By Alex Stark
I love it when I have the chance to listen and participate in the ALAN (American Logistics Aid Network) partners’ call. Kathy Fulton, the Executive Director of the nonprofit organization, always invites top-notch guest speakers to discuss the life-changing work companies are doing in supply chain and logistics. This week, we learned about the work GoodRoots Northwest does to tackle hunger in the Pacific Northwest.
Stacey Crnich, CEO of GoodRoots Northwest, leads the organization and discusses the innovative methods used to address food security. Stacey draws on her years of experience as an omnichannel and executive leader at Nordstrom. GoodRoots Northwest developed a refrigerated locker network spanning over 350 square miles, providing cloud-based access to fresh food in underserved food deserts. Their 24/7 refrigerated locker system is designed for rapid, modular deployment. A new 120V converter enables “plug and play” setup, making it an ideal, scalable, and flexible solution.
AI feels like it’s all around us. 2026 should prove to be a good test case for its ROI. Plus, there is the line between ceding too much and keeping humanity.
Note to leadership…Don’t forget the basics. If you are a leader of people, consider all your responsibilities — tweaking timelines, thinking on your feet, untangling workflows, advocating for your team’s needs, and shaping your company’s workplace culture. AI can’t do that.
Furthermore, business leaders’ confidence in AI’s ability to deliver productivity-boosting savings is being challenged by employees within their organizations. In a recent WSJ article, the reporter stated, “Employees say AI isn’t saving them much time in their daily work so far, and many report feeling overwhelmed by how to incorporate it into their jobs.”
In Davos, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said energy costs will determine which countries win the AI race. As countries build infrastructure to support AI and its promise of productivity gains, Nadella stated that “GDP growth in any place will be directly correlated” with the costs of energy to power processing. Energy is a commodity, and the cheapest sources usually prevail. Microsoft is expected to spend $80 billion on building new data centers, with half of that targeted for outside the United States.
The U.S. trucking industry is still recovering. Spot rates have not kept pace with inflation. After COVID, rates peaked in 2021 and 2022 alongside the supply chain boom. However, since then, the market has collapsed under the weight of excess capacity as demand leveled off. There were signs of a moderate rebound in Q4 2025, and carriers are hopeful that 2026 could be the year to return to respectable profits.
Bonus: A new year usually brings renewed energy for living a healthier life. I found this short video both scary and enlightening. It discusses ways we can address our microplastics problem. These tiny plastic particles are found pretty much everywhere. They are in our oceans, rivers, soil, drinking water, and even our bodies. With plastic production projected to triple by 2060, this is something that we should all be tuned into.
Winter (weather) is coming. And this is coming from a person whose real last name is Stark.
Winter Storm Fern is set to impact a large swath of the U.S. (TX to the Northeast) this weekend, bringing heavy snow and ice. There will likely be widespread disruptions in travel, supply chains, and power.
Be prepared. Stay home. Stay warm. Be safe.
