Interview with Keith Wellner Conducted By Meredith Hunter

 Interview with Keith Wellner, International Business Consultant. Interview conducted by Meredith Hunter, Executive Vice President for the US Economic Cooperative.

M. Hunter: Mr. Keith Wellner, as an industry professional dealing with companies all over the world, how to have the events of the last 18 months affected business relations between companies based in the US and foreign entities.

K. Wellner: First and foremost, thank you for having me on your program. It is always a pleasure to discuss important relevant topics with you and your audience. Clearly, the last 18 months have been enormously challenging for any US-based business that has a global reach. Whether it is an inability to keep inventory stock due to supplier issues, logistical problems associated with international shipping, or just ultimately being able to deliver products to customers, I think it is fair to say that Covid-19has been extremely disruptive to business as a whole. In fact, I would argue that the past 18months have been the most disruptive for business since World War II (and maybe even longer).

M. Hunter: Are there any areas in the world that proving to be more difficult than others during this time?

K. Wellner: It is hard to say if any geographic locations create more problems than any others. Certainly, Europe was hard hit and countries there had to take swift action to stem the spread of the Virus. Asia as a whole was also hard hit and as a result, many suppliers were unable to deliver goods. The Virus combined with certain worldwide weather phenomena and let's not forget the blockage of the Suez Canal made it a very challenging landscape for business.

M. Hunter: How do we move forward?

K. Wellner: I am a firm believer that nothing beats face-to-face meetings. You can learn more about a business or a person in a 30-minute in-person meeting than you can ever learn in a 10-hour Zoom call. The US Government needs to re-open the skies as soon as possible and allow for foreigners to enter the US. Likewise, foreign governments need to do the same. Until such time as this happens, the road ahead will be long and difficult.