehouse all the way up to industry heavyweights like UPS Supply Chain Solutions.
Over the years, our members have gotten more and more
involved in value-added services, so that the warehouse is
not just a static facility that is racking goods, but an operation that handles all kinds of subassembly, kitting, packing,
and order fulfillment tasks. I just toured a warehouse in
Indiana where I’d say at least 15 percent of the square
footage was devoted to conveyor racks, assembly lines, and
Internet order fulfillment—you know, something you
would not have seen 15 years ago.
QWhat are the key challenges your members face today, and what is IWLA doing to help them in that
regard?
AThere are several issues. One is a concern that proba- bly wasn’t on the radar screen with any frequency two
years ago but in today’s business climate, has become a
growing problem for our members—the creditworthiness
of their customers, the shippers or beneficial owners of the
goods stored in the warehouse. We’re seeing
more problems with late payments and
sometimes bankruptcies. So, we’re getting
more questions from members about the
warehouse lien. Specifically, they want to
know about the proper documentation and
execution of the warehouse lien to protect
their interests if, in fact, a depositor goes
into bankruptcy.
We’re also getting more questions in these
tough times on how to market: how to get
your name out there, how to build your
brand, how to take advantage of social
media to market your services, and how to
differentiate yourself in the marketplace.
We’ve done a number of things in response to those questions. For one thing, we developed the Logistics Services
Locator (LSL), a free search engine that lets customers
search for an IWLA member by location, company, keyword, etc. We put a lot of effort into that and advertise it to
the shipping community.
I also have developed a relationship with a consultant
who specializes in 3PL marketing, Chip Scholz. He has
made himself available to our members for help developing
their marketing campaigns.
Basically, we’re trying to help our members understand
that in order to market their services successfully, they first
have to sit down and analyze who they are and what they do
better than anybody else. When times were good, people forgot that because freight came their way. But now, you’d better be able to deliver a clear message about who you are, what
you bring, and why people should do business with you.
QWhat else do you offer in the way of member sup- port?
AWe also offer training and education. Our education programs focus on ways to make your company more
profitable. We have seven live classes every year plus webi-
