Cold Chain Summit: Choosing a cold storage site isn’t just about location

BIO: Hickey leads key client accounts and major initiatives around the world for Hickey & Associates, a global leader in location strategy, logistics and supply chain, labor analytics, and economic incentives advisory. In recent years, Hickey has led the firm’s expansion in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region and navigated the growth strategy for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Prior to being a senior leader of the firm, Hickey managed legislative and regulatory affairs for a national agricultural cooperative organization and served as a policy adviser for a member of the United States Senate. He is a frequent contributor in industry media and featured speaker at business and economic development events globally.

KEY QUOTES FROM HICKEY 

“You need to be strategic. You need to do the due diligence in figuring out where is going to be that optimal location.”

“The No. 1 trend … is [finding] the people to get the job done, in the near term and as well as into the long term. … Are you going to be able to get those individuals where you are today, and forecast that five-, 10-plus years out so that you’ll be able to sustain into the future?”

“That de-risking side of it: Could they be in a place that’s already saturated, what happens if a large user comes in, if a large fulfillment center comes into the mix? What does that mean and what is that risk going to be?”

“There is more data, more insights, more strategy going into [site selection]. But it is something that’s attainable. It’s something that can be done.”

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