Rick Weddle (Site Selectors Guild): Welcome to "Site Selection Matters," where we take a closer look at the art and science of site selection decision-making. I'm your host, Rick Weddle, president of the Site Selectors Guild. In each episode, we introduce you to leaders in the world of corporate site selection and economic development. We speak with members of the Site Selectors Guild, our economic development partners, and corporate decision-makers to provide you with deep insight into the best and next practices in our profession. In this episode, we have as our guest, Jay Garner, president and founder of Garner Economics and chairman of the Site Selectors Guild. Today Jay will talk with us about the impact COVID-19 has had on food and beverage processing. Jay will also share his unique perspective and insight on the role the Site Selectors Guild has played in professionalizing the location advisory business. Join me as we welcome Jay Garner to "Site Selection Matters."

Rick: Jay, I read with interest your recent article on the impact COVID-19 has had on the food and beverage processing industry. You suggest the impact has been both positive and negative. Take a minute, if you will, and tell our listeners how you see this industry in a post-COVID world.

Jay (Garner Economics): Hey, Rick, thanks very much for having me. And I love talking about the food and beverage sector, it's our wheelhouse, and so we are engaged in that sector extensively. Boy, let me tell you something, this pandemic really has impacted all of us, many of us negatively, especially economically, health-wise. But some of us, some corporations, have made profits like no other. And the food and beverage sector and all of the downstream companies associated with it, like grocery stores, have done the best they have ever done in the history of their business.

So, let me tell you a little bit reason why. Well, obviously, there is no such thing as a recession-proof industry sector, but the food and beverage sector is the closest thing to it because everyone still needs to eat. So, what happens is, because of consumer preference, you have an evolution and always evolving demand of what these products should be. In the case of food and beverage, a number of things were happening before the pandemic, they got exasperated during the pandemic. And what we're seeing, coming out of it, is profound. Protein plants, for example, during the month of May. You know, between 40% and 60% of all protein plants, those are meat-processing facilities went offline. So, not only did you have a shortage in the grocery store and a lot of meat products, but, obviously, you had an escalation in prices as a result of that. And then we all know about paper products associated, in your grocery stores. Those don't typically classify in the food and beverage sector, but you kind of get the idea, get the drift, you know.

At the same time, you have sectors like those that have alcohol-infusion that have really grown exponentially. Alcohol sales were on the decline, in the U.S., pre-pandemic. And then during the pandemic, alcohol sales grew significantly because of lockdowns, job losses. You know, there's some inherent psychological challenges that people have faced and continue to face during the pandemic. So, anything...alcohol is classified as food and beverage. And you have alcohol-infusion waters, like these hard seltzer waters, that's the rage now, everyone wants to buy these hard seltzer waters.

So, you know, in South Carolina, last month, you had one of these seltzer companies, that's associated with White Claw, doi