How do we get the logistics infrastructure that we need?

With this week's confirmation of Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation, we get closer to seeing if the Trump Administration can make good on its promise of to invest $550 billion in the nation's infrastructure. But how can supply chain managers in private industry make sure that funding gets where it needs to go to benefit their own companies? 

Part of the answer may lie in developing relationships with government and local economic development agencies, according to an article in the Journal of Business Logistics written by Yemisi A. Bolumole, David J. Closs, and Frederick A. Rodammer of Michigan State University: "The Economic Development Role of Regional Logistics Hubs: A Cross-Country Study of Interorganizational Governance Models." 

The latest issue of our sister publication CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly, interviews the lead author, Yemisi Bolumole, who asserts: "In the private sector, we've been taught to focus on B2C (business-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) interactions. This paper is a call to attention of the importance of business-to-government (B2G) interactions. ... Supply chain managers must continue to embrace and incorporate into their decisions an understanding that public sector actions impact what they do. The presence or lack of public policies that inhibit or enhance supply chain efficiency can really have an effect on a firm's total landed cost. "

Check out the full article here: http://www.supplychainquarterly.com/columns/20161214-governance-models-for-regional-logistics-hubs-and-why-they-matter/