Podcasts about Retail Industry Leaders Association

Our guest on this week's episode is Kathy Fulton, executive director of the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). This week Hurricane Debby made landfall on the East Coast, bringing with it lots of rain, flooding, and damage to Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. It is now making its way up the coast. What are the effects on supply chains and how is the industry responding to help those in need? It is always good for us to track the health of the supply chain industry. This week the latest data show that economic activity in the logistics industry expanded in July, marking the eighth straight month of moderate growth across warehousing and transportation markets; that's according to the latest monthly Logistics Managers Index (LMI) report, which was released this week.The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is  calling on the Biden administration to engage the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) which represents dock workers, and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents port operators to come to a new labor agreement to avoid a possible strike at East Coast and Gulf Coasts ports. The two sides are far apart on a new agreement as the current pact is set to expire on September 30. A strike could have widespread impacts on the flow of goods during peak season.Supply Chain Xchange  also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane.  It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. A brand new series of ten episodes just dropped on the "State of Logistics." The episodes provide in-depth looks into the current states of key transportation modes, such as trucking, rail, air, and ocean. It also looks at inventory management, 3PLs and more.  All ten episodes are available to stream now. Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) Report: Logistics industry expanded in JulyRetailers grow nervous about East and Gulf Coast port strikeGet episode transcriptsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: Hyster CompanyOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply

Our guest on this week's episode is Eric Fullerton, senior director of product marketing at project44. Transportation networks continue to be disrupted by the ongoing militia attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. To counter it, most ocean carriers are rerouting goods away from the Suez Canal and extending their ocean miles by sailing around the horn of Africa. We discuss the latest and what shippers can and should be doing to counteract the effects of these ongoing supply chain constraints. New research into demand for same-day delivery shows that it's not just hype – consumers still want fast service, and it can actually add up to higher revenue for companies that provide it. That's according to a report published this week by crowdsourced delivery platform Roadie. Retailers gathered in Dallas this past week for the Retail Industry Leaders Association annual meeting. We report on two large retailers, Nordstrom and Walmart, and what they are doing to enhance their customers' delivery experiences.Supply Chain Xchange  also offers a podcast series called Supply Chain in the Fast Lane.  It is co-produced with the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals.  A new series on Supply Chain Jobs of Tomorrow  starts this week, as all eight episodes drop this Tuesday.  Go to your favorite podcast platform to subscribe and to listen to past and future episodes.Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:project44Report: Retailers say same-day delivery drives higher revenue. Nordstrom juggles multiple goals to give shoppers an emotional experienceWalmart highlights its multi-capability assetsGet episode transcriptsVisit Supply Chain XchangeListen to CSCMP and Supply Chain Xchange's Supply Chain in the Fast Lane podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@agilebme.comPodcast is sponsored by: ApteanOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts

“Uncertainty is like kryptonite for supply chains” warned the Retail Industry Leaders Association, underlining that the repercussions of supply chain disruptions are no longer just theoretical. And as supply chains move towards customised and sustainable solutions, Quincus has unveiled a comprehensive guide into the supply chain and logistics trends anticipated in the APAC region as we head in 2024.  Katherina Lacey, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder, Quincus tells us more about the key highlights from the advisory. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jess Dankert, the vice president for supply chain at the Retail Industry Leaders Association, joins Wendy Snyder (filling-in for Lisa Dent) to explain what could happen if the nation’s largest rail union goes on strike and what impact it may have on your holiday shopping. Follow The Lisa Dent Show on Twitter:Follow @LisaDentSpeaksFollow @SteveBertrand Follow @kpowell720 […]

Internet transactions. Through the Internet's history, purchases made over the Internet within the United States have generally been exempt from sales tax, as courts have followed the Supreme Court ruling from Quill Corporation v North Dakota (1992) that a state may only collect sales tax from a business selling products over the Internet if that entity has a physical location in the state. This decision was based on the Dormant Commerce Clause that prevents states from interfering in interstate commerce, unless granted that authority by Congress. Some retailers, like Amazon.com, had voluntarily started collecting sales tax on purchases even from states where they do not have a physical presence. Many states also have a line item on their tax returns allowing the payment of state sales tax when state income tax is filed by an individual or corporation. In May 2013, the Senate passed the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states to collect sales taxes for purchases made online. The legislation would give States the tools to collect sales taxes on cross-State sales transactions. The bill received support from retailers including Walmart and Amazon.com, who have claimed that it is unfair not to require online merchants to collect sales taxes. Groups like the National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association have said that requiring online vendors to collect sales taxes will help make brick and mortar retailers more competitive. However, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner stated that it would be difficult to implement such a system due to varying tax codes in different states. The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) spoke out against the bill, along with The Heritage Foundation, which indicated that it would harm Internet commerce and small businesses. Online retailer eBay believes it will hurt some of its sellers and lobbied Congress to exempt businesses that have less than $10 million in out-of-state sales or fewer than 50 employees. The Act failed to pass in either the 112th or 113th Congress. In October 2017, the state of South Dakota petitioned the Supreme Court to abrogate the Quill decision, citing the ease that online retailers can now determine the location and appropriate sales tax for purchases compared to the state of the Internet in 1992. Several online retailers, including Wayfair, Overstock.com and Newegg, submitted petitions in opposition to South Dakota, stating that the impact will be difficult on small and medium-sized retailers that would not have ease of access to these tools. In January 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case South Dakota v Wayfair Incorporated in its 2018 term. Oral arguments were heard by the Supreme Court on April 17, 2018. During oral arguments South Dakota's attorney general, Marty Jackley, and the U.S. Solicitor General's representative, Malcolm L Stewart, both posited that if the Court overturns the Quill decision that the ruling must be retroactive and not merely prospective. Several Justices were concerned about the burden that back taxes and ongoing sales and use tax compliance would place on small businesses. On June 21, 2018 the Supreme Court held that states may charge tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers, even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the taxing state. The court's 5–4 majority decision overturned Quill, ruling that the physical presence rule decided by Quill was 'unsound and incorrect' in the current age of Internet services. Value added tax. There is no value added tax in the United States. There have been proposals to replace some Federal taxes with a value added tax. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/law-school/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/law-school/support

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, September 15th, 2022. Hope you guys have a great Thursday today, and before we jump into the news, let’s do a quick on this day in history! On this day in history, Sept. 15th: 1835 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board reaches the Galapagos Islands 1916 first use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme 1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza 1940 Battle of Britain Day: climax of the Battle of Britain, tide begins to turn as the Royal Air Force repulses a major Luftwaffe attack, losing 29 aircraft to the Germans' 57-61 1949 "Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC-TV. Hi-yo, Silver! Away! Famous Sept. 15th birthdays - Marco Polo, William Howard Taft, Agatha Christie, Ashley Cooper, Dan Marino, and Prince Harry… womp womp. And that was on this day in history! Now, question for ya… Do you have a podcast, or thinking about starting one? Does your church have a podcast feed for sermons? The Dropwave.io is for you. Cancel culture is like walking on a thin glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. Every step you take could get you killed, I mean canceled. Since the beginning CrossPolitic has been working on being antifragile, so no matter what happens, our content can still be delivered to your tv and to your podcast. This past year, the Waterboy and his friend Jeremi, have been working on building a podcast hosting solution for rowdy platforms like CrossPolitic, so that you can be confident your podcast will never fall through that glass bridge. Dropwave offers seamless onboarding for shows that have been around for years to easy to use solutions for starting your own podcast. Dropwave will track all your show’s downloads by city, state, and country, and it offers network and enterprise packages for solutions like the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Free to speak, Free to podcast, free to start your journey now at www.Dropwave.io. https://www.theblaze.com/news/mike-lindell-fbi-seizes-cellphone Mike Lindell says the FBI confiscated his cell phone at drive-thru of a Hardee's Pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation confiscated his cell phone while he was at a Hardee's restaurant. Lindell made the revelation in a video posted to social media. https://twitter.com/i/status/1569847934849634306 - Play Video Lindell further elaborated about the incident on his show, "The Lindell Report." He said he was going through the Hardee's drive-thru when FBI agents approached him and demanded he hand over his phone. He said that he eventually handed over his phone after consulting his lawyer. Lindell said that the search warrant was likely related to his claims about voting machines manufactured by the Dominion company. He has been one of the foremost proponents of the conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump through the use of fraudulent voting machines. The search warrant was likely a part of a dozens of subpoenas reportedly issued by the Department of Justice in connection to the probe into efforts to overturn the official results of the election. Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit in February 2021 over Lindell's accusations. He issued a defiant response over the lawsuit in January. "I want Dominion to put up their lawsuit because we have 100% evidence that China and other countries used their machines to steal the election," Lindell said. https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-grapples-to-avoid-nationwide-railroad-strike-that-could-send-gas-prices-soaring-hamstring-supply-chain White House Grapples To Avoid Nationwide Railroad Strike That Could Send Gas Prices Soaring, Hamstring Supply Chain The White House is seeking to prevent a nationwide railroad strike that could worsen supply chain bottlenecks and increase gas prices. BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific announced embargoes on certain shipments earlier this week as negotiations continue with two of the nation’s largest rail unions — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART Transportation Division. The Biden administration created a Presidential Emergency Board via executive order two months ago to facilitate the negotiations. “We have made crystal clear to the interested parties the harm that American families, businesses and farmers, and communities would experience if they were not to reach a resolution,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the administration is working with shipping, trucking, and air freight companies to “see how they can step in and keep goods moving in case of this rail shutdown.” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is slated to host union leaders and rail company executives on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from a Department of Labor spokesperson. Supply chain bottlenecks driven by widespread labor shortages and lockdowns in Asian manufacturing hubs have impacted the American economy over the past two years, contributing to higher inflation as consumer goods fail to reach shelves. The daily cost of a nationwide rail shutdown could amount to $2 billion, according to a report from the Association of American Railroads. Moving shipments to truckers would require the equivalent of 467,000 additional long-haul trucks per day — growth that would take “years of concerted effort” to achieve, especially amid a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers. The Retail Industry Leaders Association explained in a July letter to the Biden administration that freight rail accounts for 40% of long-distance shipping volume — “more than any other mode of transportation.” Last month, the White House suggested increasing railroad employee pay by 24% over the next two years — a measure that would lead to an average raise of $11,000 per employee. “An agreement based on these terms would lead to the largest general wage increase in nearly 40 years,” Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement. Gas prices could increase between $0.35 and $0.75 per gallon if a railroad strike continued for multiple days, warned GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan. “Since ethanol primarily moves via rail, and much of the nation blends ethanol into all grades, it would be a big challenge,” he remarked on social media. The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when Biden assumed office and increased to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion. After surpassing $5.00 per gallon in early June, prices have subsided to $3.70 per gallon as of Wednesday, according to data from AAA. https://dailycaller.com/2022/09/14/cpac-letter-republican-offices-support-bill-banning-gender-surgeries-minors-marjorie-taylor-greene/ CPAC Pressuring Every GOP Office To Support Bill Banning Gender Surgeries On Minors The Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) sent a letter Tuesday to every Republican in the House of Representatives, calling on them to cosponsor a bill that would ban gender surgeries on minors. The letter, which was first obtained by the Daily Caller, was sent to every House Republican Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director and urges them to back Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act.” The bill charges any person who knowingly performed gender-affirming care on a minor with a Class C Felony, which could put them in prison for 10 to 25 years or require a maximum $250,000 fine. The legislation, originally introduced on Aug. 19, also prohibits all taxpayer-funded gender-affirming care, prohibits institutions of higher education from providing instruction on gender-affirming care, and more. “Across the country we have seen the radical gender politics of the Woke Left infiltrate all facets of our lives. As a result, the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) has undertaken an effort to drive legislation throughout the country to protect children from the Left’s radical gender theory in schools, sports, and medicine,” the letter reads. “As such, we view Rep. Taylor Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act as common-sense legislation meant to protect children. Accordingly, CPAC supports the Protect Children’s Innocence Act and urges you to co-sponsor the legislation,” the letter continues. The Daily Caller reported Tuesday that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction promotes transgender video and reading resources explicitly aimed at preschoolers, according to a guide titled “Resources for Gender Expansive Preschoolers.” https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2022/09/14/almost-half-san-francisco-residents-say-were-victims-of-crime-in-past-5-years/ Nearly half of all San Francisco, California, residents say that they have been victims of crime in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle reported Tuesday: A sweeping poll commissioned by The Chronicle drew sobering results: Nearly half of respondents said they were victims of theft in the last five years, while roughly a quarter were physically attacked or threatened. The majority had negative impressions of law enforcement. The SFNext poll asked a random sample of 1,653 city residents more than 90 questions about numerous aspects of life in San Francisco. It was conducted in late June and July, and respondents reflect the city’s demographics. Forty-five percent of people surveyed for the poll said they had an item stolen within the last five years. Proportionally, Black and mixed-race respondents felt a more severe impact than other groups, with a majority — 54% of Black respondents and 55% of mixed-race respondents — reporting they had suffered theft. Property crime rates were lower for white residents, 43% of whom had a possession swiped within the time period. Critics of the poll suggest that it may have underreported crimes against Asian-American residents, who feel vulnerable lately. The Chronicle also reported that two-thirds (65%) of residents said life in the city had declined since they had moved there: “[T]he greatest unhappiness stems from frustration with the city’s biggest, seemingly intractable problems — particularly homelessness, public safety and housing affordability — as well as with the politicians who haven’t solved them yet.” Dime Payments Dime Payments is a Christian owned processing payment business. Every business needs a payment process system, so please go to https://dimepayments.com/flf and sign your business up. Working with them supports us. They wont cancel you, like Stripe canceled President Trump. They wont cancel you, like Mailchimp canceled the Babylon Bee. Check them out. At least have a phone call and tell them that CrossPolitic sent you. Go to https://dimepayments.com/flf. https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/09/13/boston-marathon-creates-nonbinary-category-for-2023-race/ Boston Marathon Creates ‘Nonbinary’ Category for 2023 Race The Boston Marathon has succumbed to the next radical LGBTQ agenda by creating a “nonbinary” category for runners who claim to be neither male nor female. The Boston Athletic Association confirmed on Monday that the new category would be included in all its races, including the 5K, 10K, and the half marathon going forward, according to the Daily Mail. The new category was seen in the registration information released Monday for the Marathon’s 127th run set to be held on April 17, 2023. Officials have not yet finished crafting its qualifying standards for so-called “nonbinary” runners, but the online applications will include nonbinary as a gender option. “‘Discussions are ongoing with nonbinary athletes in an effort to further promote inclusion at all BAA events. We view this first year as an opportunity to learn and grow together,” the BAA said in a statement. The Boston Marathon is not the first race to add such a category. Race organizations in Philadelphia and Brooklyn have already set up nonbinary categories for sponsored races. Some on social media worried that allowing nonbinary runners will lower standards for entrants. One social media user, for instance, noted that if they don’t make the standards hew toward the higher male standards, slower runners will abuse the category just to get qualified in a race for which it is notoriously hard to win entry. This has been Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily NewsBrief… if you liked the show, hit that share button down below. If you wanted to sign up for a club membership, sign up for our conference with that club discount, then sign up for a magazine subscription… you could do all of that at fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you want to email me a news story, about our conference, or to become a corporate partner with CrossPolitic, email me, at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, September 15th, 2022. Hope you guys have a great Thursday today, and before we jump into the news, let’s do a quick on this day in history! On this day in history, Sept. 15th: 1835 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board reaches the Galapagos Islands 1916 first use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme 1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza 1940 Battle of Britain Day: climax of the Battle of Britain, tide begins to turn as the Royal Air Force repulses a major Luftwaffe attack, losing 29 aircraft to the Germans' 57-61 1949 "Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC-TV. Hi-yo, Silver! Away! Famous Sept. 15th birthdays - Marco Polo, William Howard Taft, Agatha Christie, Ashley Cooper, Dan Marino, and Prince Harry… womp womp. And that was on this day in history! Now, question for ya… Do you have a podcast, or thinking about starting one? Does your church have a podcast feed for sermons? The Dropwave.io is for you. Cancel culture is like walking on a thin glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. Every step you take could get you killed, I mean canceled. Since the beginning CrossPolitic has been working on being antifragile, so no matter what happens, our content can still be delivered to your tv and to your podcast. This past year, the Waterboy and his friend Jeremi, have been working on building a podcast hosting solution for rowdy platforms like CrossPolitic, so that you can be confident your podcast will never fall through that glass bridge. Dropwave offers seamless onboarding for shows that have been around for years to easy to use solutions for starting your own podcast. Dropwave will track all your show’s downloads by city, state, and country, and it offers network and enterprise packages for solutions like the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Free to speak, Free to podcast, free to start your journey now at www.Dropwave.io. https://www.theblaze.com/news/mike-lindell-fbi-seizes-cellphone Mike Lindell says the FBI confiscated his cell phone at drive-thru of a Hardee's Pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation confiscated his cell phone while he was at a Hardee's restaurant. Lindell made the revelation in a video posted to social media. https://twitter.com/i/status/1569847934849634306 - Play Video Lindell further elaborated about the incident on his show, "The Lindell Report." He said he was going through the Hardee's drive-thru when FBI agents approached him and demanded he hand over his phone. He said that he eventually handed over his phone after consulting his lawyer. Lindell said that the search warrant was likely related to his claims about voting machines manufactured by the Dominion company. He has been one of the foremost proponents of the conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump through the use of fraudulent voting machines. The search warrant was likely a part of a dozens of subpoenas reportedly issued by the Department of Justice in connection to the probe into efforts to overturn the official results of the election. Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit in February 2021 over Lindell's accusations. He issued a defiant response over the lawsuit in January. "I want Dominion to put up their lawsuit because we have 100% evidence that China and other countries used their machines to steal the election," Lindell said. https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-grapples-to-avoid-nationwide-railroad-strike-that-could-send-gas-prices-soaring-hamstring-supply-chain White House Grapples To Avoid Nationwide Railroad Strike That Could Send Gas Prices Soaring, Hamstring Supply Chain The White House is seeking to prevent a nationwide railroad strike that could worsen supply chain bottlenecks and increase gas prices. BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific announced embargoes on certain shipments earlier this week as negotiations continue with two of the nation’s largest rail unions — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART Transportation Division. The Biden administration created a Presidential Emergency Board via executive order two months ago to facilitate the negotiations. “We have made crystal clear to the interested parties the harm that American families, businesses and farmers, and communities would experience if they were not to reach a resolution,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the administration is working with shipping, trucking, and air freight companies to “see how they can step in and keep goods moving in case of this rail shutdown.” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is slated to host union leaders and rail company executives on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from a Department of Labor spokesperson. Supply chain bottlenecks driven by widespread labor shortages and lockdowns in Asian manufacturing hubs have impacted the American economy over the past two years, contributing to higher inflation as consumer goods fail to reach shelves. The daily cost of a nationwide rail shutdown could amount to $2 billion, according to a report from the Association of American Railroads. Moving shipments to truckers would require the equivalent of 467,000 additional long-haul trucks per day — growth that would take “years of concerted effort” to achieve, especially amid a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers. The Retail Industry Leaders Association explained in a July letter to the Biden administration that freight rail accounts for 40% of long-distance shipping volume — “more than any other mode of transportation.” Last month, the White House suggested increasing railroad employee pay by 24% over the next two years — a measure that would lead to an average raise of $11,000 per employee. “An agreement based on these terms would lead to the largest general wage increase in nearly 40 years,” Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement. Gas prices could increase between $0.35 and $0.75 per gallon if a railroad strike continued for multiple days, warned GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan. “Since ethanol primarily moves via rail, and much of the nation blends ethanol into all grades, it would be a big challenge,” he remarked on social media. The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when Biden assumed office and increased to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion. After surpassing $5.00 per gallon in early June, prices have subsided to $3.70 per gallon as of Wednesday, according to data from AAA. https://dailycaller.com/2022/09/14/cpac-letter-republican-offices-support-bill-banning-gender-surgeries-minors-marjorie-taylor-greene/ CPAC Pressuring Every GOP Office To Support Bill Banning Gender Surgeries On Minors The Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) sent a letter Tuesday to every Republican in the House of Representatives, calling on them to cosponsor a bill that would ban gender surgeries on minors. The letter, which was first obtained by the Daily Caller, was sent to every House Republican Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director and urges them to back Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act.” The bill charges any person who knowingly performed gender-affirming care on a minor with a Class C Felony, which could put them in prison for 10 to 25 years or require a maximum $250,000 fine. The legislation, originally introduced on Aug. 19, also prohibits all taxpayer-funded gender-affirming care, prohibits institutions of higher education from providing instruction on gender-affirming care, and more. “Across the country we have seen the radical gender politics of the Woke Left infiltrate all facets of our lives. As a result, the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) has undertaken an effort to drive legislation throughout the country to protect children from the Left’s radical gender theory in schools, sports, and medicine,” the letter reads. “As such, we view Rep. Taylor Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act as common-sense legislation meant to protect children. Accordingly, CPAC supports the Protect Children’s Innocence Act and urges you to co-sponsor the legislation,” the letter continues. The Daily Caller reported Tuesday that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction promotes transgender video and reading resources explicitly aimed at preschoolers, according to a guide titled “Resources for Gender Expansive Preschoolers.” https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2022/09/14/almost-half-san-francisco-residents-say-were-victims-of-crime-in-past-5-years/ Nearly half of all San Francisco, California, residents say that they have been victims of crime in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle reported Tuesday: A sweeping poll commissioned by The Chronicle drew sobering results: Nearly half of respondents said they were victims of theft in the last five years, while roughly a quarter were physically attacked or threatened. The majority had negative impressions of law enforcement. The SFNext poll asked a random sample of 1,653 city residents more than 90 questions about numerous aspects of life in San Francisco. It was conducted in late June and July, and respondents reflect the city’s demographics. Forty-five percent of people surveyed for the poll said they had an item stolen within the last five years. Proportionally, Black and mixed-race respondents felt a more severe impact than other groups, with a majority — 54% of Black respondents and 55% of mixed-race respondents — reporting they had suffered theft. Property crime rates were lower for white residents, 43% of whom had a possession swiped within the time period. Critics of the poll suggest that it may have underreported crimes against Asian-American residents, who feel vulnerable lately. The Chronicle also reported that two-thirds (65%) of residents said life in the city had declined since they had moved there: “[T]he greatest unhappiness stems from frustration with the city’s biggest, seemingly intractable problems — particularly homelessness, public safety and housing affordability — as well as with the politicians who haven’t solved them yet.” Dime Payments Dime Payments is a Christian owned processing payment business. Every business needs a payment process system, so please go to https://dimepayments.com/flf and sign your business up. Working with them supports us. They wont cancel you, like Stripe canceled President Trump. They wont cancel you, like Mailchimp canceled the Babylon Bee. Check them out. At least have a phone call and tell them that CrossPolitic sent you. Go to https://dimepayments.com/flf. https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/09/13/boston-marathon-creates-nonbinary-category-for-2023-race/ Boston Marathon Creates ‘Nonbinary’ Category for 2023 Race The Boston Marathon has succumbed to the next radical LGBTQ agenda by creating a “nonbinary” category for runners who claim to be neither male nor female. The Boston Athletic Association confirmed on Monday that the new category would be included in all its races, including the 5K, 10K, and the half marathon going forward, according to the Daily Mail. The new category was seen in the registration information released Monday for the Marathon’s 127th run set to be held on April 17, 2023. Officials have not yet finished crafting its qualifying standards for so-called “nonbinary” runners, but the online applications will include nonbinary as a gender option. “‘Discussions are ongoing with nonbinary athletes in an effort to further promote inclusion at all BAA events. We view this first year as an opportunity to learn and grow together,” the BAA said in a statement. The Boston Marathon is not the first race to add such a category. Race organizations in Philadelphia and Brooklyn have already set up nonbinary categories for sponsored races. Some on social media worried that allowing nonbinary runners will lower standards for entrants. One social media user, for instance, noted that if they don’t make the standards hew toward the higher male standards, slower runners will abuse the category just to get qualified in a race for which it is notoriously hard to win entry. This has been Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily NewsBrief… if you liked the show, hit that share button down below. If you wanted to sign up for a club membership, sign up for our conference with that club discount, then sign up for a magazine subscription… you could do all of that at fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you want to email me a news story, about our conference, or to become a corporate partner with CrossPolitic, email me, at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

This is Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily News Brief for Thursday, September 15th, 2022. Hope you guys have a great Thursday today, and before we jump into the news, let’s do a quick on this day in history! On this day in history, Sept. 15th: 1835 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board reaches the Galapagos Islands 1916 first use of tanks in warfare, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flers-Courcelette, part of the Battle of the Somme 1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin while studying influenza 1940 Battle of Britain Day: climax of the Battle of Britain, tide begins to turn as the Royal Air Force repulses a major Luftwaffe attack, losing 29 aircraft to the Germans' 57-61 1949 "Lone Ranger" premieres on ABC-TV. Hi-yo, Silver! Away! Famous Sept. 15th birthdays - Marco Polo, William Howard Taft, Agatha Christie, Ashley Cooper, Dan Marino, and Prince Harry… womp womp. And that was on this day in history! Now, question for ya… Do you have a podcast, or thinking about starting one? Does your church have a podcast feed for sermons? The Dropwave.io is for you. Cancel culture is like walking on a thin glass bridge over the Grand Canyon. Every step you take could get you killed, I mean canceled. Since the beginning CrossPolitic has been working on being antifragile, so no matter what happens, our content can still be delivered to your tv and to your podcast. This past year, the Waterboy and his friend Jeremi, have been working on building a podcast hosting solution for rowdy platforms like CrossPolitic, so that you can be confident your podcast will never fall through that glass bridge. Dropwave offers seamless onboarding for shows that have been around for years to easy to use solutions for starting your own podcast. Dropwave will track all your show’s downloads by city, state, and country, and it offers network and enterprise packages for solutions like the Fight Laugh Feast Network. Free to speak, Free to podcast, free to start your journey now at www.Dropwave.io. https://www.theblaze.com/news/mike-lindell-fbi-seizes-cellphone Mike Lindell says the FBI confiscated his cell phone at drive-thru of a Hardee's Pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell claimed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation confiscated his cell phone while he was at a Hardee's restaurant. Lindell made the revelation in a video posted to social media. https://twitter.com/i/status/1569847934849634306 - Play Video Lindell further elaborated about the incident on his show, "The Lindell Report." He said he was going through the Hardee's drive-thru when FBI agents approached him and demanded he hand over his phone. He said that he eventually handed over his phone after consulting his lawyer. Lindell said that the search warrant was likely related to his claims about voting machines manufactured by the Dominion company. He has been one of the foremost proponents of the conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump through the use of fraudulent voting machines. The search warrant was likely a part of a dozens of subpoenas reportedly issued by the Department of Justice in connection to the probe into efforts to overturn the official results of the election. Dominion filed a $1.3 billion lawsuit in February 2021 over Lindell's accusations. He issued a defiant response over the lawsuit in January. "I want Dominion to put up their lawsuit because we have 100% evidence that China and other countries used their machines to steal the election," Lindell said. https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-grapples-to-avoid-nationwide-railroad-strike-that-could-send-gas-prices-soaring-hamstring-supply-chain White House Grapples To Avoid Nationwide Railroad Strike That Could Send Gas Prices Soaring, Hamstring Supply Chain The White House is seeking to prevent a nationwide railroad strike that could worsen supply chain bottlenecks and increase gas prices. BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific announced embargoes on certain shipments earlier this week as negotiations continue with two of the nation’s largest rail unions — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART Transportation Division. The Biden administration created a Presidential Emergency Board via executive order two months ago to facilitate the negotiations. “We have made crystal clear to the interested parties the harm that American families, businesses and farmers, and communities would experience if they were not to reach a resolution,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the administration is working with shipping, trucking, and air freight companies to “see how they can step in and keep goods moving in case of this rail shutdown.” Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is slated to host union leaders and rail company executives on Wednesday morning, according to a statement from a Department of Labor spokesperson. Supply chain bottlenecks driven by widespread labor shortages and lockdowns in Asian manufacturing hubs have impacted the American economy over the past two years, contributing to higher inflation as consumer goods fail to reach shelves. The daily cost of a nationwide rail shutdown could amount to $2 billion, according to a report from the Association of American Railroads. Moving shipments to truckers would require the equivalent of 467,000 additional long-haul trucks per day — growth that would take “years of concerted effort” to achieve, especially amid a shortage of more than 80,000 truck drivers. The Retail Industry Leaders Association explained in a July letter to the Biden administration that freight rail accounts for 40% of long-distance shipping volume — “more than any other mode of transportation.” Last month, the White House suggested increasing railroad employee pay by 24% over the next two years — a measure that would lead to an average raise of $11,000 per employee. “An agreement based on these terms would lead to the largest general wage increase in nearly 40 years,” Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement. Gas prices could increase between $0.35 and $0.75 per gallon if a railroad strike continued for multiple days, warned GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan. “Since ethanol primarily moves via rail, and much of the nation blends ethanol into all grades, it would be a big challenge,” he remarked on social media. The national average price of gasoline was $2.38 per gallon when Biden assumed office and increased to $3.53 per gallon by the start of the Russian invasion. After surpassing $5.00 per gallon in early June, prices have subsided to $3.70 per gallon as of Wednesday, according to data from AAA. https://dailycaller.com/2022/09/14/cpac-letter-republican-offices-support-bill-banning-gender-surgeries-minors-marjorie-taylor-greene/ CPAC Pressuring Every GOP Office To Support Bill Banning Gender Surgeries On Minors The Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) sent a letter Tuesday to every Republican in the House of Representatives, calling on them to cosponsor a bill that would ban gender surgeries on minors. The letter, which was first obtained by the Daily Caller, was sent to every House Republican Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director and urges them to back Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act.” The bill charges any person who knowingly performed gender-affirming care on a minor with a Class C Felony, which could put them in prison for 10 to 25 years or require a maximum $250,000 fine. The legislation, originally introduced on Aug. 19, also prohibits all taxpayer-funded gender-affirming care, prohibits institutions of higher education from providing instruction on gender-affirming care, and more. “Across the country we have seen the radical gender politics of the Woke Left infiltrate all facets of our lives. As a result, the Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) has undertaken an effort to drive legislation throughout the country to protect children from the Left’s radical gender theory in schools, sports, and medicine,” the letter reads. “As such, we view Rep. Taylor Greene’s Protect Children’s Innocence Act as common-sense legislation meant to protect children. Accordingly, CPAC supports the Protect Children’s Innocence Act and urges you to co-sponsor the legislation,” the letter continues. The Daily Caller reported Tuesday that the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction promotes transgender video and reading resources explicitly aimed at preschoolers, according to a guide titled “Resources for Gender Expansive Preschoolers.” https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2022/09/14/almost-half-san-francisco-residents-say-were-victims-of-crime-in-past-5-years/ Nearly half of all San Francisco, California, residents say that they have been victims of crime in the past five years, according to a survey conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle reported Tuesday: A sweeping poll commissioned by The Chronicle drew sobering results: Nearly half of respondents said they were victims of theft in the last five years, while roughly a quarter were physically attacked or threatened. The majority had negative impressions of law enforcement. The SFNext poll asked a random sample of 1,653 city residents more than 90 questions about numerous aspects of life in San Francisco. It was conducted in late June and July, and respondents reflect the city’s demographics. Forty-five percent of people surveyed for the poll said they had an item stolen within the last five years. Proportionally, Black and mixed-race respondents felt a more severe impact than other groups, with a majority — 54% of Black respondents and 55% of mixed-race respondents — reporting they had suffered theft. Property crime rates were lower for white residents, 43% of whom had a possession swiped within the time period. Critics of the poll suggest that it may have underreported crimes against Asian-American residents, who feel vulnerable lately. The Chronicle also reported that two-thirds (65%) of residents said life in the city had declined since they had moved there: “[T]he greatest unhappiness stems from frustration with the city’s biggest, seemingly intractable problems — particularly homelessness, public safety and housing affordability — as well as with the politicians who haven’t solved them yet.” Dime Payments Dime Payments is a Christian owned processing payment business. Every business needs a payment process system, so please go to https://dimepayments.com/flf and sign your business up. Working with them supports us. They wont cancel you, like Stripe canceled President Trump. They wont cancel you, like Mailchimp canceled the Babylon Bee. Check them out. At least have a phone call and tell them that CrossPolitic sent you. Go to https://dimepayments.com/flf. https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/09/13/boston-marathon-creates-nonbinary-category-for-2023-race/ Boston Marathon Creates ‘Nonbinary’ Category for 2023 Race The Boston Marathon has succumbed to the next radical LGBTQ agenda by creating a “nonbinary” category for runners who claim to be neither male nor female. The Boston Athletic Association confirmed on Monday that the new category would be included in all its races, including the 5K, 10K, and the half marathon going forward, according to the Daily Mail. The new category was seen in the registration information released Monday for the Marathon’s 127th run set to be held on April 17, 2023. Officials have not yet finished crafting its qualifying standards for so-called “nonbinary” runners, but the online applications will include nonbinary as a gender option. “‘Discussions are ongoing with nonbinary athletes in an effort to further promote inclusion at all BAA events. We view this first year as an opportunity to learn and grow together,” the BAA said in a statement. The Boston Marathon is not the first race to add such a category. Race organizations in Philadelphia and Brooklyn have already set up nonbinary categories for sponsored races. Some on social media worried that allowing nonbinary runners will lower standards for entrants. One social media user, for instance, noted that if they don’t make the standards hew toward the higher male standards, slower runners will abuse the category just to get qualified in a race for which it is notoriously hard to win entry. This has been Garrison Hardie with your CrossPolitic Daily NewsBrief… if you liked the show, hit that share button down below. If you wanted to sign up for a club membership, sign up for our conference with that club discount, then sign up for a magazine subscription… you could do all of that at fightlaughfeast.com. And as always, if you want to email me a news story, about our conference, or to become a corporate partner with CrossPolitic, email me, at garrison@fightlaughfeast.com. For CrossPolitic News, I’m Garrison Hardie. Have a great day, and Lord bless.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the creation of the Organized Retail Crime Theft Task Force on Thursday. The Task Force will focus on sophisticated, organized crime rings and work to stop them.According to the Retail Industry Leaders Association, organized theft cost Washington's retailers around $2.7 billion last year.Given the magnitude of losses, Ferguson says it's vital that multiple agencies and retailers work together because organized retail theft is simply too big for one organization to take on alone.LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos everyday. https://bit.ly/3KBUDSK

SynopsisIn this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Evan Armstrong, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, as well as Vice President of Workforce and a member of the Government Affairs team for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (or RILA) discusses the status of case involving a Trump-era rule regarding independent contractors, the NLRB general counsel's efforts to enact card-check, ban captive audience meetings, as well as a host of other labor and employment policy issues affecting the workplace.BackgroundLast week, the Department of Labor filed an appeal of a decision by a federal judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas which blocked the Biden administration from withdrawing a Trump-era rule that made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors.According to Bloomberg Law, the judge “sided with Coalition for Workforce Innovation, a business group whose ranks include gig-economy companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.”The business group sued the DOL, Secretary Marty Walsh, and another agency official on behalf of its members, whose business models largely depend on their ability to classify their workforce as contractors rather than employees entitled to certain wages and benefits. Three groups representing builders, contractors, and financial services firms later joined the lawsuit.Related links:Bloomberg Law: DOL Appeals Decision Reviving Trump Independent Contractor RuleLabor Activity In Retail Annual Report: Spring 2022Coalition for Workforce InnovationRetail Industry Leaders AssociationFor more labor union news, go here.

SynopsisIn this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Evan Armstrong, a spokesperson for the Coalition for Workforce Innovation, as well as Vice President of Workforce and a member of the Government Affairs team for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (or RILA) discusses the status of case involving a Trump-era rule regarding independent contractors, the NLRB general counsel’s efforts to enact card-check, ban captive audience meetings, as well as a host of other labor and employment policy issues affecting the workplace.BackgroundLast week, the Department of Labor filed an appeal of a decision by a federal judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas which blocked the Biden administration from withdrawing a Trump-era rule that made it easier for businesses to classify workers as independent contractors.According to Bloomberg Law, the judge “sided with Coalition for Workforce Innovation, a business group whose ranks include gig-economy companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.”The business group sued the DOL, Secretary Marty Walsh, and another agency official on behalf of its members, whose business models largely depend on their ability to classify their workforce as contractors rather than employees entitled to certain wages and benefits. Three groups representing builders, contractors, and financial services firms later joined the lawsuit.Related links:Bloomberg Law: DOL Appeals Decision Reviving Trump Independent Contractor RuleLabor Activity In Retail Annual Report: Spring 2022Coalition for Workforce InnovationRetail Industry Leaders Association Get full access to LaborUnionNews.com's News Digest at laborunionnews.substack.com/subscribe

Evan Armstrong, VP of Government Affairs at RILA, details the retail concerns in a post-pandemic world and RILA's role in the industry.

Karyn Schoenbart is Chief Executive Officer of The NPD Group, a global provider of information and advisory services.  NPD combines unique data assets and solutions with industry expertise, working with the world's leading brands to support better business decisions.  Under Karyn's leadership, NPD is proud to have been named one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York State. Passionate about coaching others to greater levels of achievement, Karyn is also the best-selling author of Mom.B.A.: Essential Business Advice from One Generation to the Next.  The book is based on the real-life business lessons Karyn amassed during her career. Karyn has over 30 years of experience in market research, and has led NPD's strategic expansion with the introduction of analytic solutions and new types of data.  Karyn currently serves on the board of directors of the Retail Industry Leaders Association. She is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, women's events and universities, teaches classes in leadership and developing client relationships and was recently inducted into the Long Island Business Hall of Fame.  You can follow Karyn on Twitter @karynschoenbart, Facebook @karynschoenbartauthor and http://www.karynschoenbart.com (www.karynschoenbart.com) Karyn's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karynschoenbart/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/karynschoenbart/) Company Link: https://www.npd.com/ (https://www.npd.com/) WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER FROM THIS EPISODE: A key insight that helped Karyn go from Account Executive to CEO. One thing that MUST be a fit if you plan to stay at a company for the long haul. Advice for any employee who is dealing with a bad boss. What if you don't like your boss. What you can do about a bad boss. What you can learn from a bad boss. Can a bad boss be good for you? How she wrote her book, Mom.B.A., even with the demands of being CEO. A FUN way to teach your kids about business. Strategy to overcome Impostor Syndrome. The catastrophic cost of turnover. The secret to high employee engagement. GREAT strategy to retain remote employees. A failure in her career that led to her growth down the road. QUOTES: “While you can change many things about your job, If you don't feel a fit with a culture of the company that could be a sign to leave.”  “Don't sell after the close.” RESOURCES: https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Librarian-Marie-Benedict/dp/0593101537 (The Personal Librarian) by Marie Benedict ------------------- https://www.benfanning.com/the-ceo-sessions/ (Apply to be on the show) ------------------- https://www.benfanning.com/the-ceo-sessions/ (Connect with Ben:) https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benfanning/) https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/ (https://www.instagram.com/benfanning1/) https://twitter.com/BenFanning1 (https://twitter.com/BenFanning1)

Our guest in this week's episode is Josefina (Josie) Blanco, legal and compliance lead with Nuvocargo. She discusses current cross-border trade issues, including whether the recent protests against vaccine mandates at the Canadian border could spread to our Southern border with Mexico. She also shares her views on other compliance issues affecting trade and border crossings between the United States and Mexico.Retailers are taking environmental and sustainability issues very seriously. We discuss some of these trends and other retail issues that were front and center this week at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) LINK conference held this past week in Texas.Ransomware and other cyberattacks are on the rise. More than a third of organizations fear they could be vulnerable. How can logistics managers protect their supply chains from these threats? DC Velocity's sister publication CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly  has  produced an 11-episode limited podcast series called Top 10 Supply Chain Threats. Each week, a different threat to our supply chains is discussed, including capacity constraints, labor shortages, inflation and economics, weather-related issues, component and product shortages, digitalization, automation, and much more. Subscribe at your favorite podcast platform. Search "Top 10 Supply Chain Threats."Articles and resources mentioned in this episode:NuvocargoNuvocargo's vaccine checker for Mexican truck driversRILA show retailers make climate progress through discrete solutionsRansomware attacks on networks soared in 2021Visit DCVelocity.com for the latest news. Visit Supply Chain QuarterlyListen to Supply Chain Quarterly's Top 10 Supply Chain Threats podcastSend feedback about this podcast to podcast@dcvelocity.com.Podcast sponsored by: HysterOther linksAbout DC VELOCITYSubscribe to DC VELOCITYSign up for our FREE newslettersAdvertise with DC VELOCITYTop 10 Supply Chain Management Podcasts

In this episode, in a full-frontal assault to common sense the courts display a bit of sanity. AOC called out for her "tone-deaf and offensive" remarks by the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

As Organized Retail Crime Associations (ORCAs) continue to grow across the country, communication between retailers and law enforcement continues to improve. But, are retail teams fully leveraging these regional resources to their full potential to fight crime and anti-social behavior? Are these ORCAs enough to bridge the gap? This podcast will discuss effective strategies for enhancing partnerships with local, state and federal law enforcement and the positive impact they are having on overall crime reduction. This podcast is the audio from a webinar sponsored by the Retail Industry Leaders Association. The panelists include:Tony Sheppard, director of ORC, Ulta BeautyMike Bowers, CFI, vice president of LP, Northgate MarketsJose Egurbide, city attorney, Los AngelesJoe Hopkins, detective, LAPDKarl Langhorst, CFI, senior advisor, ALTO

This podcast reviews several high-profile lawsuits that illustrate the various liability risks and lawsuits that can arise from different types of violence in the workplace–from active shooter to parking lot crime to shoplifting apprehensions and beyond. These cases will also educate listeners on the legal elements necessary to prove liability such as “duty,” “foreseeable,” and “breach.” Walter Palmer, executive vice president of CAP Index, moderates this discussion with Nathan Brown, corporate council of The Kroger Co., and Brian Trulock, partner with Bendin Sumrall & Ladner. This podcast is the audio from a webinar sponsored by the Retail Industry Leaders Association.

E3 Former Dollar General Chief People Officer, Bob Ravener, on How to Find Great Mentors and Effectively Communicate Your Ideas to the CEO Bob Ravener is a highly accomplished and widely recognized business leader, author and speaker. He has served in executive roles with several organizations including the Fortune 200 companies of PepsiCo, The Home Depot, Starbucks, and most recently Dollar General, where he retired after serving as the Chief People Officer from 2008 to 2019. During his time there, the company essentially doubled in size to $26 billion in revenue with more than 140,000 employees. Prior to entering the private sector, Bob served in the U.S. Navy as a submarine officer. He finished his active duty service at the United States Naval Academy where he served in the athletic department as the academic liaison officer and as an instructor, coach, and recruiter. He also spent time in the Naval Reserves following active duty. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, where he earned distinction as a leader, intercollegiate varsity baseball player and is past president of his class. He also earned an MBA from New York University. He currently serves with several organizations including, Goodwill Industries International Board, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Human Capital Advisory Council, Franklin Civil War Historical Commission, Friends of Franklin Parks Board, Downtown Neighborhood Association Board, and the Tennessee Congressional Service Academy Selection Boards. Previously, Bob served as chairman of the Tennessee Workforce Development Board, chairman of the Human Resources Leaders Council for Retail Industry Leaders Association, the President's National Hire Veterans Committee, and the Secretary of Labor's Advisory Committee for Veterans Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach. RESOURCES: Bob Ravener's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobravener/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobravener/) Bob's book is called UP!, The Difference between Today and Tomorrow is You Book Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938499700/ref=cm_sw_su_dp (http://amzn.com/1938499700) WHAT YOU WILL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE: How to write your book even when you're in the busy C-Suite life. Where his motivation came from to write his book even in the midst of busy C-Suite life. The most important advice for any employee who wants to “be in the room where it happens”. Bob's tough childhood and what helped him get moving in the right direction and persevere. The critical attribute that Home Depot CEO, https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobnardelli/ (Bob Nardelli), and Dollar General CEO, Richard Dreiling had as mentors. What Bob learned about handling failure from his interactions with Starbucks CEO, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Schultz (Howard Shultz.) The simple playbook for finding a great mentor. The must-have conversation when you've made a big mistake. The common trait that he'd instill in every employee (this will surprise you). Three key communication strategies to presenting your idea to the C-Suite. What to do first when an employee says they're quitting. The key resource used by many leaders on the Board and C-Suite. How he “read” 25 books in a year with little effort. Key Quotes: “Don't get caught up in the drama.” “One you've made your case, you still need to be able to get behind the decision and move forward with the team.” “Focus on what you can control.” “The best way to get a mentor is to go ask them.” “Focus on being interested instead of being interesting." Tools: Overdrive https://www.overdrive.com/ (https://www.overdrive.com/) Audible https://www.audible.com/ (https://www.audible.com/) Books Mentioned: Developing the Leader Within You, John Maxwell https://www.amazon.com/Developing-Leader-Within-You-2-0/dp/0718074084 (https://www.amazon.com/Developing-Leader-Within-You-2-0/dp/0718074084) Recommended Biography Authors: Doris Kearns Goodwin...

"The Voice of Retail: Jon Gold with the National Retail Federation" Episode 435 This episode of Supply Chain Now features Jon Gold. Jonathan Gold is vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. In this role, Gold is a primary spokesperson and is responsible for representing the retail industry before Congress and the administration on supply chain, international trade, product safety and customs-related issues impacting the retail industry. While with NRF, he has been a leading advocate of the value of trade and global value chains to the U.S. economy. Prior to joining NRF, Gold served as a policy analyst in the Office of Policy and Planning for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He joined CBP in May 2006 and was responsible for providing policy guidance on issues surrounding maritime cargo security and trade-related matters. Gold also worked on implementation issues surrounding the SAFE Port Act and other issues within the agency including CBP intelligence reform, pandemic flu and trade facilitation. Before joining CBP, Gold spent nearly a decade with the Retail Industry Leaders Association holding several government relations positions including director and then vice president of international trade policy before being named vice president of global supply chain policy in January 2005. Gold currently serves on the Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. He has previously served on the Department of Homeland Security’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and on the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Advisory Committee on Distribution Services. Gold holds a bachelor’s degree in international business with a concentration in finance from American University in Washington, D.C. Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Subscribe to Supply Chain Now: supplychainnowradio.com/subscribe/ Leave a review for Supply Chain Now: ratethispodcast.com/supplychainnow Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottwindonluton/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gswhite/ Connect with Jon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-gold-1217012/ Supply Chain Now Ranked #1 Supply Chain Podcast via FeedSpot: tinyurl.com/rud8y9m Supply Chain Now Ranked #3 Supply Chain YouTube Channel: tinyurl.com/yazfegov AIAG Virtual 2020 Supply Chain Conference: tinyurl.com/y8axeflc Download the Q2 2020 U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index: freight.usbank.com/?es=a229&a=20 Listen and Subscribe to Supply Chain is Boring on Supply Chain Now: supply-chain-is-boring.captivate.fm/listen Listen and Subscribe to TECHquila Sunrise with Greg White on Supply Chain Now: techquila-sunrise.captivate.fm/listen Listen and Subscribe to This Week in Business History on Supply Chain Now: this-week-in-business-h.captivate.fm/listen Listen and Subscribe to Veteran Voices on Supply Chain Now: veteran-voices.captivate.fm/listen Check Out News From Our Sponsors: U.S. Bank: www.usbpayment.com/transportation-solutions Capgemini: www.capgemini.com/us-en/ Vector Global Logistics: vectorgl.com/ Verusen: www.verusen.com/ ProPurchaser.com: tinyurl.com/y6l2kh7g This episode was hosted by Scott Luton and Greg White. For additional information, please visit our dedicated show page at: https://supplychainnowradio.com/episode-435.

The COVID-19 pandemic is raging on, though not everyone is on the same page regarding the precautions needed to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in the wake of another period of growth in the number of Americans infected.In fact, some Americans are openly and vocally opposed to being required to wear masks in public spaces, including retail stores.The Retail Industry Leaders Association is looking upward for help with this issue, citing safety concerns for employees and customers and lobbying government officials for stricter regulations concerning mask usage.On this Business Casual snippet, hosts Daniel Litwin and Tyler Kern highlight these efforts, ask if they're enough, and outline their own thoughts about how participation in brick-and-mortar retail should take place as the world continues to battle COVID-19.

In a recent client call held by Goldman Sachs Research, Brian Dodge, President of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, discusses how retailers will re-open. Dodge is joined by Goldman Sachs Research’s Kate McShane, Alex Walvis, and Jenna Giannelli, who all cover the retail sector. 

"Retail Industry Insights & Perspective: Jon Gold with NRF” Supply Chain Now, Episode 281 Live Interview from RLA Conference & Expo This episode features Jon Gold. Jonathan Gold Jonathan Gold is vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. In this role, Gold is a primary spokesperson and is responsible for representing the retail industry before Congress and the administration on supply chain, international trade, product safety and customs-related issues impacting the retail industry. While with NRF, he has been a leading advocate of the value of trade and global value chains to the U.S. economy. Prior to joining NRF, Gold served as a policy analyst in the Office of Policy and Planning for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He joined CBP in May 2006 and was responsible for providing policy guidance on issues surrounding maritime cargo security and trade-related matters. Gold also worked on implementation issues surrounding the SAFE Port Act and other issues within the agency including CBP intelligence reform, pandemic flu and trade facilitation. Before joining CBP, Gold spent nearly a decade with the Retail Industry Leaders Association holding several government relations positions including director and then vice president of international trade policy before being named vice president of global supply chain policy in January 2005. Gold currently serves on the Department of Commerce’s Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness. He has previously served on the Department of Homeland Security’s Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee and on the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Advisory Committee on Distribution Services. Gold holds a bachelor's degree in international business with a concentration in finance from American University in Washington, D.C. Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Subscribe to Supply Chain Now: supplychainnowradio.com/subscribe/ Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scottwindonluton/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gswhite/ Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-gold-1217012/ SCN Ranked #1 Supply Chain Podcast via FeedSpot: tinyurl.com/rud8y9m Gartner Supply Chain Symposium in Orlando: tinyurl.com/sqvnkex SCNR to Broadcast Live at MODEX 2020: www.modexshow.com/ SCNR to Broadcast Live at AME Atlanta 2020 Lean Summit: www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2020-lean-summit 2020 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: www.atlantasupplychainawards.com/ SCNR on YouTube: tinyurl.com/scnr-youtube The Latest Issue of the Supply Chain Pulse: conta.cc/2tXz9gT Learn More about Resilience360: www.resilience360.dhl.com/ Coronavirus Impact on Supply Chain Operations: tinyurl.com/wfgqtpv 2020 AIAG Supply Chain Summit: https://tinyurl.com/s4abjfn 2020 AIAG Corporate Responsibility Summit: https://tinyurl.com/wmuc3ay Check Out News From Our Sponsors: The Effective Syndicate: https://www.theeffectivesyndicate.com/blog U.S. Bank: https://www.usbpayment.com/transportation-solutions Capgemini: https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/ Vector Global Logistics: http://vectorgl.com/ APICS Atlanta: https://apicsatlanta.org TalentStream: https://talentstreamstaffing.com/ Verusen: https://www.verusen.com/ ProPurchaser.com: https://tinyurl.com/y6l2kh7g Supply Chain Real Estate: https://supplychainrealestate.com/ This episode was hosted by Greg White and Scott Luton. For more information, please visit our dedicated show page at: www.supplychainnowradio.com/episode-281

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your daily briefing.  IntroductionThis is Today in Five, for today, Friday, January 3rd. Here are today’s latest headlines in digital disruption.Once the leading force in the beauty market, department stores have lost their footing to Ulta, the rise of e-commerce, and influencer marketing.First, here are the latest headlines.It's Return SeasonIt’s officially return season. According to a company press release, UPS expects to process 1.9 million returns today. The predicted number reflects a 26 percent year over year increase. Per the release, the increase, “illustrates how e-commerce continues transforming shopping patterns.” A report from Oracle Retail stated that 77 percent of consumers plan to return a portion of their holiday gifts, with 65 percent returning in-store and 32 percent anticipating a return via mail.Survey Shows 40% Have Purchased from DTC BrandsA new survey from communications agency, Diffusion, revealed that 40 percent of Americans have made a purchase from direct-to-consumer brands. Of those shoppers, 14 percent said they made between 1 and 19 percent of their purchases from direct-to-consumer companies. Notable categories for DTC purchasing over traditional retail included health and beauty products, apparel, and tech and gadgets. Shoppers reported the leading reason for choosing direct-to-consumer over traditional retailers was cost, followed by fast, free shipping.  Survey Shows Adding Recommendations to Item Detail Page Increases RevenueAccording to a case study from Dynamic Yield, E.L.F. Cosmetics found that revenue per user increased after adding product recommendations to item detail pages. Adding a ‘You may love’ section of recommended products garnered a lift in click-through rate of more than 23 percent, per the report. The beauty company also saw a 17.6 percent increase in mobile menu clicks after personalizing the menu based on users’ past shopping behaviors. The case study illustrates the growing importance of personalization to attract customers. A 2018 survey from Accenture and the Retail Industry Leaders Association revealed that 63 percent of consumers are interested in personalized recommendations. Another survey revealed that 93 percent of businesses with advanced personalization strategies increased their revenue in 2018.  Ulta Beauty, Influencer Marketing, and The Rise of E-CommerceAs retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora have won over shoppers, the former cosmetics powerhouse – the department store – has lost its strong footing in the market. Social media and influencer marketing has helped see the rise of specialty stores and cultivated a number of billion-dollar upstart beauty brands that are going head-to-head with established players like Estee Lauder. Since 2009, U.S. beauty and personal care sales have risen 52 percent according to market research from Euromonitor. The global cosmetics industry is expected to hit $430 billion dollars by 2022.  It’s an uphill battle for department stores as consumer trends shift. More shoppers are opting for natural looks, and increasingly searching for clean beauty brands to use. Ulta’s strength has been its focus on becoming a one-stop destination for shoppers by offering several services in-store. Its appeal has also been assisted by its celebrity brands. Sephora launched its product line, Clean by Sephora, with the chief merchandiser officer noting, “The past decade has been a time of significant growth and change for the beauty industry.”Department stores are also facing challenges as the rise of e-commerce eats into their normal foot traffic. Many stores are revamping their strategy to re-engage with their beauty customers. Nordstrom has shifted its beauty strategy by dedicating two of its floors in its new Manhattan flagship to the category. The store also recently partnered with Glossier to have pop-up experiences with the popular brand. Macy’s general business manager for beauty said, “Technology and experiential components will continue to be paramount to successful beauty campaigns, launches, and displays.”With the rise of e-commerce and social media, influencer marketing has become a preferred tactic for beauty brands. Social media marketing, coupled with the boom in e-commerce, has bred a mega-industry, with online beauty projected to be worth $38 million dollars by the end of 2023. According to a survey, 58 percent of respondents admitted they purchased a product because of an influencer. “All of the power went from manufacturers and retailers to the consumers themselves...Now we have social media where makeup artists are going on there and showing people exactly what to do.”ClosingWant to stand out? Simplr can help deliver wow moments for your customers through unparalleled customer service support. Visit simplr.ai to learn more. That’s S-I-M-P-L-R.ai.  Thanks for listening to this latest episode of Today In Five. We’ll see you tomorrow. 

The 2020 legislative sessions are starting soon and we'll take a look at what the industry will be facing and more importantly, where they will be facing it and how it may impact the industry. And the Retail Industry Leaders Association released a new study looking at why the traditional brick-and-mortar business - like retail and restaurants - are losing workers to the gig economy. Evan Armstrong from RILA stops by the program to discuss what they learned. And McDonald's settled a huge lawsuit in California over pay discrepancies involving meal and rest breaks. What can the industry learn from their experience? We'll take a look at that. We'll talk about those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

"Packaging, Bots & AI Innovations Overview: Dr. Manjeet Singh with DHL Supply Chain" Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 223 Broadcast Live from eft’s Logistics CIO Forum, a Reuters Event In Austin, TX This episode features Dr. Manjeet Singh. Dr. Singh leads Operations Science team which specializes in complex data analytics and mathematical modeling projects across DHL’s Global Center of Design Excellence. He has lead development of innovative advanced analytics tools and processes for multiple warehousing and transportation functions. Under his leadership the Operations Science team has won three innovation awards, two hackathons and three start up lab competitions at DHL. The packaging optimization tool developed by his team won second place in the innovation competition at 2019 Retail Industry Leaders Association conference. He is the co-inventor of DHL's warehousing optimization and packaging optimization tool which are patent pending in the USA. Prior to joining DHL in February 2015, he worked at Netjets in their Business Insights & Analytics department, developing analytical tools for scheduling of pilots, capacity planning and network modeling for spare parts inventory. He has extensive research experience in Advanced Operations Research, Math Modeling, Scheduling, Logistics, Warehousing, Inventory Management, Capacity Planning, Data Mining, Process Improvement Projects, Object Oriented Modeling and New Product Development. He has a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio University concentrating in Math Modeling of Job Shop systems. He has published more than 14 papers in premier scientific journals and peer reviewed conferences, and has given more than 25 talks nationally and internationally. Learn more about DHL here: https://www.logistics.dhl/us-en/home/our-divisions/supply-chain.html Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode: Connect with Manjeet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manjeet-singh-phd-385843b/ Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gswhite/ Connect with Scott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottwindonluton/ Day One Recap of the eft Logistics CIO Forum: https://youtu.be/Z4BUO03GGl0 Day Two Recap of the eft Logistics CIO Forum: https://youtu.be/wTLz3Hkso2w SCNR to Broadcast Live at CSCMP Atlanta Roundtable Event: https://tinyurl.com/y43lywrd Reverse Logistics Association Conference & Expo: https://rla.org/calendar/1 SCNR to Broadcast Live at MODEX 2020: https://www.modexshow.com/ SCNR to Broadcast Live at AME Atlanta 2020 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2020-lean-summit 2020 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: https://www.atlantasupplychainawards.com/ SCNR on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/scnr-youtube The Latest Issue of the Supply Chain Pulse: https://conta.cc/2QmHGmq Check Out News From Our Sponsors: The Effective Syndicate: https://www.theeffectivesyndicate.com/blog Spend Management Experts: https://spendmanagementexperts.com/ APICS Atlanta: https://apicsatlanta.org TalentStream: https://talentstreamstaffing.com/ Verusen: https://www.verusen.com/ Georgia Manufacturing Alliance: https://www.georgiamanufacturingalliance.com/ ProPurchaser.com: https://tinyurl.com/y6l2kh7g Supply Chain Real Estate: https://supplychainrealestate.com/ Vector Global Logistics: http://vectorgl.com/ This episode was hosted by Greg White and Scott Luton. For more information, please visit our dedicated show page at: www.supplychainnowradio.com/episode-223

Hurricane Dorian is currently making its way towards the southeastern United States at a slow one mile per hour as a category 4 hurricane. At the time of this writing, the storm is just over 100 miles from West Palm Beach, Florida.  Dorian is expected to scrape the east coast of the United States as a significant hurricane - though the storm track may yet vary over the next few days. In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & CEO Bryan Strawser provides perspective for Hurricane Dorian based on his experience with previous hurricanes, the steps that resilient organizations take in order to best recover from a major hurricane, and actions that businesses and individuals should be taking in the coming days. Learn more about Bryghtpath's Hurricane Crisis Management Services and how we can help your organization weather the coming storm. Key Resources National Hurricane Center FEMA National Business Emergency Operations Center (NBEOC) Related Articles & Episodes Managing Uncertainty Episode #6: Personal Preparedness Managing Uncertainty Episode #7: After the Storm Managing Uncertainty Episode #15: Here comes Irma Managing Uncertainty Episode #17: Lessons Learned from the 2017 Hurricane Season Managing Uncertainty Episode #23: Crisis Management is not a Pickup Game Managing Uncertainty Episode #50: Conducting an Effective After-Action Process Blog Post: Looking back at the 2017 Hurricane Season Free Training: Crisis Management 101 Intro Course //static.leadpages.net/leadboxes/current/embed.js Episode Transcript Bryan Strawser: Hello, and welcome to the Managing Uncertainty podcast. This is Bryan Strawser, principal and CEO at Bryghtpath. And I'm recording solo today, it's Labor Day here in the United States, Monday, September 2nd, 2019. But with the impending arrival of Hurricane Dorian in the southeastern United States, I thought it was important to get an episode down, kind of quickly, that tells a little bit about our hurricane experiences, and some things that companies and individuals should be thinking about in the next week or so as Dorian begins to, what appears to be a scraping of the United State's southeastern coastline, from about the middle of Florida up to, potentially, southern Virginia, and even farther north, depending upon the storm track for the storm. Bryan Strawser: Let's just recap briefly where Hurricane Dorian is at right now, and I'm recording this at 1:15 central time on Labor Day here in the United States, so this obviously will change over the coming hours. But right now as of about 15 minutes ago, Hurricane Dorian is 25 miles to the northeast of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island of the Bahamas out in the Atlantic Ocean. It is 105 miles east of West Palm Beach, Florida, so closing in on the Florida coast. It is currently a category four storm. It has dropped a bit in intensity over the last 12 hours. It has maximum sustained winds of 150 miles an hour, and it has wind gusts that are exceeding that. Bryan Strawser: Yesterday, Dorian was a category five. It had winds in excess of 185 miles an hour with gusts up to 232. That was recorded there in Grand Bahama. The storm is not moving very quickly. It is currently moving to the northwest at about a mile an hour. This is down from five miles an hour yesterday, and eight miles an hour the day before. So the storm is slowing rather a lot. Bryan Strawser: There are now a number of watches and warnings in effect. I won't get too far into this except to focus on there's a hurricane warning in effect for Grand Bahama, obviously, in the northwest Bahamas Islands, and then in Florida, from the Jupiter Inlet to the Flagler Volusia County line. There is a hurricane watch in effect for north of Deerfield Beach, Florida to the Jupiter Inlet, and then from Flagler County line to the Altamaha Sound in Georgia. I'm sure I've just mispronounced that. And then there's a number of other tropical storm warnings and watches in the area. Bryan Strawser: The best place to go for details is the National Hurricane Center, where you can read the actual direct forecast on the storm. This is obviously extremely dangerous. It was described as a catastrophic hurricane yesterday by the National Hurricane Center. But it's not something to joke around with, and what I want to talk a little bit about are just our lessons in managing hurricane response, and preparing for hurricanes to impact your business and a little bit of advice for individuals. Bryan Strawser: For background, I think important to note, I've been managing major hurricanes since about 2005, so almost 15 years now. My first major hurricane was Hurricane Katrina, and what a baptism in the fire that storm was, followed by Rita and Wilma. And then I was out of this business for a bit, and came back in 2009, and dealt with everything from Maria, to Sandy, to Hurricane Harvey, and Irma, and many others in between. Bryan Strawser: First, I want to talk about the most important impacts here, and that just impacts to local communities and employees, and businesses have a role to play here. What you can expect to see, depending upon the storm track, is that many employees are going to have flooded, or storm-damaged homes. Even if they are not directly impacted, it is entirely possible that their loved ones, and their family, or extended family, or even their neighbors are in harm's way, and can be impacted. Employees will have a lot of questions around evacuation to make sure that you're closing your business in time for them to evacuate, but also about returning home, and returning to work. How much time will they have to be able to deal with damage or issues with their home, and how do they keep in touch with you and your business to make sure that they understand about returning to work. Bryan Strawser: Another challenge can be the lack of available communications. We can expect, due to both wind and the power situation, for cell phones to perhaps not be as workable, reliable rather, as they typically are. We can also see the normal telephone line system be flooded or damaged in a way that there's no good communication. You're also going to find that your employees are going to have to deal with a relatively complex state and federal assistance process in order to get access to individual assistance from the state and federal governments. The FEMA app is the easiest and preferred way to go on a mobile device to get access to FEMA's resources for individuals, but they may need time off, and some understanding from you as the employer, to deal with those processes. Bryan Strawser: And then lastly, our experience has taught us that personal and family preparedness efforts by your employees with your encouragement really makes a huge difference in their individual resiliency. And after all, if they're resilient as a family, and as individuals, they can more quickly return to work, and help you get your business back up and running. Bryan Strawser: Things you should think about in the days to come. One is just to encourage your employees to take personal preparedness and family preparedness efforts. There are great resources available at Ready.gov, from FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, and the Ready campaign. I would not try to reinvent this. I would just use it the way that it's intended, which is to send people there for the resources and have them be able to use those. It really keeps it simple. It focuses on making a plan, having or buying a kit, practicing that plan, making plans for communication, and then learning life-saving actions. Like, how do you turn off the gas at your home, how do you turn off the water in your home, and some of those things. Bryan Strawser: The second thing as an employer is to really make sure that you are closing your facilities in advance of the storms in a way that enable you to protect your assets, but also enables your employees to have enough time to evacuate mandatory and optional evacuation areas. The third thing you may want to look at as an employer is to think about disaster pay and assistance. What do you do if your facility has to be closed when people were scheduled to work? What if the facility has to be closed for a few weeks? Will you compensate your employees? And do you have some kind of emergency fund that they may be able to get access to in order to help stopgap some measures while they wait on state and federal assistance? These could go a long way in building loyalty with your team and are usually just the right thing to do. Bryan Strawser: Lastly, depending upon what the impacts look like, it's not uncommon for employees to return to the area, not have power, not have access to natural gas. It may benefit them to have access to air conditioning, be able to come in and charge their phones or laptops, be able to use the Internet in order to pursue assistance applications or get information. These are all great things you can do for your employees that enable them to return to work more quickly. Bryan Strawser: Almost every state and city has some type of way for you as an employer to connect in terms of public-private partnerships, and gain access to information. I would look for that with your states. For example, the state of Florida has been highly active over the last several days in terms of coordinating and communicating with the private sector, and with businesses large and small. Find ways to plug into your state partners, find ways to plug into FEMA through the Office of the Private Sector in the National Business Emergency Operations Center. These guys are holding calls every day sharing information, asking questions, making sure that businesses have the information they need in order to prepare, and then make plans to respond and recover their businesses. They're currently running calls every day at 2:00 central time, along with a persistent virtual situation room online, where there's 24/7 chat, and a lot of information being shared, like maps, and permanent and waiver information, reentry information, and things along those lines. Remember, when it comes to public-private partnerships, when you need a friend, it's too late to make one. Now is the time to make sure that those relationships are in place. Bryan Strawser: The other area I want to talk just briefly about is just some other strategies that are being used by successful companies that are resilient, that move through these hurricane situations, and be able to respond and recover, and get their business back up and running very quickly. There are really six things that companies do that we see as strong signs of success as they start to work through preparation for a hurricane. Bryan Strawser: The first is what we just talked about, which is the public-private partnership aspect. But I wouldn't hesitate to communicate and build relationships with your peer companies in the market, and at a national level. Work through your trade associations, for example, I came out of retail, so the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and the National Retail Federation. They both have disaster-focused committees, and so there's the great conversation that can happen about sharing information. And even though you're competitors, I don't think we're competing in this space. We're talking about how do we share information so that we can all reopen more quickly. Bryan Strawser: The second sign of a strong, successful company when it comes to this kind of disaster preparedness and response, is having a properly documented crisis management framework. Or in other words, how can you make sure that you have a defined way to escalate a crisis to a set group of folks who have been trained and practice together, they exercise together. And how you have a process to get those key stakeholders in the room, and talk through the decisions you need to make in a crisis, and then communicate the results of those decisions. We call that a crisis management framework, but really, it's how do you get the right leaders in the room, and subject matter experts, talk through the decisions you need to make, communicate the results of those decisions. Those teams are usually made up of folks like corporate security, and crisis management, human resources communications, facilities, business lines, legal. Perhaps there are others, and you have signed someone the responsibility for coordinating this process so that it runs smoothly, and you're able to practice and lead through that. Bryan Strawser: Another successful thing we see with companies is just the ability to communicate while they're in the middle of a crisis. This really requires the company to think about well what are audiences that we need to think about communicating to? That might be impacted employees, employees as a whole, leadership and the board, other stakeholders that are invested in our company's success, like local community leaders and other, and then your customer base, which is usually the public, or kind of a subset of industry or a sector in that. But thinking about what's the audience I'm going to communicate to, and then building the right messages around that. Bryan Strawser: One of our key takeaways here is you know the hurricane is coming, right? So if we're going to have some things to message, we should be building those communications plans now. And then as those things happen, you can update the messaging that you've already created with the right detail, and then be able to push that out through your normal communication channels. Bryan Strawser: Social media comes up a lot in these conversations. Your employees, particularly in a larger company, they're probably going to post on social media during a hurricane or other major event, and trying to stop them from doing that is pretty futile. It's just as important to post factual information about what's going on on social media than it is to just push out press releases. Just think about the kind of messaging and facts that you want to see out there. And if you have time to practice this, I would practice some fast-moving things with your communications team as a part of this. Bryan Strawser: Those are some of the factors that we see with successful companies as these major hurricanes come in. For individuals, the most important thing right now is to make sure that you've got your vehicle fully fueled, you're putting things in your vehicle, emergency supplies in your vehicle like food and water, whether that's bottled water if you got some different containers for water. Food and water are what you want to have in there, along with your luggage and other things. But keep the vehicle fueled, pay close attention to communication from your local emergency services personnel; police, fire, emergency management, and others. And when they tell you to evacuate, if they tell you to evacuate, don't hesitate, don't wait. Load and go, and make sure that you move on from there. Bryan Strawser: As I said earlier, we have pretty extensive experience in managing large scale hurricanes like Hurricane Dorian. We do provide a number of services that you might find useful at your organization. Those include custom weather... pardon me, custom monitoring and weather reporting. We use a number of open source and proprietary resources to really give you a complete picture of the current threat and impact to your organization. We build specific situational updates and executive briefings on the hurricane situation. These are written situational updates on a regular cadence that consolidate really hundreds of pages of information into a tightly written summary of the current on the ground situation. We can do these in a way that they're branded specifically for your organization's style, have custom content for your org, and integrate your internal data and other updates. We really think of these as the best way to know what's happening in the threatened and impacted area. Bryan Strawser: We also do executive and crisis team briefings that can be delivered via video conference or even through online video format where you can see us proving an update on the situation, and then some targeted content for your organization. Lastly, we're just a great, trusted crisis management advisor. We perform this role for a number of Fortune 500 organizations, lending our decades of crisis management and communications experience during their critical moment. During a hurricane like Hurricane Dorian, we're really customizing that advice to the specific needs of your company, but those commonly include 24/7 access to our team, participation in your internal calls and meetings, connectivity to key internal and external partners, and most importantly, problem-solving with your team, because we've already been through many of these situations. Bryan Strawser: If you're interested in learning more about our hurricane crisis management services as Dorian approaches and begins to impact the United States, you can learn more at Bryghtpath.com/hurricanes, or just give us a call at 612-235-6435. We'll have another episode of the Managing Uncertainty podcast later this week, and if you're in the path of Hurricane Dorian, good luck.

From the Simplr studios in San Francisco, this is your weekly briefing.  IntroductionWith your E-Commerce Retail Briefing for today, Friday the 13th… September 13, 2019, I'm Vincent Phamvan.Retail giant, Amazon, has faced scrutiny over the years after experiencing accelerated growth. Now the FTC is reportedly investigating the company over antitrust concerns. A team is conducting interviews of marketplace sellers to discover any practices that violate the antitrust laws and identify markets the retailer dominates.First, here are some retail headlines.Highsnobiety Launches Global E-Commerce PlatformOnline publisher and media brand, Highsnobiety, has launched its first global e-commerce platform. Partnering with commercetools, the media brand now has a way to connect their audience with the products they’re reading about on their different platforms. According to their VP of Strategy and Operations, this gives them a strong back end to help continue scaling their business.Strong Roots Receives $18.3 Million in FundingFrozen vegetarian food company, Strong Roots, announced receiving $18.3 million in funding. The new funds came from private equity firm, Goode Partners, who has previously invested in companies like AllSaints and La Colombe. Strong Roots plans to use the funding to not only expand in the U.S., but to support their development efforts in providing functional food and nutrients. The company is on track to move $50 million in frozen food this year and to quadruple their sales over the next four years.Stripe Launches Corporate Credit CardDigital payments company, Stripe, is continuing to push further into the financial services market. This week, the company announced they were launching a corporate credit card. The announcement comes shortly after rolling out a new lending product on its platform. According to Stripe, the new credit card is for the digital companies who are ignored by traditional banks and cuts the time needed to apply. The move is their latest strategy to bring in more small businesses and startups.    Amazon Faces Antitrust ScrutinyA team from the Federal Trade Commision is reportedly interviewing sellers using Amazon’s platform. The probe is meant to determine whether or not Amazon is violating antitrust laws by leveraging their market power. The investigation is the latest scrutiny over Amazon’s business practices as they’ve seen accelerated growth and expanded into more lines of business. In a report from Bloomberg, they claimed the Federal Trade Commision was in the early stages of a sweeping investigation exploring Amazon’s business practices that may violate laws and identifying markets dominated by the giant. Amazon has recently faced accusations that the data they collect from their marketplace gives them an unfair advantage over competing retailers. The European Union is also investigating how Amazon uses sensitive information from third-party sales on their site.Bloomberg also reported in August that Amazon has penalized sellers who offer lower prices on competing websites, a practice that could draw antitrust scrutiny. The group Retail Industry Leaders Association alleged that sellers don’t have viable options beyond Amazon and consumers may not understand who they’re buying from. Neither the FTC or Amazon have publicly acknowledged the investigation.  ClosingThanks for listening to the latest episode of the E-Commerce Retail Briefing. Don't forget, Simplr can help you scale up your customer service with 24/7 support. Find out more at Simplr.ai. Until next time.      

A West Coast burger chain has stolen the playbook of a local union and has petitioned the NLRB to HOLD an election - literally asking for an election - and the union is crying foul. We'll take a deep dive into that ironic turn of events and try to sort it all out. And Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the notorious “AOC”, was a celebrity bartender last week in her Queens, New York district to draw attention to the plight of restaurant and service industry workers. We'll discuss how that event was covered and what it means for the industry. And the industry is starting to feel the effects of the ongoing trade war we are having with - well everybody at this point. With another round of tariffs pending, we will be joined once again by Hun Quach, the Vice President of International Trade for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, who will help us understand the impact on the industry and what operators need to know. We'll talk about those stories and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

In today's new episode, experts from the Retail Industry Leaders Association and ManpowerGroup Solutions discuss how today's climate of employment regulations (including the new overtime rule, predictive scheduling, and gig economy initiatives) is affecting employee recruitment and retention, as well as the retail industry in particular.

The pace of digital change accelerating. Particularly in the retail industry, where high consumer expectations have a direct impact on sourcing and fulfillment. In this episode, Jess Dankert, Vice President of Supply Chain at the Retail Industry Leaders Association joins Matt Gunn to discuss the effect of digital transformation, and why supply chain leadership is vital if businesses hope to survive.

We welcome special guest Brian Dodge from the Retail Industry Leaders Association to share with us his view of some of the trends, challenges, and innovative opportunities that retail management teams are focused on in 2016 and beyond.

Will They? Won't They? It Looks Imminent, Mr. President!With no contract, will the ILWU walk off the job and strike? Will the PMA lock out the workers as they did in 2002? If the West Coast ports are shut down at a cost to the country of nearly $2 billion a day, which seems likely given the breakdown in contract negotiations, thousands of containers coming into the U.S. and thousands more head out stuff with our exports will sit idle at the docks. Will the president invoke the Taft-Hartley Act to force the sides back to work by declaring a national emergency? Tune in to Manufacturing Talk Radio and get the latest update on how a port strike could further cripple America's manufacturing and potentially the whole economy for 2015.For those who have been following the recent ISM reports, and stories on mfgtalkradio.com one of the recurring concerns of respondents in both the manufacturing and service sector has been the congestion at West Coast Ports - which handled 43.5% of containerized cargo in the U.S and where transiting cargo accounted for 12.5% of US GDP - as a result of reduced work output by the local unions who have been more focused in recent weeks on ongoing wage hike negotiations.And according to the latest update from the 29 west coast ports that serve as the entry point of the bulk of Asia/Pac trade into and out of the US, things are about to get far worse for America's manufacturing base, because as RILA reported earlier, talks between the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) representing port management, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) officially broke down on Wednesday, and without an agreement, experts have suggested that nearly 30 west coast ports could be shut down within a week.Special GuestsJoin us this Tuesday at 1PM EST with returning special guest Peter Friedmann: Executive Director, Agriculture Transportation Coalition, who plays a key role in developing U.S. and international ocean and waterborne transportation policy.Joining Peter will be Mark Hirzel, President, Los Angeles Customs Brokers and Freight Forwarders Association, Inc., Mark is the Customs Consultancy Manager for DHL Global Logistics, responsible for DHLs professional consulting services team in the United States.  Mark consults with DHL’s largest clients on developing internal audits and programs, to insure compliance with import and export laws and regulations.Also joining us will be Jonathan Gold, who is vice president of supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. In this role, Gold is a primary spokesperson and is responsible for representing NRF before Congress and the Administration on supply chain, international trade, and customs related issues impacting the retail industry.We also welcome special guest, Jason Brewer from The Retail Industry Leaders Association. At RILA, Brewer is responsible for developing communications and grassroots strategies to help advance legislative efforts on key policy initiatives.Another special guest is Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the National Association of Manufacturers, where he serves as the NAM's economic forecaster and spokesperson on economic issues. He frequently comments on current economic conditions for manufacturers through professional presentations and media interviews. He has appeared on Bloomberg, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox Business, Fox News, and Reuters television.

Holiday shopping is upon us, in droves. A group called Retail Industry Leaders Association is upset about Amazon's current incentive practices. Only some of which involve the lack of on-line sales tax issue. Can brick and mortar stores continue to compete with online aggressive pricing, free shipping, and (for now) lack of sales tax? Have you ever heard of a "slotting allowance"? You will… Rila.orgGospotcheck.com