GEORGIA:
MAGNET FOR GROWTH
“We focus on being a high- performance, low-noise operator. We’re in the top 50 of U.S. 3PLs. Everyone says size has its advantages and we would agree,” he continues. “Smaller has its advantages. Our size makes us more agile. We can make decisions quicker, make changes to our technology quicker, and change mid-course a lot easier. We don’t have to go through management hierarchy for approvals. We make two calls, meet for five minutes, and just do it.” All of this takes place in the environment of an extraordinarily business-friendly state. “Georgia has done an incredible job of making the state a preferred location for industry,” Justice says. “Georgia has done a solid job of attracting business. We’ve got a good workforce and we’re always attracting more manufacturing. More and more of our customers are looking at how they can manufacture or process their products here and not rely on someone 8,000 miles away and where it takes five or six weeks to get here on a container. The pandemic taught everybody the value of shortening their supply chains.” FORGING AHEAD Steve Syfan, executive vice president of Syfan Logistics, is equally bullish on both the field of logistics and the company’s Georgia home. “Georgia is a very forward-thinking state,” says Syfan, whose company is located some 50 miles northeast of Atlanta in Gainesville, Georgia. Syfan Logistics specializes in the transportation of refrigerated/frozen foods and manufactured automobile parts as well as the transportation of pharmaceutical products. The company moves many pharmaceuticals that have special temperature regulations and specifications. The critical importance of the company’s specialized services was made manifest at the height of the pandemic, and Syfan says the business- friendly environment of the Peach State was especially helpful during that challenging time.
Syfan Logistics Executive Vice President Steve Syfan (left) credits Gov. Brian Kemp (right) and others in state government for their ongoing support of business in Georgia.
“Georgia did not shut down like some other states did,” Syfan says. He credits Gov. Brian Kemp and others in state government for their ongoing support of business. For 10 years in a row, Georgia has been recognized as the country’s best state for business. Syfan Logistics, in turn, invests heavily in the future of Georgia logistics. Steve’s father and company founder Jim Syfan serves as a member of the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents. The company has established internship programs with several of the state’s leading colleges and universities, including the University of North Georgia, North Georgia Technical College, Georgia Southern, and University of Georgia. The company also works with Appalachian State University in North Carolina and the University of Tennessee. “The majority of the population doesn’t even know this industry exists, except that they see the trucks on the road,” Syfan says, adding that he believes the next generation should be educated on how logistics represents a rewarding career path with rich opportunities for growth. Syfan Logistics offers a mentorship program and currently has one dozen employees in its training department.
NURTURING ENTREPRENEURS Syfan is proud that as many as 17 other logistics companies have been spawned by individuals who began their careers at Syfan Logistics. “There’s enough for everybody,” he says, “and they make us better.” He points out that his father was an entrepreneur, and the company encourages individual success. “We don’t have non-competes; I don’t believe in them,” Syfan says. “It would be wrong to say you can’t better yourself if this is what you believe you need to do.” Another expression of the company’s culture is the fact that employees are not described as working “for” the company but rather “with.” “It’s just a word but it’s a big word for us,” Syfan says. “We work with each other.” It all goes back to the code his father put in place when the company was established. “My dad said back in 1984, our number-one principle is we’re going to do the right thing and we’re going to do it every time. And because we’re human, if we don’t do the right thing, we’re going to make it right. “We do that internally and we do it externally. That’s always our goal,” Syfan adds.
48 Inbound Logistics • March 2024
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