Bringing together different elements of the supply chain in one group – shippers, carriers, brokers, customers and labor unions – may seem like the ultimate exercise in herding cats.
But the words of Benjamin Franklin come to mind when considering whether such an effort is necessary.
“We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately,” said the “First American,” referring to the assumed fates of the signers of the Declaration of Independence should the British capture them. (Several were captured and tortured; none were hanged.)
It is that imperative to band together, fueled by the supply chain problems of the post-pandemic era, that led to the recent formation of the Supply Chain Council, a cross-industry group that came out of a California-based public affairs and lobbying firm, I Street.
It commenced with a waterside outdoor press conference last month in New Jersey. And it has now taken a step forward with the hiring of Sarah Wiltfong as the full-time chief public policy and advocacy officer of the council.
Wiltfong has experience in the type of cat herding that could describe the challenges the council faces.
An association of associations
She is leaving her job as chief advocacy officer for the Los Angeles County Business Federation. LA County has 10 million residents, and in an interview with FreightWaves, Wiltfong described the federation as comprising approximately 240 business associations that represent about 420,000 employers throughout the region. “It’s one of the largest business advocacy organizations not only in the state of California but also in the United States,” Wiltfong said.
“Instead of being just one trade association that focuses on similar industries, the federation encompasses all of them, so we have restaurants to dry cleaners and all the associations in between,” she said. “We bring all of the business community together, and we advocate on their behalf on a variety of issues.”
It may appear that Wiltfong has no supply chain background. But working with that many employers and their associations in Los Angeles County means that many deal with two giant supply chain engines in that region: the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
It also means working with various California environmental regulatory regimes. “We did a ton of work with the South Coast Air Quality Management District,” Wiltfong said. Both ports were members of the federation, as was the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. The numerous warehouses in the region were members as well, she added.
Upon hearing about the Supply Chain Council, Wiltfong said she realized “it was not only something I was already doing but I became incredibly excited about it.”
She said she “dabbled in a lot of different things, but supply chain issues have definitely been a focus of mine for the past several years.”
It was that work that helped Wiltfong understand what the Supply Chain Council was trying to do. Within the companies and associations she worked with, and on the governmental side as well, “there did seem to be a lack of understanding about the interconnectivity of the supply chain in general,” she said. “That interconnection was not clear to most legislators and local elected officials.”
They wanted to understand, Wiltfong said, “but there was no real driver that was able to bring it all together and then specifically tell that story.”
All California so far
One aspect of the Supply Chain Council jumps out: It is not only based in California, at this point at least, but it also owes its entire formation to people in California.
Its CEO is Josh Wood. But that isn’t his only job; he’s also a partner at I Street, the Sacramento public affairs company that came up with the concept of the Supply Chain Council. He was the featured speaker at the Jersey City rollout. The group’s president is Amanda Blackwood, also of I Street. The chief strategy officer is Chris Tapio, an I Street colleague of Wood and Blackwood.
The council’s plan is ultimately to hire a staff that is based around the country, away from the management group based in California. The New York-area rollout was said to be presented there to drive home the point that its Golden State roots notwithstanding, the Supply Chain Council was going to be national in scope.
The council might need to swat away a perception of California bias if it looks to expand. For example, asked what key issues she saw facing the supply chain nationally, Wiltfong got specific in discussing what she is seeing in her home state.
Regulations impacting the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles “are something that other ports are watching very intently, so that’s probably going to be the biggest thing.” She also cited various pieces of legislation being considered by the California State Legislature. “So kind of depending on what gets played out in the next couple of weeks, we’ll see what we’ll focus on,” Wiltfong said.
But asked about national issues, the areas Wiltfong cited were far broader and more general: “Protecting jobs” and ensuring that government-led infrastructure spending makes its mark on the supply chain were among issues she noted.
Wiltfong hasn’t even begun her role – that will happen Sept. 3 – and she said that “the first thing I’m going to do is meet with our board and have a much longer and deeper discussion about the complexities of the supply chain and where we can be most impactful.”
That staff will be expected, among other things, to begin signing up members. And council officials have made clear that the plan is specifically to not be a “California-first” organization.
Among the initial backers of the Supply Chain Council is warehouse operator Prologis (NYSE: PLD), whose Senior Vice President Steven Hussain spoke at the Jersey City event. He is also head of government affairs at Prologis.
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