Freight Reverse - RLA Leadership Summit

In this special Freight Reverse, we’re highlighting last week’s RLA Leadership Summit.

Several announcements were made during the record-breaking Summit. Perhaps the biggest was Tony Sciarrotta announcing that the National Retail Federation (NRF) acquired RLA.

“Joining NRF is an exciting opportunity for RLA and our members,” said RLA Executive Director Tony Sciarrotta. “NRF recognizes reverse logistics as the backbone of the circular economy and understands how it plays a vital role in broader sustainability initiatives for the retail industry. Through this partnership, RLA will continue to reach industries investing in the circular economy and enhance NRF’s long-term commitment to retail’s supply chain and sustainability efforts.”

It was also announced that Professor Glenn Richy of Auburn University would join RLA’s board. Robert Glenn Richey, Jr. is the Harbert Eminent Scholar in supply chain management and research director at the Center for Supply Chain Innovation at Auburn University. His role is to help advance supply chain management research and outreach at the Auburn University Harbert College of Business. Richey engages in industry-based research and enjoys building research and student relationships between academia and practice. In addition to his formal education, Richey has an executive certificate in international business from the University of South Carolina. Prior to entering academia, Richey worked for 10 years in managerial positions across several functional areas, including procurement, sales, retail consulting, finishing/manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics/supply chain operations for two companies: Scott Paper Co. and Genuine Parts Company’s S.P. Richards Division.

In addition, our keynote speaker for RLA’s conference was announced – John Paul DeJoria. We’ll be in for a big treat as Mr. DeJoria talks about his businesses, the importance of giving back, sustainability, and more.

For more on Mr. DeJoria, here’s a brief clip from the Ellen DeGeneres show last year.?

And…. there’s even a movie about Mr. DeJoria’s life. The trailer is here.

Presentations

Throughout the Summit, we had several presentations, including a retailers’ roundtable with Desiree Paoli, Kimberley Allison, Akin Shah, and Blenda Buettgenbach; Head of Supply Chain Sustainability at Cisco, Jack Allen’s presentation on circularity and an update on research initiatives including Rich Bulger providing an overview of his upcoming book, Going Circular.

After the presentations, RLA members Home Depot and Encompass graciously provided tours of their local returns facilities.

I toured the Encompass facility, which was amazing – check out a couple of the photos from the tour.

Stay tuned for more happenings at Reverse Logistics Association . Our regular Freight Reverse will go out on Sept 28. ??

- Cathy