PNW Predictions

Schwabe and the Portland and Puget Sound Business Journals bring you PNW Predictions, a three-part series that examine the industries and businesses that shape the Pacific Northwest.

Our first event, PNW Predictions: Supply Chain Reimagined brought together leaders from the transportation, ports, maritime, manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries. The panel included Christopher Alldredge from Parr Lumber Company, Ryan Gavin from Convoy, Dr. Karthik Murali from Oregon State University, and Alex Strogen from the Port of Vancouver.

The panelists explored how COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for learning, teaching lessons in nine months that in normal time would take two to three years.

A few takeaways:

• The pandemic illuminated the challenges to adapting to customers’ demands and the lack of procedure as how to communicate across the supply chain.
• There needs to be a focus on building resiliency into the supply chain by spreading out distribution, sourcing, and production.
• There is demand for supplier diversification and for supply to be closer to manufacturing.
• The industry needs to invest in tech and automation.
• The biggest change in hiring is the number of employees who want to be associated with a mission-driven company, and now there are more data-driven roles than ever before.

View the full recap article here.

For those who would like to view the full presentation, a recording is available here.

Join us for the second installment, PNW Predictions: Retail Real Estate Reimagined

In the second event of the series, we'll dive into what's next for the retail real estate industry and speak with industry executives to learn what opportunities and emerging trends they predict for this space. Register here for the next event on September 15, 2021.

Can't get enough? Check out our supplemental thought leadership series.