In this week's episode I was honored to be joined by Zane Hengsperger as we talked about all things manufacturing.

Here's what we chatted about:

0:00 – Introduction

2:59 – What’s interesting in manufacturing?

4:41 – Can we de-throne China as the World’s Factory?

9:21 – Automation vs manual labor

12:32 – Software integration

13:37 – Anduril

17:42 – What industries are interesting?

19:45 – Solving labor shortages

23:15 – Reindustrialize

24:08 – Make Manufacturing Cool

28:08 – Site selection

29:38 – Evaluating a business and the real estate

34:29 – What makes or breaks a company?

36:40 – Optimizing factory space

43:43 – X Accounts to follow

Links to the accounts Zane mentions:

https://x.com/aphysicist

https://x.com/MikeSlagh

https://x.com/JulianFried

https://x.com/rustbeltkid1

https://x.com/snowmaker

https://x.com/KennethCassel

https://x.com/jack_watson_hfw

https://x.com/jimbelosic

https://x.com/2112Power

https://x.com/PalmerLuckey

https://x.com/zanehengsperger

https://x.com/techbrospod

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🙋‍♂️ Chad Griffiths

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This week I'm glad to be joined by Obie R. Silverwood, a seasoned expert with over 46 years of experience as an industrial real estate broker and investor. Obie recently released his book, Industrial Real Estate Investing and Management, which provides a step-by-step guide on buying, leasing, managing, and selling industrial properties.

Buy Obie's Book Here

Discussion Topics

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In this week's episode of the Industrial Real Estate Show I had the honor of being joined by the 2025 Chair of NAIOP, Alex Thomson.

I'm a big advocate of NAIOP and have the pleasure of calling Alex a friend, so this week's episode was quite special!

About Alex:

Alex Thomson is a passionate advocate for the commercial real estate industry. A long-standing contributor to the Edmonton chapter board, Alex also serves as the chapter's representative on the NAIOP North America board. He holds the distinction of being the first ever Canadian Chair-Elect of NAIOP North America and is slated to serve as the association's Chair in 2025.

With two decades of experience in commercial real estate, Alex has gained expertise in every aspect of the business, spanning acquisitions, entitlements, development, financing and dispositions. His professional journey has seen him involved in over $2 billion worth of transformative commercial real estate projects.

Alex is the founder of Prevail Consultants, offering strategic guidance as a trusted advisor and fractional executive for companies and entrepreneurial owners alike. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Executive Board of the Centre for Cities and Communities at the University of Alberta.

Connect with Alex:

Prevail Consultants: https://prevailconsultants.com/

NAIOP: https://www.naiop.org/about-us/bio-detail-page/?bio=cb2b9439-ff0f-4757-b420-1514add9a05a

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alex-thomson-b931004

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Had the privilege of having KC Conway join me for an update on both the economy and the industrial real estate market!

Here's what we chatted about:

0:20 - What's happened so far in 2024?

6:35 - Inflation and interest rates

12:36 - Fiscal policy problems

15:21 - What happens post election?

19:35 - Industrial real estate in 2025

29:44 - Where is office at?

33:42 - Capital markets risk

37:15 - Interest rates in 2025

44:44 - Geopolitical issues

50:46 - US Steel Sale

56:03 - Wait and see?

58:04 - Optimistic but concerned

1:05:00 - Connecting with KC

Connect with KC:

KCnomics website: https://kcnomicsllc.com/

LinkedIn: / kc-conway-mai-cre-10320812

About KC:

KC Conway is a nationally recognized economist and appraiser with a nearly 40 year career including positions in commercial banks, government service, and academia. Among his more notable career achievements are (i) his role as the commercial real estate subject matter expert providing counsel to the Federal Reserve during the Great Recession of 2007-2010; (ii) serving as the Chief Economist for the CCIM Institute from 2017-2023; and (iii) acting as an instructor for real estate trends at the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council continuously from 2006. In addition, he presently serves as a director of a publicly traded REIT and testifies as an expert witness on valuation and tax appeals in various state and U.S. courts.

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Produced by Questor Media

Pleased to be joined by Matt Carroll once again as we co-hosted a part II interview with Dr. Jim Tompkins.

We chatted about a number of fascinating topics:

0:00 - Introduction

1:05 - What's going on in Supply Chains?

10:28 - Can Mexico Fix Supply Chain Snarls?

14:53 - Government Hard at work

17:05 - Onshoring trends

22:25 - Optionality, China plus One, ABC

27:53 - An economic war with China

32:39 - Will Companies leave China?

36:40 - How to stay on top of developing trends

43:20 - Areas of Growth

About Jim:

Jim Tompkins is an international authority on designing and implementing end-to-end supply chains. He is a serial entrepreneur who has started several businesses; worked with private equity; designed many industrial facilities and automated materials handling systems; implemented many supply chain information technology solutions and worked to enhance the performance of many 3PLs and 3PL clients.

Connect with Jim:

Tompkins Ventures website: https://tompkinsventures.com/

LinkedIn: / jimtompkins1

About Matt:

Driven leader with fifteen years of international business experience in Logistics and Supply Chain. I am multilingual, speak fluently in Spanish and German, while having an in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics of supply chain management, contract negotiations and thought leadership after spending more than a decade managing operations in China, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA. My understanding of global business environments, monetary impacts, and rules of engagement for real estate integration for successful business results, benefit the clients I work with.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: / matthewcarroll1

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#industrialize #industrialinsiders #industrialrealestate

This week I was joined by one of my favorite past guests, Jeremy Mercer, CEO of Matador Capital, for an in depth chat about industrial real estate.

0:00 - Introduction

3:15 - Where are you finding deals?

9:48 - PTSD

11:23 - Strategy for Vacant Spaces

13:02 - IOS

15:50 - Tenant demand

19:28 - What do Big Box Owners do now?

26:30 - Differentiating sub-categories of industrial

29:56 - Charging on buildings vs land

31:14 - Site Coverage Ratios

40:23: What Tenants Rent IOS?

44:33 - Office looks scary

50:09 - What questions did I miss?

About Jeremy:

Jeremy entered the commercial real estate market in July of 2004 with the acquisition of his first commercial investment property. Since then he has managed over 210,000 square feet within the Trinity and Brookhollow submarkets. Jeremy joined the Mercer Company in October of 2010 with a focus on the Brookhollow, Trinity, and Love Field submarkets.

Prior to joining Mercer Company, Jeremy is a passive business owner, property owner, and active in property management. Jeremy owns two successful businesses located within his submarkets. Pro Rehearsal studios is a tenant based business that provides monthly space to bands for rehearsal needs. Pro Rehearsal has 2 locations and occupies 40,000 square feet and averages an occupancy rate of 92%. Mercer Metals is a steel distributor and value added processor of stainless, aluminum, carbon, and alloy in tubing, pipe, bar, sheet and plates. Mercer Metals has experienced substantial growth throughout this tough economy.

Jeremy understands the process that business owners face from moving a facility to opening a new location through real life experience. Jeremy also understands the situations that owners face and through his experience as a commercial property manager, he has lived the process of evaluating tenants, managing the long term care of a property, and the negotiation and management of numerous finish out projects with contractors. It is this experience that helps Jeremy serves his clients in all aspects of a transaction.

Connect with Jeremy:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-mercer-a3154358

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jbmatcap

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I was honored to be joined by Adrian Ponsen, Director of U.S. Industrial Analytics for Costar, for an in depth discussion about the current industrial real estate market.

We chatted about a number of topics as follows:

0:00 - Introduction

0:49 - Background on CoStar

2:52 - How Adrian got into research

7:49 - State of the current market

20:15 - Outlook for the rest of 2024 and 2025

32:15 - Interesting markets to follow

46:38 - What Adrian is watching for the rest of 2024

About Adrian:

Adrian Ponsen is the National Director for Industrial Market Analytics at CoStar. He has 15 years of experience at CoStar using innovative commercial real estate market research to help investors formulate strategies, raise funds, and close deals. In addition to being a regular contributor to CoStar News, his research has been published by a range of media platforms including Bloomberg, CBS and the Harvard Business Review.

Connect with Adrian:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-ponsen-381129b

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This week I had the opportunity to interview Phil Copulsky, Director of Private Capital for Westmount Realty Capital.

We chatted about industrial real estate with timestamps as follows:

0:00 - Introduction

2:15 - Why industrial real estate

7:22 - What questions come up regularly

12:18 - Who leases industrial spaces?

17:18 - Average tenant profile

19:18 - Identifying markets

30:35 - Downside risk

35:55 - Class B forecast

40:23 - Identifying buildings

43:42 - What do tenants want?

49:39 - What questions should people be asking?

About Phil:

Before he committed to real estate investing, Phil Copulsky, CFA was a competitive chess player and college basketball player, both instilling the necessary discipline to read like Buffett, focus on developing long-term relationships, and follow the lead of great mentors.

Phil is current a Director, Private Capital at Westmount Realty Capital, LLC, where he supports new equity capital raising initiatives and individual deal fundraising campaigns. He has over 10 years of experience in financial services, starting his career at Goldman Sachs. He has degrees from Hobart and Williams Smith Colleges and the University of Texas at Austin and is a CFA charterholder.

Connect with Phil:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-copulsky-cfa

Website: https://westmountrc.com/

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🙋‍♂️ Chad Griffiths, MBA, SIOR

My most popular podcast episode was with the UK's Most Hated Sales Trainer, Benjamin Dennehy.

So naturally I had to have him back for a second episode!

We chatted about all types of important topics, including how to get over call reluctance, what to say during the call, and what the objective of a good call should be.

Here's episode 1 if you missed it: https://youtube.com/live/W77G6nIywE0?feature=share

Learn more: https://salesmatrixcourses.com/

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In this week's episode I was joined by my good friend Matt Carroll as we interviewed Dr. Jim Tompkins, one of the world's foremost experts in supply chain management.

Timestamps:

0:00 - Introduction

1:45 - Jim's background

23:20 - Early warehouse designs

29:56 - The importance of Optionality

36:24 - How warehouses have evolved

43:26 - Dark warehouses in the future?

47:32 - What happens with older industrial buildings?

51:50 - Where is all the power going to come from?

1:02:00 - Other major challenges in the industry

1:05:03 - Timing on reshoring / onshoring

1:09:43 - Why is there so much tension with China?

About Jim:

Jim Tompkins is an international authority on designing and implementing end-to-end supply chains. He is a serial entrepreneur who has started several businesses; worked with private equity; designed many industrial facilities and automated materials handling systems; implemented many supply chain information technology solutions and worked to enhance the performance of many 3PLs and 3PL clients.

Jim was the founder and Chairman of Tompkins International, for over 40 years and he focused on helping companies achieve profitable growth, giving him an insider’s view into what makes great companies even better. In 2020 Jim founded Tompkins Ventures, LLC, a firm that helps executive teams address five big problems: entrepreneurial growth, development prosperity, logistics partnerships, technology and leadership.

Jim received the prestigious Frank and Lillian Gilbreth Industrial Engineering Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) on June 1, 2015. The award is a tribute that recognizes Dr. Tompkins through the contributions he has provided to the welfare of mankind in the field of industrial and systems engineering. In addition, Jim has served as President of the IISE, the Materials Management Society and the College-Industry Council on Material Handling Education and has been named a Distinguished Engineering Alum by Purdue University. He has also received more than 50 additional awards for his service to his profession.

Connect with Jim:

Tomkins Ventures website: https://tompkinsventures.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimtompkins1/

About Matt:

Driven leader with fifteen years of international business experience in Logistics and Supply Chain. I am multilingual, speak fluently in Spanish and German, while having an in-depth understanding of the complex dynamics of supply chain management, contract negotiations and thought leadership after spending more than a decade managing operations in China, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the USA. My understanding of global business environments, monetary impacts, and rules of engagement for real estate integration for successful business results, benefit the clients I work with.

I am a graduate of Purdue University, where I played NCAA basketball. I was a 4-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar-Athlete award for outstanding academic achievements, and the Ward Lambert academic award. My traits of working well with a team, focusing on a positive result, and coordinating critical processes to ensure success, are my calling card for new client opportunities and servicing of my extensive existing base of relationships.

Connect with Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewcarroll1/

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