| USM and MSU Working Together to Address the State's Transportation Issues |
 Dr. Chad Miller spoke to the Mississippi State University Transportation Working Group (TWG) on the "The Evolving Mission of Rural Public Ports" sponsored by the Bagley College of Engineering and talked to the INFORMS Student Chapter. The purpose of the Transportation Working Group (TWG) is to assemble cross-disciplinary teams of MSU faculty and staff with broad interests in the transportation area. Meeting with the TWG was an opportunity to discuss collaborative research ideas and introduce Mississippi State Industrial Engineering students to the Masters of Logistics, Trade, and Transportation and Economic Development programs. Both the CLTT and the TWG have done work trying to help Mississippi's biomass industry with transportation issues including extensive work by MSU designing and modelling reliable bio-fuel supply chains. Another potential area of collaboration is researching how additive 3D manufacturing will impact supply chains and economic development particularly with the bio-medical and aerospace industries. |
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| Industry Advisory Council Draws Upon Knowledge and Experience to Guide the Center for Logistics, Trade, & Transportation |
On February 19, 2016, the CLTT Industry Advisory Council met to provide valuable dialogue with the Center's staff. The group represents diverse perspectives with extensive knowledge and expertise. Council members expressed a high level of interest in supporting the Partnership Industry Network as an open forum for connecting CLTT graduate students and researchers with industry partners. Advisory members shared industry trends occurring in the workplace in which CLTT staff should be aware among which included a growing number of employers using tele-education and hybrid instruction for training employees; the need for disaster logistics research; growing level of inter-modal transportation with complex sequencing; and awareness of security shifts in moving goods through dangerous areas.
Council members encouraged the university to include practitioner's as guest lecturers and inclusion of cross functional team-building skills as part of the LTT curriculum. Other observations were mentioned regarding demographic shifts occurring in industry as more baby-boomers retire and millennials (born 1982 through 1994) move into leadership roles. These demographic shifts will require new ways of delivering instruction to ensure the workforce is transitioning at the rate needed by industry.
Regarding national certifications and professional credentialing, the council recommended classes be taught in in non-traditional formats to allow working professionals to advance their skills through avenues such as short-term certificate courses.
Members of the 2016 CLTT Advisory Council are:
Mary Ann Moon, Tice Engineering
Cole Bernstein, The Irwin Brown Company
Robby Burt, MS Dept of Transportation
Eyler Coates, Ingalls
Todd Davis, ABF Freight
Jeff Ely, MS Dept of Transportation
Stuart McAvoy, UPS
Mike Salvetti, Huntington Ingalls
Jennifer Steele, UPS
Lee Wagner, Wester Express
Clint E. Walker, Department of Defense
Barry Wilkie, Ingalls
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| Onto The Next Big Project |
Craig Sumrall (MS LTT, '13) and David Leiva (MS ED, '13) pose for a photo in Kuwait in January proudly wearing "Port of Gulfport" T-shirts. Two years after holding an important one-day gathering that invited 13 federal, state, and local agencies to see how the Port of Gulfport could serve as a "strategic seaport" for military cargo, the pair now works on regional logistics and workforce development issues for the U.S. Army in the Middle East.
In November, state officials, including Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, and U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, announced that the Port of Gulfport had been awarded "strategic seaport" designation by the Commander, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) after being notified by the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration (MARAD).
"I can still remember sitting with David in (an economic development) class on site selection at the main campus. It's amazing how that one class started it all. We began running the numbers, and the more research we did, the more we realized this wasn't just a good idea being presented by an Army Major and a Captain. It had the potential to completely alter the economic development picture of South Mississippi," Sumrall said.
He noted that the strategic seaport designation had been worth $120 million annually in economic development to a Texas port.
Leiva, now an Army Major, said locating the crossroads between economic development and logistics is what led to the discovery, but finding the two affordable and convenient graduate degree programs was even more important. "I still remember driving on I-59 from the Gulf Coast and seeing a Southern Miss billboard that said, 'Stay here. Go far,'" he said. "I'm glad we did. It's made all the difference."
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LTL: Managing the Way to Profitability
David Ross was the first to see this latest industrial freight recession coming. Early last year, the veteran less-than-truckload (LTL) analyst at investment banking firm Stifel said that he saw industrial demand falling off at the most precipitous pace since the end of the Great Recession in 2010. In fact, Ross nailed it. LTL freight demand cooled by the middle of last year, while some carriers unwisely added capacity-making rate increases tough to implement and forcing fuel surcharges to crater. For more details click http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/ltl_managing_the_way_to_profitability
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CONTACT US
Dr. Shannon Campbell, Director [email protected]601.266.6239 118 College Drive #5191 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-000 
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