The Economy & Tariffs with ITR Economic’s Connor Lokar

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We rushed this episode to the front due to its timiliness. Connor Lokar was on with me this fall and he and I agreed to check back in after the election. Oddly, we felt if SHE were elected President it would lead to uncertainty. Instead, HE was elected and we’ve gotten degrees of uncertainty that no one had predicted.

Connor and his collegues at ITR say growth is coming this year, UNLESS….too many factors to list. Connor and his team are no fans of tariffs in any way, shape, or form. They’re inflationary. Period. And they will hit all of us. Will they prevent economic growth? No way to know. On and off tariffs and threats of tariffs prevent business leaders from being able to plan. It’s leading to uncertainty. Lots of it. 

ITR Economics

2030s Great Depression

ITR Free Resources

We’d love to hear from you: Cam@CamMarston.com

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Devon Harris, Female Tech Leaders, and The State of Tech Today

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Devon Harris is a female tech leader for OberaConnect based in Fairhope, Alabama. It’s a company she started with her father and now includes her sister. Their growth has been intense, fueled by the rise in demand for tech services by small businesses and regional and local governement clients and Devon and her team’s remarkable commitment to client relationships. All companies claim relationships are key to business – I’ve heard it a thousand times – but OberaConnect takes it to a new level. While sitting across from me in the studio, I got the sense that what Devon and her team do regarding relationships is indeed different. Meet Devon, hear her story, hear me argue that the solutions technology claims to offer are now null and void – there is no longer any convenience in tech – and her reply. 

OberaConnect – 251.308.4592

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Porchlight’s Urban Residential Development & Re-Development is Gaining Traction

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Many cities need more urban housing with Mobile, Alabama certainly being one of them. It’s hard to find, though, and where you do find neighborhoods and houses many of them are blighted and unsuited for living. Porchlight is changing that. By carefully identifying properties, doing the often cumbersome work of locating property owners and then building homes that match the design and spirit of the neighborhood, Porchlight is returning streets and neighborhoods to their bygone thriving days. John Ruzic leads the initiative. Working from within Rogers & Willard construction, John knocks on many doors, makes hundreds of calls, and works to get the many stakeholders on board for the revitalization. And John foresees the day when urban centers across the southeast seek out his team’s model and guidance to solve their own urban residential challenges. 

Brought to you by the Gen Savvy Communications Academy. 

Got someone who needs their story told? Reach out: Cam@CamMarston.com.

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Mark Colson of the Alabama Trucking Association

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Mark Colson has oversight of the Alabama Trucking Association and has insight into the 131,000 people the industry represents in the state. That’s 1 out of every 13 jobs. They’re good people, Mark says, who get a bad rap. It’s an expensive business to run – the rigs cost a good but, the drivers and diesel mechanics earn a nice salary and wage, but its the insurance that hurts these small businesses the most. The cost of insurance, per Mark, is driven up by the attorneys who adveriste in such a way that makes the truck drivers and trucking companies look like careless villans. Mark’s goal is to spread the good word about the hard-working men and women who make up the trucking businesss. 

Reach out to us with show ideas: Cam@CamMarston.com.

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Chip Conley and the Modern Elder

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The “modern elder.” It’s a strange term. Chip Conley describes it this way: As curious as you are wise. I heard Chip at a conference in San Francisco, wrangled a meeting with him, and booked this podcast. I was moved by his content. If modern medicine has its way, we’re going to live a long time and need a place to apply ourselves during and after middle-age. Chip went through this transformation and teaches his lessons at his Modern Elder Academy. He has 6000 graduates who have been through his program with the aim of finding new purpose. He has an infection optimism and makes some points that hit me right in the “Ooooofff. That’s me!!”

Enjoy. And let me know if you see yourself in this interview anywhere. 

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The EOS Business Management Movement

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Entrepreneur Operating System. It’s building momentum amongst small to medium sized businesses in the area. Sid Sexton and Forrest Derr are advocates of it. Both have seen the results on their own work. 

Sid runs Sexton Lawn and Landscape and says EOS has changed his company. Forrest was part of the transformation. The biggest place where you can see the results? Meetings. They’re efficient, decision making gatherings, not rambling chatterings from a few people. EOS method insists on a meeting formula that begins with somewhat personal observaitons and then moves into the work. This recipe, I’ve learned other places, is part and parcel to many successful workplace cultutres – don’t be afraid to get personal and vulnerable. 

Sid and Forrest discuss EOS, the book that triggered it for them, and where you can go locally (in southwest Alabama) to learn more and get involved. 

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David Gibson & Judge Roy Bean Spirits

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Judge Roy Bean Spirits began when David Gibson sold his advertising and marketing agency and decided to try his hand at whiskey and tossed a new brand into the marketplace. His product has a distinct pecan wood finish, making it unique. The regulatory body in the state of Alabama offered him a trail in markets south of I-10 and his product quickly caught on. Today the product is avaiable across the state and David is now working to gain distrubtion outside Alabama. 

David has also created ancillary products to support the brand – soap, coffee, and a line of hats and T-shirts. He also has a wonderful satsuma based bitters that, along with his whiskey, make a stellar Old Fashioned. 

As we recorded the interview, his annual honey cask was hitting the shelves. It’s a limited bottling. The idea presented itself to David when some hobbiest honey farmers wanted one of his casks to provide a whiskey flavor to their honey. He then took that cask and re-added whiskey, giving the whiskey a slight honey flavor. It’s a match made in heaven.

David Gibson has a great story to tell. And maybe he’s looking for an introduction to a country music singer? To understand that reference, you’ll have to listen…

Sponsors:

Bill-E’s Bacon

Generational Insights Communications Academy

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Owls. (Yep, you read that right.)

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The What’s Working radio show has come to a close. The podcast remains. This is the first of the new podcast-only, non-radio versions of What’s Working. No forced breaks for commercials, no time limit per episode. Much easier to edit. More fun for me. No obligations and no deadlines for new weekly content. If you’re a fan of the show, please give this new format a chance.

—–

My part of town has experienced a surge in owl attacks. In the pre-dawn hours (and a few in the early evening), joggers are getting attacked. Owls are flying away with earbuds, hats, jogging lights. One runner was more than harassed, he was attacked! Cuts on his hands and face. There’s been over a dozen attacks. 

I speak with an owl expert on what’s going on. It’s all normal, she says, but understandibly unnerving. The topic is not exactly a workplace, workforce, or marketplace trend but…it’s a trend around here of some sort. So, it counts for the show. At least the new show.

Owl attacks this week on What’s Working! (Please forgive my giggles. I just find these owl attacks a bit humorous!)

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Doug Ankersen’s Isle Dauphine Oysters Feature the Waters in Which They’re Raised, Lots of Hard Work, and Doug’s Engineering Sensibilities

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The Isle Dauphine Oyster Company was born out of Doug’s passion for process, the coastal waters, and Doug’s fondness for oysters. A trained engineer, Doug has now created a predictable product that’s ready for the big time. That’s a part of his pitch when he enters restaurants in Nashville, Birmingham, Atlanta, and New Orleans – they can count on his oysters tasting good all the time and always being available. He’s not worried about storms, about too much fresh water, about any of the variables that smaller, less sophisticated farmed oysters companies struggle with. Doug is now spreading the word and one of the markets he’s targeting the most right now is his own home town of Mobile, Alabama where about a dozen farmed oyster companies operate yet, strangely, few restaurants offer them on the menu. 

Show Sponsors:

• E3 Termite & Pest Control
• Roy Lewis Construction
• Allison Horner – State Farm Agent
• Angelo DePaola – The Coastal Connection Realty
• Persons Services Corp
• Bill-E’s Bacon
• Roosters Restaurant in Downtown Mobile, Alabama
• Bay Business News
• CR Mitigation

Find Cam Marston’s book – What Works: The Ten Best Ideas from the First Two-Hundred Episodes on Amazon.com. 

To get the Cam’s “Here’s What’s Cool” list each week and a Free Chapter of What Works, sign up here. 

Last – The best daily news newsletter I’ve found is Morning Brew. I’ve read it every morning for years. Good content written with a dash of snark. Find it here.  

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