This is the recap of the 2021 89th Annual Conference.

See Conference Topics 2021 in column 2.

It was great to be able to have our Conference and it turned out to be one of our best Conferences ever! We had over 110 attendees register, 16 teams played in the golf outing, our Speakers did a great job of educating our attendees on the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic in the transportation industry, and the Saturday morning Speakers were great. It was a special conference.

The Conference started on Thursday night with our reception. Every attendee had a great time and was glad to be able to network, as well as see other members of the League. It was good to get out and enjoy life starting to get back to normal.

On Friday, we had our business meeting and the Speakers were outstanding. Thom Albrecht, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Officer Revenue of Reliance Partners, started the business meeting with an informative presentation on the effects of the COVID 19 pandemic within the transportation industry and much more. You should show this presentation to the Officers within your companies.

We then had Brian Devine, Senior Vice President of EmployBridge. Brian gave a great presentation on the employee workforce within the transportation industry and the effects of COVID 19 on the workforce which included a lot of ideas on keeping employees.  Brian's presentation has a lot of information on this area which is available on this page at the top right.

We ended the business meeting with a panel discussion. Thom Albrecht was the panel moderator and the Panel members were Aaron M. Brott, Sr. Director, Key Client & Trade Development of North Carolina Ports Authority; Sherry Ennis, Global Logistics Leader of Vontier Business Services; Daniel Ennis, Senior Director Transportation Supply Chain of Belk; Dennis Dellinger, President of Cargo Transporters, Inc.; and Steve Syfan, Executive VP of Syfan Transport & Logistics. A lot of information was discussed about COVID 19 effects within the different industries. Each one of the panel members discussed the importance of relationships with the carrier and shipper. The over-the-road drivers are a concern based on not having the workforce to handle the demand of product that needs to move within the United States. Port situations and the cost of moving product was discussed. This was a great panel discussion, and the attendees took away a lot of good information.

The golf outing on Friday afternoon turned out to be a fun day for the golfers. Sixteen teams battled it out and everyone had a great time. Special thanks to Fred Piercy who was in charge of the outing.

On Friday night, we had our banquet with 170 attendees. It was a great time. Everyone received a door price and some major door prizes were given out as well. The golf prizes were given out, but no one won the $10,000 hole-in-one but maybe next year. 

The last item that took place at the banquet was the awarding of the Bill H Teague Lifetime Achievement Award. Normally I am writing about someone else receiving this Award, but I was humbled to be the person to receive it this year. Mark Andrews, Kevin Perry, and Fred Piercy made receiving this Award extra-special as they each talked about their dealings with me over the years. I was very emotional as I accepted this Award, but I had help from my 7-year-old Nolan who came up to hold my hand for support. Thanks to everyone at the banquet who helped make this event unforgettable. 

The last event at our Annual Conference was Saturday morning. Fozzy Whittaker and Dallas Walker, former Carolina Panthers, had a great story about their walk-in life in the NFL and the special lifelong friendship they developed along the way. Dana Hall was the ESPN reporter that asked them questions and she did a great job. This was a great ending to our Conference.

On behalf of the Officers and Board of Governors, a Special Thanks to our Sponsors who make having our Annual Conferences possible. The 2022 Annual Conference dates are June 9th, 10th & 11th, and again will be held at the Hilton Kingston Plantation in Myrtle Beach, SC.

One last comment- this past year we lost a long-time member and supporter of the League Ellis Brotherton. He was a special person who always supported the League and was a great mentor to many. He was, and always will be, missed at this event.

Buddy Holson
Executive Director
North Carolina League of Transportation and Logistics