Hosts Bill Condon and Matt McGregor sit down with Jason Miller and Bret Swango. Jason is the interim chairperson of the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, while Bret is the head of Location Intelligence & Workforce Analytics at Colliers.

They discuss the importance of data analytics in commercial real estate, why we will always have a persistent labor shortage, and a fascinating relationship between gas and rent prices.

• Commercial real estate has, for a long time, been driven by speculation, educated guesses, and gut feeling. However, with more investors looking for faster feedback loops, Bret believes data analysis will soon have the biggest impact on the industry in the long term.
• Jason reveals how investors can use big data to identify market inefficiencies, make faster decisions, and use that as their competitive advantage.
• Bret points out that the government stimulus is the main reason consumer debt is not higher than in 2008, even though people are spending copious amounts of money.
• What do NBA 3-pointers, NFL Championships, and Moneyball have to do with commercial real estate? According to Bret, data analytics changed how people played sports, and it's now time investors started using data to make faster and more informed decisions.
• According to a recent Deloitte and Fortune survey, the four main challenges facing CEOs right now are labor, supply chain issues, inflation, and geopolitical risks. All of which Bret believes can be mitigated by proper location.
• As Jason explains, the best way to counter uncertainty risk is to gather more and better information.
• Bret and Jason discuss the relationship between gas and rent prices.
• For Bret, the most dangerous thing in business is finding the right answer to the wrong question.
• Jason makes his predictions on the future of the labor market and explains why over 40% of manufacturers are operating below their target capacity.

Mentioned in this episode:

Industrial Advisors - https://www.industrialadvisors.com/