45
COMMENT
Who’s who at the
Specialized Carriers
&Rigging Association
CHAIRMAN
RonMontgomery
Intermountain Rigging & Heavy Haul
Salt Lake City, UT
PRESIDENT
AlanBarnhart
Barnhart Crane and Rigging
Memphis, TN
VICE PRESIDENT
Bruce Forster
Rigging Gear Sales
Dixon, IL
TREASURER
DelynnBurkhalter
Burkhalter
Columbus, MS
ASSISTANT TREASURER
JohnMcTyre
McTyre Trucking
Orlando, FL
ALLIED INDUSTRIESGROUP CHAIRMAN
Eddy Kitchen
, Kitchens Crane &
Equipment
Chesterfield, VA
CRANE&RIGGINGGROUP CHAIRMAN
Larry Curran
, JJ Curran Crane Company
Detroit, MI
LADIESGROUP CHAIRWOMAN
KarenWood
,Wheco
Richland,WA
TRANSPORTATIONGROUP CHAIRMAN
Jay Folladori
, Landstar
Jacksonville, FL
SC&R FOUNDATIONOFFICERS
President:
RobertMoore,
NBIS
Atlanta, GA
Vice President:
Stephanie Bragg,
Bragg Companies
Long Beach, CA
Treasurer:
Jim Sever
PSC Crane & Rigging,
Piqua, OH
I
n a recent interviewwith
strategy+business
magazine (s+b),
renownedglobal business scholar,
entrepreneur and founder of
s+b
, Joel
Kurtzman, spoke about economic
recovery and rapidgrowth innot only
theU.S., but theworld.His latest book,
(PublicAffairs, 2014),will likelybecome
a2015 resource for business leaders,
regardless of industry, around theworld.
Kurtzmandiscussed in the interview
that oneof the four forces of economic
dominancehe is referring to inhis book
is energy–particularlyoil andgas.He
noted that theU.S. is the largest producer
of energy in theworld, and that it has
also reducedoil andgas imports from40
percent to amere14percent in recent
years.Hepredicts theU.S.maybe in
themidst of an enormous reduction in
energy costs–perhapspaying aquarter
ofwhat Europe andAsiapay for
natural gas.
Intelligent policies
The innovative entrepreneurial
foundationof theAmericanbusiness
system ispartly the reason for thisnew
shift,Kurtzman emphasized. Intelligent
energypolicies, combiningnatural gas,
energy conservation and renewableshave
kept fossil fuel emissions low andusage
down in states likeCalifornia–while
fracking technology steadily improves
nationally–with less than400 rigs
throughout the country (a thousand
less than in2012).As a result,America
is graduallybecoming a “center of fossil
fuel-based chemicalmanufacturing,”
according to
s+b
,where companies like
DowChemical, ExxonMobil andSasol
aremovingback from theMiddleEast to
usher in anew era inplastics, agricultural
chemicals, pesticides andmore.
Kurtzman’s “epicnewwaveof growth”
for theU.S. alsohighlightsmanufacturing
and creative risk taking as contributing
factors in this resurgence.Automation
and robotics inAmerican factories
have improvedproductivity almost
exponentially–with theU.S. pumping
out almost seven times the factoryoutput
per employee asChina. Product life is
alsobecoming shorter,whichmakes it
advantageous formanufacturers tobe
close toNorthAmerica–where they can
also enjoy the luxuryof cheapnatural gas
(versus importingproducts,which
uses oil).
Additionally, creative risk taking is
often at the center ofAmerican ingenuity,
andKurtzmanbelieves that theU.S. is
attracting someof thebestminds in the
world to its schools, its start-ups and its
research and information technology
companies because creativity is valued
and tolerance fordifferences allows for
idea exchange andproductionon levels
thatmuchof theworldhas struggled to
embraceover the last decade.
Wave of future
Becauseof the ever-emergingopenness
to innovation and adaptability– a
direct result of thisU.S.-driven trend to
successfully combine “thatwhich ain’t
broke”with “thewaveof the future”–
American companies aremoreoften
finding themselves at a competitive
advantage. Especially in theU.S., a shift
is takingplace,where companiesused to
base their competitive strategies on assets
and economics of scale, but now focus
moreonprecise capabilities:what they
dowell on a consistent basis.Companies
are findingoutmore andmore that their
truevaluewithin themodern, dynamic
marketplace lies in authenticity and a
commitment to a singlevalueproposition
that they continually reinforce through
modeof operation, product quality,
innovation andunrivaled service.
As this shift becomes a trend, and
ultimately a standard,American
companieswill reshape the industries
withinwhich theyoperate– raising
thebarwith eachnewmove tomarket.
The results of this fine-tuned focus
ondistinctive capabilitieshaveproven
themselves scalable and relevant, and also
speak to anewwaveofU.S. economic
dominance, as older forms of competitive
advantage, like sheer size, become less
important in the faceof calculated
expertise.
■
JANUARY 2015
ACT
U.S. economic growth
moves from trend to
standard.
EXECUTIVEVICE PRESIDENT
Joel Dandrea
5870 Trinity Centre
Parkway,
Suite 200
Centreville, VA
20120
Ph: 703-698-0291
Fax: 703-698-0297
Epic growth
