Tour Guide: You p 19

TECHNOLOGY How “little data” is making us all more efficientSUPPLY CHAIN The Northeast Passage is open for businessIDEAS E-commerce is taking off in ChinaPOLICY Japan is at the center of trade talks for 2014ENERGY New North American energy is creating jobs

ACCESS 25: The biggest ideas redefining global opportunity

Infrastructure p 11Padmasree Warrior p 6

THE 2014 REVIEW OF GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY FROM FEDEX

PADMASREE WARRIOR

Cisco’s technology and strategy chief on making new global connections

p 6

LUXURY GOODS TAKE FLIGHT

The remarkable story of U.K. watchmaker Bremont

p 16

ON-DEMAND MEDICINE

Same-day home delivery is saving lives in Los Angeles

p 22

ALLEN EDMONDSTaking Made in America shoes global p 26

25 ACCESS

access more.Global connections are creating new opportunities for you and your community. Find out more, and sign up for free email alerts, at fedex.com/access.

1 | ACCESS

FEDEX CORPORATION

Vice President, Corporate CommunicationsNEIL GIBSON

Director, Citizenship & ReputationCINDY CONNER

Manager, Reputation Management NATASHIA GREGOIRE

Communications Advisor TRACEE SMITH

Staff Photographer STEVE COOK

Contact us: access@fedex.com To get a free subscription and additional Access content, go to fedex.com/access.

Access is produced by the FedEx Corporation and Hanley Wood, Minneapolis, Minn.

Vol. 8, 2014

©2014 FEDEX CORPORATIONAll rights reserved.

HANLEY WOOD

Executive Editor ROBERT GIBSON

Strategic Director BRYAN IWAMOTO

Executive Art Director SANDY GIRARD

Program Directors LIZ SCHINDLER ERIN WALTON KERNS

Production Director PAM MUNDSTOCK

Project Manager KELLIE SCHMIDT

IT’S STILL 24,901 MILES IN CIRCUMFERENCE: the same size it’s been for the past 4.5 billion years. Tokyo remains precisely 6,737 miles from New York City, not one mile fewer. No, we don’t live in a shrinking world. We live in a more connected one.

CONSIDER: It took Christopher Columbus nearly three months to cross the Atlantic in 1492. Today, your supply chain can jump that gap in hours, every day. With a flick of your thumb, you can manage your business from the beach with your phone — just one of more than 6 billion mobile phones and devices that send 50 billion instant messages every day.

AND YET, MORE THAN EVER, it’s the littlest number that matters most: one. That’s the number of global connections it takes to change the world.

A MOUSE CLICK can launch a multi-billion-dollar business. A tweet can start a revolution. One email can reengineer a market segment. A single package can lift up a community and even save lives. That‘s the power of Access.

AT FEDEX, we have a passion for making the connections that change the world. What will a more connected planet mean for all of us in 2014? We reached out to thought leaders around the world to find out, and the result is this year’s Access 25.

WHICH DO YOU LIKE BEST? What’s on your own personal list? We hope the Access 25 spurs conversation — and we encourage you to go to fedex.com/access to share your thoughts.

WELCOME TO ACCESS

THE WORLD IS NOT GETTING SMALLER.

ACCESS OUTLOOK 2014

AFTER SHIPPING ONLY 900 PAIRS OF SHOES A DAY in 2009, last year Allen Edmonds (page 26) upped that to more than 3,500 packages in one day. The company, whose shoes have been worn by four U.S. presidents, has turned Made in America into a global fashion statement that projects authenticity and quality. The brand is especially popular in China, the home of three new retail stores.

How did Allen Edmonds do it? By heeding a simple call to action: Connect. The company connected with men’s fashion trends. It connected with quality sources of leather around the world. And thanks in part to e-commerce, it connected with global demand. The result has been a sharp rise in revenue, job growth and civic pride in the town of Port Washington, Wisconsin.

WHY CONNECT? At FedEx, we believe that when people make connections, the power of technology, transportation, information, and ideas compound and multiply. Innovation soars and energizes the marketplace. Entrepreneurs and big business alike create jobs that lift their communities. It’s especially important in parts of the world where people are hungry for access to the education, goods, services and jobs that lead to a better life.

Here’s some food for thought: FedEx connects 99 percent of global GDP. More than 7 billion people access the internet worldwide. There are more mobile devices than people on the planet. Yet only 1 percent of what could be connected in the world actually is, according to Padmasree Warrior, Cisco Systems technology chief (page 6).

A CONNECTED WORLD IS A MORE INNOVATIVE WORLD

The future often arrives in the form of a

choice: Either make a bold commitment to

evolve, or be swept away by the forces of

change. Slammed by the Great Recession,

a Wisconsin shoe manufacturing company

put its best foot forward and reinvented

itself as a gutsy retailer with a global vision.

b y F R E D E R I C K W. S M I T H

MIKE DUCKERChief operating officer and president, FedEx Express International

TRADE “More and more countries are now convinced

of the benefits of freer trade and deeper economic

integration. The actual negotiations remain

challenging, but many countries seem to be moving

in the right direction. The WTO Trade Facilitation

agreement that was announced in December is a

huge step forward. The agreement will give us a basis

from which to drive customs modernization around

the world — and that, in turn, will make it easier for

companies, especially small to medium-sized

businesses, to expand their business globally.”

CONNECTIONS: WHAT'S THE PAYOFF?

RAJ SUBRAMANIAMExecutive vice president, marketing and communications, FedEx Services

E-COMMERCE “The largest driving force in the

global economy is e-commerce, and within the

next two years global e-commerce sales are

expected to reach $1 trillion. With online sales

growing more than three times faster than

traditional brick-and-mortar sales, online shopping

has revolutionized both retail shopping and the

global network delivery industry. With a global

marketplace now diffuse and mobile, e-commerce

will continue to be the force that will drive

economic growth in the future.”

2 | ACCESS

Her point is simple but profound: We’re just beginning to create an internet of everything, one that connects not just devices, but cars, traffic lights, appliances and even what we wear. She believes those connections, which could grow to 50 billion by 2020, can solve some of the world’s most persistent problems.

The Access 25, the biggest ideas in global connectivity (page 4), demonstrates how this deepening intersection between digital and physical connections is already affecting our businesses and lives:

Online shopping is growing faster globally than in the U.S. E-commerce sales are expected to top $1 trillion in 2016, 1 percent of global GDP. E-commerce is not only changing our buying habits, but our sourcing and distribution strategies. Just ask the founders of Bremont (page 16), a U.K. luxury watchmaker, whose business is riding a 50 percent growth curve.

Transportation choices are shifting to accommo-date business needs. The growth of global trade has slowed for many reasons, including high fuel costs and policy decisions by major world governments that impede commerce. Businesses are working to find greater efficiencies in their supply chains, including accessing a wide range of transportation services that match their needs.

The provenance of goods is increasingly important to consumers. Brands have always mattered to consumers. Now companies from Patagonia to Apple

are becoming more open about their supply chains. Consumers are using the power of the web to understand how and where their favorite products get made.

Near-shoring is shifting the balance of manufacturing. The price of fuel and labor is enticing more businesses to move manufacturing back to their own region, if not their own country. In North America, the shale boom is lowering energy costs, making it more efficient for major brands to manufacture in the U.S. The Boston Consulting Group reported that by 2020, U.S. exports could increase by billions of dollars.

Better information is giving us the power to solve problems and change lives. Data gives us the ability to make better decisions in real time. This includes everything from more efficiently managing your inventory and supply chain to consulting a fitness tracker to improve your own well-being.

Take a few minutes to enjoy this issue of Access. As author and organizational management thought leader Margaret J. Wheatley says: “Innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries.”

How connected are you?

Go to fedex.com/

access to learn more about how connections can catalyze creativity and innovation.

ELIZABETH FINCHVice president, FedEx Express Sales, Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa

MITCH JACKSONVice president of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability for FedEx.

EMPOWERMENT “Connectivity lays the

groundwork for empowerment and the framework

for innovation. Ideas that were already in people’s

heads suddenly become economically viable through

access to larger markets. An entrepreneur in Tirupur,

a small town in India, can now connect in real time

to the recent trends in Paris or New York. He has the

ability to reach out to a potential customer in these

cities and offer a product that’s hugely competitive.

India’s five-year plan encourages innovations that

are affordable and implementable at a mass level.”

INNOVATION “I believe that global connectivity

and innovation go hand in hand. If you think about

it, attempts at globalization have been ongoing for

centuries. Books like A Splendid Exchange: How

Trade Shaped the World (Grove Press) illustrate many

of these efforts. What makes our current efforts

different is the state of technology used for global

connectivity — providing better efficiencies, speed

and information. Innovation is clearly a driving force

for these changes, and in turn these changes foster

innovation that makes the world a better place.”

ACCESS | 3

LOS ANGELES

MILWAUKEEOXFORDSHIRE

AFRICA

MEXICO

CANADA

THE LATIN AMERICAN TIGER

Over the past several years, Chile and its economy has continued to outpace virtually all of its neighbors.

page 21

SMART TRANSIT

Metrobus, the flagship project of EMBARQ, is facilitating 900,000 trips a day in Mexico City, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 120,000 tons a year.

page 13

PADMASREE WARRIOR

Cisco’s strategy and technology chief says only 1 percent of what could be connected around the world actually is.

page 6

CHILE

ON-DEMAND MEDICINE

Los Angeles–based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is using same-day, same-city shipping to save lives. page 22

PORTLAND

SAN FRANCISCO

MADE IN AMERICA

Sourcing fine leathers from Spain and Italy, Allen Edmonds is bringing Made in America shoes to the world.

page 26

The 2014 Access 25

is our ranking of the

most intriguing and

exciting people, places

and ideas redefining

global connectivity

and opportunity.

25ACCESS

THE MAKER MOVEMENT

All over the world, brands like Oregon-based Shwood are reimagining manufacturing at a local level.

page 10

FREER-FLOWING NORTH AMERICAN ENERGY

1 million of the 2.7 million new jobs in the U.S. between 2002 and 2012 were related to shale oil and gas drilling, according to Moody’s Analytics.

page 12

MUMBAI

CHINA

JAPAN

CHANGE IN THE VALUE OF RELIABILITY VERSUS SPEED

The standard speed of a container ship is slower than it was five years ago. Find out why.

page 15

INDIA ON THE MOVE

Will India’s prospects brighten in 2014?

page 12

JAPAN AND FTAs

There is arguably no bigger player in global trade negotiations right now than Japan.

page 14

CHINESE CONTAINER SHIP

SOUTH KOREAN CONTAINER SHIP

E-COMMERCE

E-commerce will be on the other side of a tipping point in 2014, making it an even bigger player in our increasingly global, borderless economy.

page 8

WHAT ELSE YOU'LL FIND IN THE 2014

ACCESS 25:

Infrastructurepage 11

Faster Wi-Fipage 12

Kaizenpage 15

Tour Guide: Youpage 19

The Internet of Thingspage 19

The Quantifiable Youpage 20

Robo Newspage 20

Citiespage 24

The Sharing Economypage 24

Internet for Everyonepage 24

Dematerialized Globalismpage 25

163 million

Africa’s working-age population will grow by 163 million in this decade.

page 11

AFRICA

NORTHEAST PASSAGE

Shrinking arctic ice has opened up a new, more efficient shipping route between China and Europe.

page 18

LUXURY GOODS

This global luxury brand has brought watchmaking back to the UK — and is sending its products to Dubai, New York City and beyond.

page 16

ACCESS 25

ACCESS: Cisco has argued that only 1 percent of what could be connected in the world actually is connected. What’s the thinking behind that?

PADMASREE WARRIOR: You have to look at all the things that can be connected, not just people. Today, if you look at how many subscribers there currently are on mobile and on the internet, that’s roughly half the world’s population. But you also have to look at the number of devices — things like traffic lights and cars and even things we wear — that today are not yet connected. We expect the number of connected things to reach 50 billion by 2020.

ACCESS: Would a more connected world be a better world?

PW: Absolutely. I think the more connected we are, the more we can share and the more information people will have. The internet has brought economies together, and I think in many cases it has changed the political landscapes of some countries. It’s driven commerce in a much more logical, much more democratized way. So we definitely think that there is a huge potential upside, the more connected we make the world.

ACCESS: Can a so-called internet of everything improve the ways in which we live our everyday lives? PW: We really believe that by integrating the world’s data and processing capability, we can help human beings make decisions that are much smarter and much more data-driven. We estimate that will create a lot of value for businesses — roughly $14 trillion over the next decade in revenue and new profits across all different sectors in the business landscape.

ACCESS: You have more than 1.4 million Twitter followers. So many C-level corporate executives avoid social media. Some are even afraid of it. What do you see in it that they don’t?

PW: It’s a platform for me to express an opinion. I read all of the replies that I get, and I use that to follow shifts in thinking. It gives me an opportunity to interact with people around the world from different segments that I normally wouldn’t have an opportunity to interact with. I call it my digital water cooler.

One time I remember I was preparing for a keynote and I was thinking about the future of collaboration. How will people collaborate in the future, and what will be their platforms? I posted that question, and there was a lot of commentary that came back, which I actually ended up incorporating into how I was thinking about collaboration. For example, people said a lot of collaboration in the future will be on the mobile platform. So as we develop solutions for collaboration in Cisco’s portfolio, it really has to be targeted at the mobile user first. That is definitely part of our collabora-tion strategy currently. Twitter is a very interesting means of bouncing things off the world, I guess you could say.

ACCESS: A recent Cisco survey found that two out of every five young people would take a lower-paying job instead of one that didn’t allow them to use a mobile device or social media. What does this say about young people today, and what does it mean for the workplaces of the future? PW: That’s a fascinating study, right? What that says to me is that younger people view the mobile device as an extension of their persona or personality. What that means in the work context is that companies have to really think about enabling what we call BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, in the workplace. I think companies

Padmasree Warrior Cisco strategy and technology chief

Padmasree Warrior believes the more connected we are, the better off we’ll be.

b y C H U C K R E E C E

TWITTER I use my Twitter feed a lot to find other sources of information.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN For very detailed articles and detailed research.

MASHABLE Among the tech-focused blogs, this one is my favorite.

THREE WEBSITES PADMASREE WARRIOR CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT

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6 | ACCESS

1 Padmasree Warrior, the chief technology and strategy officer for Cisco, has big ideas and a big audience for them, with a global following of nearly 1.5 million Twitter followers. Warrior and her colleagues at Cisco believe that with the “internet of everything,” we can solve the world’s most persistent problems — from hunger to clean water to the fragility of the global financial system.

Cisco believes only 1 percent of what could be connected around the world actually is.

1 %have to really embrace this policy, especially if their workforce and their customers are going to grow up in this mobile cloud space.

The other thing that’s happening more recently is that when people bring their own devices, of course, they’re bringing their own applications. So it’s actually now turning into BYOA, or Bring Your Own Apps. That causes some security concerns for enterprises, so we’re working on helping businesses address those by enabling secure access to enterprise applications on mobile platforms. Cisco is a BYOD enterprise. We let people bring their devices. Our CIO has already embraced that transition. The lines are blurring between what used to be a consumer segment and an enterprise segment.

ACCESS: The more people are connected, the more they seem to crave moments of disconnection. Is this true to your experience, especially as a leader? If so, how should we manage disconnection?

PW: I think there are times when we have to immerse ourselves in the physical world around us. Connectivity is there to help us be more productive and enjoy things more and be more creative in our business endeavors. It isn’t meant to be a distraction or a burden. I think each of us has a different threshold of how much connection we can handle. I have my digital detox sessions — hours on a weekend or days where I do something that is different from just being connected all the time. I paint, I write poetry, I go for long walks. I take photographs. I spend time with my friends and my family. I think that is really important. Just because you’re able to connect doesn’t mean that you have to connect.

ACCESS | 7

An internet cafe in China, where the web population hit 718 million in 2013.

8 | ACCESS

ACCESS 25

E-COMMERCE

E-commerce will be on the other side of a tipping point in 2014, making it an even bigger player in our increasingly global, borderless economy.

HERE'S THE BIG NEWS: North America is now No. 2 in e-commerce, trailing the Asia

Pacific region — which, by the way, is growing at more than twice the rate of North

America in terms of e-commerce sales, according to eMarketer Worldwide.

There are implications here for everything from supply chain management to local

zoning and retail development. For many sectors of the economy, the proliferation of

mobile devices among a growing middle class, coupled with show-rooming and

cocooning, are making yesterday’s retail strategies obsolete. (Just ask the big-box stores.)

Whether you’re a multinational based in Kyoto or a mom-and-pop based in Kansas, a

truly global e-commerce sourcing and distribution strategy is more critical to business

survival every day.

2

in 2013, Asia Pacific topped North America as the world's biggest e-commerce market.

ACCESS | 9

In Portland, eyewear maker Shwood has grown from a garage start-up to a business of 45 with more than 40 percent of its business now overseas.

40%

THE MAKER MOVEMENTShwood is among the leading lights of this “locavore manufacturing” movement.

ENTREPRENEURS AROUND THE WORLD are combining tech-

nology, social media, DIY culture and a passion for well-made

goods to create a new generation of specialty brands. They even

have their own convention: Maker Faire.

A start-up called Shinola (they purchased the existing, classic

brand name) has rejuvenated a 30,000-square-foot factory in

Detroit, employing more than 100 in the production of bicycles

and wristwatches. In Portland, Ore., eyewear maker Shwood

has grown from a garage start-up to a business of 45 with more

than 40 percent of its business now overseas.

ACCESS 25

10 | ACCESS

3

AFRICABy 2040, Africa’s working-age population will be larger than either China’s or India’s.

Among the many remarkable takeaways in his book, Success in Africa: CEO Insights from a Continent on the Rise, Jonathan Berman’s observations on the continent’s workforce might be the most thought provoking. “The absolute growth rate in adult workers, combined with the world’s lowest dependency ratio, basically means Africa is going to become the world’s workplace,” he predicts.

By 2035, Africa’s working-age population (ages 15 to 64) will surpass China’s; by 2040, India’s, making Africa’s the world’s largest labor force. Meanwhile, owing to high mortality among earlier generations, today’s young Africans will mature into a working class less burdened by elder dependents than most Western and Asian societies. That likely means they’ll have more disposable income. They’ll be more mobile. And they’ll demand vast amounts of education, equipment and other types of enablement over the course of their working lives.

“It’s an opportunity provided you offer products and services that help those workers be productive,” Berman says. “Putting productivity-enhancing tools in their hands. As well as providing the power grid and other infrastructure to help them make and move goods out the door. That’s where the big opportunity lies.”

INFRASTRUCTUREWhile Japan and Germany still lead the pack in infrastructure readiness, the U.S. is among a long list of countries desperate for investment.

An infrastructure deficit continues to be an albatross around the neck of the global economy. Experts including World Bank chief economist Justin Lin see infrastructure investment as a way to jump-start the world economy during the slow recovery from the Great Recession.

In the U.S., Laura D’Andrea Tyson, professor in the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, has argued that investing an additional $150 billion per year in new highways, bridges, railways and airport capacity would create 1.8 million new jobs and add up to $400 billion to U.S. GDP by 2020.

Investing an additional

$150Bin infrastructure per year would create

1.8Mnew jobs and add up to

$400Bto U.S. GDP by 2020.

163 million

Africa’s working-

age population will

grow by 163 million

in this decade. Read a Q&A with Berman at fedex.com/access.

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>4

>

5

12 | ACCESS

ACCESS 25

FASTER WI-FIThe latest Wi-Fi standard,

coming to a laptop or base station near you, is two times faster than the previous.

In 2013 a new Wi-Fi standard, dubbed “ac,” was officially certified and adopted by the manufacturers who plan to use it. By the end of this year, experts predict ac devices will make up the majority of the Wi-Fi market.

With the average number of Wi-Fi devices in U.S. homes doubling every five years, home Wi-Fi networks are struggling during peak demand. The new standard largely avoids this problem — and requires less power consumption.

Cell phone companies are expected to take advantage of ac technology by increasingly deploying Wi-Fi hotspots to offload traffic from their congested networks.

FREER-FLOWING NORTH AMERICAN ENERGYIt’s been the secret sauce in the North American economic recovery.

Newly discovered sources of oil and natural gas are bigger boosts to the North American economy than even experts estimated. Residential U.S. natural gas prices fell between 12 percent and 32 percent since 2008 depending on location, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The result: more money in the pockets of American consumers — as much as $1,200 a year, according to a recent IHS study.

Natural gas prices in much of Europe are three times that of U.S. levels — with Asian prices even higher. The shifting cost of energy is one reason companies like Motorola have chosen North America as a home for new manufacturing facilities. PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates the shale gas boom will add an additional 1 million manufacturing jobs to the U.S. economy by 2025.

Recently, Mexico, which has tremendous oil and natural gas resources, began to open up its state-owned energy sector to new, private investment. This could tilt the balance of global manufacturing even further.

INDIA ON THE MOVE

In 2013, inflation and a credit crunch had construction cranes standing eerily still in Mumbai. Will 2014 mark India’s return?

By August of last year, the

Indian economy — a star of the

developing world — was in a

crisis. The rupee had plunged

25 percent against the dollar.

Credit was evaporating. The

price of diesel was soaring,

nearly crippling a country

dependent on it.

one Million

1 million of the 2.7 million new jobs in the U.S.

between 2002 and 2012 were related to shale oil

and gas drilling, according to Moody’s Analytics.

>6

>7

Remarkably, by November,

economic vitals stabilized,

and by the New Year foreign

investors had returned. Experts

are now optimistic that 2014

will mark India’s comeback.

“The Indian economy

continues to grow at over

5 percent,” says Elizabeth

Finch, vice president, Sales,

FedEx Express Europe, Middle

East, Indian Subcontinent and

Africa (EMEA). “While that is

a comedown from the 8 to 9

percent growth the country

had witnessed in the past

decade, the size of the economy

and the reality that even in the

worst of times, India continues

to maintain a higher growth

rate than most countries

cannot be discounted.”

8

ACCESS | 13

EMBARQ connected people to a better life from 2002 to 2012:

SMART TRANSIT

Think you have a tough commute? It takes Madelina three hours to journey from home to her job in Mexico City and three more hours to return — just to work an eight-hour day. In fact, many people living in low-income housing like Madelina spend up to five times more on transportation than they do on housing.

IT’S AN ALARMING TREND shared by millions worldwide as chaotic

growth overwhelms inadequate infrastructure and city planning. At

least 615 million more city dwellers are expected in India and China

alone by 2030. Spiraling congestion, air pollution, traffic injuries and

death put transportation at the center of this problem. But when

implemented sustainably, transportation also holds the promise for

improving lives.

That’s the mission of EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute’s

Center for Sustainable Transportation. It’s in the midst of a five-year

plan to influence more than 200 cities to adopt solutions like bus rapid

transit. Their goal: to safely and economically connect people like

Madelina to jobs and a better life.

EMBARQ’s flagship Metrobus mass transit project in Mexico’s

capital facilitates 900,000 trips a day, and last year it reduced carbon

dioxide emissions by 120,000 tons. And it’s saving lives. Working with

FedEx safety experts, the EMBARQ Safety First project is dramatically

reducing the road accident rate through new driver training

programs. Go to embarq.org to learn more.

5BILLION PEOPLE SERVED

.9 billionHOURS OF TRAVEL TIME SAVED

2.6MILLION TONS OF C02 AVOIDED

50%REDUCTION IN ROAD FATALITIES

Source: 2012 EMBARQ Annual Report

9

Shibuya, Tokyo, home of the world's busiest intersection.

ACCESS 25

14 | ACCESS

JAPAN AND FTAs Japan joined the TPP trade talks last summer, and is also in the midst of discussing a separate free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU.

JAPAN AND THE EU have been two of the more

beleaguered economies of the past decades,

but a new FTA in negotiation could change

that. Talks between the two economic powers

heated up in 2013, and should conclude by

2018, according to analysts.

Japan is also at the center of the Trans

Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, which

continues as separate trade talks. Japan

announced it was joining the TPP talks in

March 2013, putting pressure on other APAC

countries not to be left out.

Peter A. Petri, a visiting fellow at the Peterson

Institute for International Economics, estimates

the TPP would allow Japan to jump-start its

stagnant manufacturing sector and increase

exports by 14 percent. It would also bring

billions in growth to other TPP countries

(including the U.S.) that do not have FTAs

with Japan.

10

ACCESS | 15

CHANGE IN THE VALUE OF RELIABILITY VERSUS SPEED

Why “slow and steady” is the new supply chain standard in many industries.

Container ships are now taking longer to cross the Atlantic and Pacific than the British Cutty Sark did more than 100 years ago. This time, however, the slow speeds are being driven by choice, not wind and sail cloth.

A combination of rising fuel costs, more sophisticated just-in-time supply chain management, and improved shipment-monitoring technology has inspired many shipping providers to adopt “slow steaming” to optimize fuel economy while providing customers greater economy and delivery precision. The standard speed of an international container ship has dropped from 24 knots to 20 knots — with many companies even shipping at 12 knots (14 mph).

Where 24 knots was once routine for a container ship, it’s now 20 knots.

The EU estimates a Japan-EU FTA would create

400,000jobs, boosting EU exports to Japan by nearly

33% and Japanese exports to the EU by

23.5%

KAIZEN

It means “continuous improvement” in Japanese. It’s at the heart of companies like Toyota whose corporate giving delivers big expertise, not just big checks.

The Food Bank for New York City relies on a number of corporate sponsors for funding, but Toyota might be the most unique. Instead of donating in dollars, it donates kaizen — a Japanese approach to efficiency. Toyota process engineering experts go on-site, helping with everything from reducing wait times for dinner to maximizing warehouse efficiency.

“When we give our team members the opportunity to implement Toyota’s know-how and core philosophies at a nonprofit with scarce resources, it’s an extremely valuable — and rewarding —way to hone problem-solving skills. And it helps us develop future leaders at Toyota,” says Jamie Bonini, General Manager of the Toyota Production System Support Center.

1.5 million

The Food Bank for New York

City, the country’s largest,

feeds more than 1.5 million

people every year.

>11

12

16 | ACCESS

ACCESS 25

For Bremont founders Nick and Giles English, it’s a story that starts in the sky.

After all, that’s where their father, Dr. Euan English, spent much of his time as they were growing up. Dr. English was a Royal Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer and owner of a historic aircraft restoration business. He was a born tinkerer — a passion that Nick and Giles quickly grew to share.

“As kids,” Nick notes, “we spent a whole lot of time in the workshop making things.” Over time, Nick and Giles grew to become expert pilots in their own right and partners in the family’s aviation business.

Then, one day in early spring 1995, the course of their lives was irrevocably altered. While Nick and his father were practicing for an air show in their WWII Harvard, the plane ran into engine problems and failed to recover. The result was a horrendous accident: Dr. English died at the scene and Nick suffered life-threatening injuries.

Committed to triumphing in the wake of tragedy, Nick and Giles went back to their engineering roots, eventually founding Bremont in 2002. Their goal: reinvent the British luxury mechanical timepiece. From

aesthetics to functionality, Bremont watches would be pieces of precision equipment equally at home on the wrist of an executive or a fighter pilot.

GREAT TIMINGEstablishing a small business is challenging enough, let alone navigating the complexities of watchmaking in the hyper-competitive world of luxury goods.

Nick and Giles were fortunate enough to get early help from Walpole, a U.K.-based small-business incubator that pairs up-and-coming luxury brands with mentors from across the British business landscape. Nick and Giles were connected with Andrew Gosheron, Vice President of Field Sales Europe, FedEx.

Importing watch components for handcrafting and exporting finished watches internationally is a complex endeavor. With Gosheron’s guidance, Nick and Giles were able to smoothly manage customs and turn their attention to customer service and delivery — critical for a luxury brand.

Bremont ships its high-end timepieces everywhere from Shanghai to San Francisco using FedEx International Priority®, which means they don’t have to worry about customs holdups. Shipping in the U.K. is handled with FedEx Next Day, an overnight service that bolsters the Bremont brand’s high-end image. For behind-the-scenes logistics, including creating labels and online billing, Bremont uses FedEx Ship Manager® at fedex.com/gb.

“It’s not just about getting the product out the door,” Nick says. “It’s about putting things in place that will save money and time down the road.”

GROWTH YOU CAN SET YOUR WATCH BYBremont moved into a new headquarters in Oxfordshire in January 2013, where they now employ a staff of 40, including 15 watchmakers. Good watchmaking jobs such as these haven’t existed in the U.K. for generations.

“We’re essentially building a skilled workforce in the U.K. from scratch,” says Sarah Weare, Bremont’s global marketing manager. Weare puts Bremont growth at a 50 percent annual clip.

Like many luxury goods brands, Bremont has a firm toehold in the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates, especially in Dubai. They also just opened their second branded boutique in Hong Kong, and are now moving aggressively into the U.S. by selling through a network of highly prestigious, independent retailers and building strategic brand partnerships.

“We’ll have quite a lot going on in the States in 2014,” Weare says.

As for Nick and Giles English, they’re still grateful for everything FedEx did to get their brand airborne. As Nick notes, “If I didn’t know Andrew [Gosheron], I don’t know how much of this would have happened.”

Luxury Goods Bremont has brought luxury watchmaking

back to the UK — and created jobs all over the world while they’re at it.

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Like many luxury goods brands, Bremont has a firm toehold in the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates, especially in Dubai.

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Bremont founders Nick and Giles English have their luxury brand taking flight.

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Led by growth in Asia Pacific, spending on luxury goods is projected to increase by more than 35 percent over the next five years, according to international market research firm Euromonitor.

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10-11

33%Shipping time saved by using the Northeast Passage between East Asia and Europe.

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14 NORTHEAST PASSAGEFor four months a year, there’s now an ice-free route from Alaska to Norway.

WITH THE NORTHEAST PASSAGE along Russia’s northern

coast now open and largely ice-free four months a year, cargo

ship traffic there has increased more than ten-fold since 2010.

In late 2013, the Chinese even sent a 19,000-ton vessel through

the passage on a freight run.

Some experts see China moving significant traffic to the

Northeast Passage in the coming years.

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THE INTERNET OF THINGS

Wish you could turn up the A/C from your iPad? There’s an app for that.

Before leaving work tonight, will you adjust your home thermostat using your mobile phone? If not, you soon will. The internet is coming to your light bulbs, running shoes and pacemaker.

In sectors from transportation to manufacturing to healthcare, physical objects linked through wired and wireless networks via the Internet Protocol will continue to improve productivity.

McKinsey principal Markus Löffler recently referred to this as the “fourth industrial revolution,” one in which “smart” products govern themselves, take corrective action and even automatically replenish supplies — technologies that already exist today.

As Löffler tells McKinsey: “‘Process and device’ will be inseparable; physical things become part of the process. Machines and work flows merge to become a single entity. The work flow ceases to exist as an independent logistical layer; it is integrated into the hardware.”

TOUR GUIDE: YOU Technology chips away at the barrier between curators and curated.

The days of renting clunky headphones for a digital audio tour are numbered.

Google recently released a Google Glass version of its free Field Trip app, which allows anyone to create and post a guided tour — whether it’s of a cultural attraction or a local neighborhood. It’s a pairing that goes nicely with Google Art Project (www.googleartproject.com), which already allows you to take virtual tours of more than 17 of the world’s leading museums — from Versailles to MoMa — using Google Street View. You don’t even have to leave your couch.

Still crave the real thing? A start-up called Museum Hack (www.museumhack.com) is now offering alternative tours of major museums, including the Met, with surprises around every corner.

Google Art Project offers virtual tours of 17 major museums.

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5 %

THE QUANTIFIABLE YOUFitness trackers are increasing our access to personal data.

There’s Big Data and then there’s little data: the kind

of small-scale, personal data we each can use to make

better decisions about our daily lives. How to perform

better at our jobs or during workouts. How to be

more efficient.

Tracking everything, including your activity level,

sleep quality and calories burned, wearable tech is

giving us all expanded access to a better self. Experts

say it’s a development that will move quickly from

trend to every day — and play an increasing role in

healthcare.

ROBO NEWSCompanies now use data and algorithms to “write” news content.

If you think that online story covering your son’s high school football game was posted at lightning speed, you’re not far off.

A newspaper can’t afford to send a reporter to every high school sports event or have meteorologists positioned throughout their coverage area, but new technology is allowing media outlets to affordably broaden and quicken the reporting of remote events.

Companies like Narrative Science, founded by Northwestern University journalism school graduates, have figured out how to use computer algorithms to write shockingly credible news stories on virtually any topic that comes with a dataset: sports, business, weather, for example.

UP by JawboneChile’s economy is expected to grow by nearly 5 percent in 2013, outpacing nearly any Western nation you can name.

>17

>18

THE LATIN AMERICAN TIGERIs Chile’s hot economy the true star of South America?

BRAZIL MAY HAVE BEEN the darling of the world’s financial

media over the past few years, but the Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently

named Chile as the most innovative country in South America.

Business-friendly policy and aggressive pursuit of FTAs have

driven the nation’s unemployment rate to a seven-year low,

and consumer spending is robust. Despite severe economic

inequality and productivity issues, Chile remains a star in

South America.

A wine merchant in Santiago, Chile, South America's most stable economy.

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19

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AHF pharmacist Yana Buduitsky prepares life-saving medications for same-day shipping in Los Angeles.

FIRST OPENED 2000 in Los Angeles

U.S. LOCATIONS 20

FUNDING 96¢ of every dollar collected by AHF Pharmacy directly funds AHF’s HIV/AIDS programs and services

AHF PHARMACY STATS

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In the past several years, retailers — and especially e-tailers — have discovered how same-day delivery provides new levels of value to their customers. Order a toaster oven online in the morning, and you can be making a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner.

Los Angeles–based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is using this same concept to deliver medication to people whose lives depend on it. Founded in 1987 as a 25-bed, end-of-life hospice center, AHF is a non-profit that today serves more than 200,000 clients in 28 countries, providing counseling, advocacy and medical care. Thanks to the 1996 revolution in anti-viral drugs, AHF is able to help many of its clients live full, active lives despite an HIV or AIDS diagnosis. Pharmaceuticals, in other words, are critical.

“People can take one pill, once a day, and potentially live a normal life expectancy,” says AHF president Michael Weinstein, one of the original champions of HIV/AIDS advocacy.

But breakthrough pharmacological treatments haven’t lowered the urgency in AHF’s battle with HIV/AIDS. In fact, they’ve doubled it.

THE LAST THREE MILES OF CARETo connect clients with today’s newest, most powerful and effective medications, the organization launched a network of AHF Pharmacies across the country, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. Some of these pharmacies serve more than 1,000 people, many of whom rely on the home delivery of medication due to incapacitating illness, transportation challenges or personal schedules.

While opening a world of opportunity for its clients, home delivery did present AHF with a challenge. On the one hand, the cutting-edge anti-viral pharmaceuticals AHF Pharmacy was delivering thrilled clients and saved lives. On the other hand, a patched-together network of local courier services and healthcare delivery specialists didn’t allow AHF Pharmacy to deliver those drugs as

quickly, reliably and discreetly as they needed to.“These patients have to have these medications

when they need them,” says AHF senior vice president Peter Reis. “Their monthly refill has to be there on time.”

So while AHF had a state-of-the-art worldwide network of care for HIV clients, it was too often the last three miles of care that proved vexing. A day’s delay — or in the case of critical clients, a delay of even a few hours — was unacceptable.

As a result, the organization launched a Los Angeles–based pilot with FedEx SameDay® City, a service that allowed AHF pharmacists near-real-time medication delivery — as quickly as within two hours of ready time. In addition, the service provided AHF with shipment tracking, a new level of visibility that provided even more security — essential given the value of the medications and client privacy needs.

“Timeliness and reliability are critical to my patients, because if they miss even one dose of their medication, it can throw off their entire therapy,” says AHF pharmacist Dale Jackson. “If they need that dose today, FedEx SameDay City is a great way to get it to them.”

The initial pilot proved so successful that AHF has rolled out FedEx SameDay City to a quickly growing list of U.S. markets: Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and Washing-ton, D.C.

“It’s not what we hear from clients that tells us this is successful,” Jackson says. “It’s what we don't hear. The complaints have disappeared.”

ON-Demand Medicine Same-day, same-city

shipping not only helps AIDS Healthcare Foundation save time and

money — it helps them save lives.

b y R O B E R T G I B S O N

“Part of our job is to take any excuse

or obstacle away. You can pick up

your medication when you come to

your doctor’s appointment. You can

have somebody hand-deliver it.

Every option possible is available.”

— Michael Weinstein, AHF President

See AHF video at fedex.com/access.

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INTERNET FOR EVERYONEFacebook is leading a group of Silicon Valley companies on a mission to bring the web to the world’s most remote corners.

Today only one-third of us have internet access — and all of the opportunities for economic advancement it affords. More troubling, access is growing at just 9 percent a year. Google and Facebook are among the tech giants aiming to change that.

Internet.org is a Facebook-led partnership including Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung that plans to launch new initiatives to bring internet access to the developing world. Goals include simplifying mobile phone applications, improving networks and infrastructure, and extending battery life so mobile devices are more practical in developing regions.

Google’s Free Zone, meanwhile, offers wireless users in some developing countries free access to Gmail, while Google’s Project Loon purports to be planning to beam internet access down to Earth from dirigibles more than 11 miles high in the atmosphere.

Two-thirds of people on the planet lack internet access.

66%

CITIES People increasingly want to live in them. They’re responsible for most of the world’s GDP. What does that mean for policy?

By 2030, 5 billion people will live in cities — compared to 3.6 billion today — making the global economy even more urbanized. Much of this growth will happen in developing nations, meaning from a policy perspective, issues such as energy, education, sustainability and infrastructure will become even more important.

What makes a city great? Culture? Business connec-tions? McKinsey recently crunched the data, and you can read their 44-page report at mckinsey.com.

THE SHARING ECONOMY

A new breed of company promises us efficiencies in connecting demand to

“slack resources.”

By 2030, the world’s cities will gain nearly 1.5 billion new residents.

1.5 Billion

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A host of start-ups have

launched with the goal of

helping you do just that:

teach your passion

(Skillshare), contract your

labor (TaskRabbit), create

your own car service (Lyft,

Sidecar). Mobile technology

and the stagnant economy

are huge drivers of this

trend, but so too is culture.

Studies show millennials,

for example, are far less

interested in car ownership

than previous generations.

That car sitting in your garage.

Your passion, which you’ve

been dying to teach. They’re

both examples of what an

economist would call “slack

resources” — things waiting to

be used and monetized in a

capitalistic economy.

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DEMATERIALIZED GLOBALISMGlobal trade is increasingly defined by trade in services, less so by hard goods. So should our trade policy, experts argue.

“DEMATERIALIZED GLOBALISM” refers to a world economy dominated

more by wonkery than widgets. So say Arvind Subramanian and

Martin Kessler of the Peterson Institute for International Economics

in a 2013 paper “The Hyperglobalization of Trade and Its Future.”

Unfortunately, these experts say, our trade policy hasn’t kept pace.

While nations have negotiated lower barriers to trade in goods,

agreements for lowered barriers to trade in services have trailed behind.

The Trade In Services Agreement (TISA), which includes the EU and 21

other countries, holds some hope.

Read the full paper at www.piie.com/publications/wp/wp13-6.pdf.

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International trade in services has doubled over the past 12 years, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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Ramon Tamayo puts each new pair of shoes through the buffer before they’re boxed up.

26 | ACCESS

Stepping Outb y R O B E R T G I B S O N

p h o t o g r a p h y b y S T E V E C O O K

Five years after the Great Recession began, Allen

Edmonds is a “shoe-in” to hit sales records for a third

year in a row by bringing Made in America to the world.

MADE IN AMERICA25

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“This entire building wasn’t even here a year ago,” Roehr says, gesturing to a meticulously organized warehouse the size of a jumbo aircraft hangar. Tightly packed pallets twice as tall as the men who will wear the shoes they hold await pickup by semi. “Now they’re saying they might knock out the back wall so we can grow again.”

Roehr’s supervisor, Randy Wojcik, and his team assembled 14 miles of shelving and moved 54,000 pairs of shoes to create this new facility just last March. Oh, by the way, they did it in a single weekend. And you thought organizing your closet was hard work?

Roehr barely pauses to speak as she quickly applies shipping labels to the boxes in front of her. Three of the four pairs are high-end cordovan dress shoes bound for Shanghai, where Allen Edmonds just opened its first retail store to excited shoppers. The company plans to open three retail stores in China by the end of the year. It’s a part of the world where Made in America brands like Allen Edmonds, Red Wing and Woolrich are red-hot.

Roehr is already training in another clerk to help share the international workload — one of 24 jobs the company has created in distribution alone since 2008.

“I can tell you this,” Roehr says, “Allen Edmonds is here to grow.”

GRAND BRAND REBORNThe first thing you notice when you walk into Allen Edmonds’ distribution facility is that it has the same scent as any one of its 46 global retail locations. It’s the perfect mix of high-grade leathers, like cordovan and calfskin; shoe creams and polishes; horsehair

brushes; and a hint of Harris Tweed. It’s the smell of elegance, of history, of things you have to earn over time. If the most valuable things your father taught you about life could have a scent — value, trust, respect — this would be it.

As you take a deep breath while looking at the towers of shoe boxes stretching as far as the eye can see, it’s hard to imagine that just a few years ago this company’s balance sheet was upside down. In 2008, it was buried in a mountain of debt. Company leadership was eager to reinvigorate its product line with classic designs in new colors and textures, and determined to reignite demand from both its traditional customer and a newer, younger target. Then the Great Recession hit.

“Honestly, it came down to a show of hands in the boardroom,” says the company’s CFO Jay Schauer.

A life preserver came in the form of a capital injection from Goldner Hawn, a Minneapolis-based private equity firm, which at the time included a managing director named Paul Grangaard. Clearly Grangaard saw something special in the shoe company: He soon resigned from Goldner Hawn to assume the role of Allen Edmonds’ new CEO and right the ship. From the factory floor to the executive offices, Grangaard and his management team are uniformly respected and credited with saving the company.

Grangaard immediately put the new capital to use, repositioning the company for the economic turnaround. Key to this plan: 1.) recommitting the company to its “core classics” while

IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHERE ALLEN EDMONDS HAS BEEN — and where it’s going

— there’s arguably no better person in the world to talk to than Jean Roehr.

Roehr, who has been with the company since 1971, isn’t the CEO. In fact, she doesn’t even

work in the same building as the executives. Roehr is the lead international shipping clerk at the

Allen Edmonds Bywater distribution center in Port Washington, Wis. From her workstation just

a few steps from the company’s four main loading docks, she’s at the vortex of the U.S.-owned

shoe manufacturer’s aggressive expansion into international markets.

Every U.S. president gets a

pair of Allen Edmonds shoes

upon entering office. Four

presidents have even worn

them to their inaugurations:

President RONALD REAGAN

President GEORGE H.W. BUSH

President BILL CLINTON

President GEORGE W. BUSH

1981

1989

1993

2001

As the world climbed back from near-economic ruin, new job-seeking men needed to upgrade their wardrobe.

Sales rep Vincenzo Vitale fits a customer in one of Allen Edmonds' 46 global retail locations.

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28 | ACCESS

expanding into modern styles, 2.) more apparel and accessories, 3.) an aggressive retail presence under an expanded footprint of Allen Edmonds–branded stores, and 4) repositioning Allen Edmonds as a great American manufacturer. The goal: get the attention of a younger demographic, and take more control over marketing and the point-of-sale experience.

Timing couldn’t have been better. As the world climbed back from its brush with economic ruin, job-seeking men needed to upgrade their wardrobe. At the same time, younger men began dressing up again and, in many cases, spending more than ever before. Suddenly, Allen Edmonds shoes, which range in price from $175 to $695, were right in male shoppers’ crosshairs.

RED VEST RECRUITSA visit to the Allen Edmonds Port Washington factory shows just how right Grangaard’s instincts were. The facility echoes with nearly relentless noise and activity. Leather is carefully inspected and trimmed. Leather uppers are fastened to lasts. Using powerful machinery, craftsmen attach Allen Edmonds’ famous cork foot bed to each shoe, one at a time. Buffing wheels spin.

Production Manager Bob Steffes, a 13-year company veteran, points out the workers in red vests. The vests signify new hires: apprentices with fewer than 90 days on the job. Today there are 42 on the floor, each getting a hands-on education in making some of the finest men’s shoes in the world. Their teachers are craftsmen who in many cases have been with Allen Edmonds for decades. Workers here receive strong pay, health benefits and a 401(k).

Grangaard may have added new styles to the Allen Edmonds arsenal and changed its retail strategy, but virtually nothing has changed about

the way the shoes are made. Steffes and his teams still craft more than 90 percent of them in Wisconsin, using a painstaking 212-step process. And today they’re making more shoes than ever.

“In ’09, we were making about 900 pairs per day,” Steffes says. “Today it’s about 2,300 pairs per day. We’re working overtime about two out of every three Fridays to keep up with demand.”

“Everyone takes pride in quality,” says Linda Newkirk. She should know: She’s quality team lead for the factory and a 22-year company veteran. She also knows she’s part of a company on the rise.

“I convinced my husband to give up truck driving to work here,” she says, laughing. “And he’s glad he did! They take great care of us.”

Newkirk does admit there is one downside to working at Allen Edmonds. “I find myself looking at men’s feet all the time thinking: ‘You should be wearing better shoes!’”

GLOBAL REACHWhile the secret sauce in the rebirth of Allen Edmonds has undoubtedly been smart style and even smarter retailing, a key ingredient in that sauce has been shipping and logistics. It’s been critical to keeping up with the new demand.

“With our more aggressive growth strategy, we needed a more aggressive shipping strategy,” says Terry Howell, Allen Edmonds’ supply chain manager, who today is wearing a shiny pair of bourbon McAllisters. “Last year we shipped 2,000 packages on our busiest day. Last week we shipped more than 3,500 packages in a day, and I know we’ll break that record again before the year ends.” Online sales via www.allenedmonds.com are a huge driver, with e-commerce growing at 60 percent year-over-year, according to Howell.

pairs of Allen

Edmonds shoes

are manufactured

each year.500 Thousand

Randy Wojcik and Jeff Lanser shelve one of the 54,000 pairs of shoes in inventory.Continued on page 32

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allen edmonds by the numbers

Carson City Casual boots await their new outer soles.

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ONE Thousand

employees worldwide

500 Thousand

pairs of shoes manufactured

per year500employees in Port Washington, Wis.

250jobs added in Port

Washington since 2008

$140 million

ALLEN EDMONDS 2013 REVENUE

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WHOLESALE

NORDSTROM,

SAKS, ETC.

RETAIL AND E-COMMERCE

(WWW.ALLENEDMONDS.COM)

AND RETAIL (46 ALLEN EDMONDS

RETAIL LOCATIONS)

24,000belts sold in a month

46retail locations

around the world

91 years Allen Edmonds

has been making shoes

212 steps it takes to

craft an Allen Edmonds shoe

In 2012, Allen Edmonds turned to FedEx and asked the company what it could do to streamline the Allen Edmonds supply chain. Enter FedEx District Sales Manager John Whit-tington and an entire team of FedEx logistics and automation experts. The solution they delivered to Allen Edmonds tapped virtually every service FedEx offers its customers.

On the inbound side, the world’s finest leathers and other components arrive from multiple ports around the world — Germany, Italy and India, to name just three — via FedEx Trade Networks. And then a key, two-times-per-week inbound shipment of materials arrives from the Dominican Republic via FedEx Express® Caribbean Transportation Solutions and FedEx Priority Overnight® Air Freight — delivered two full business days faster than the previous logistics network offered. These skids are critical for manufacturing operations, and FedEx has done nothing short of convert time into money for Allen Edmonds.

“With our prior carrier, there was a set shipping schedule, and we had to organize our production facility around it,” says Dave Barber, vice president of Systems and Technology

TOP- SELLING SHOE STYLES

1 PARK AVENUE $345.00

2 STRAND $345.00

3 MCALLISTER $345.00

75% Allen Edmonds' busiest shipping day in 2013 had 75% more volume than 2012.

Omar Collazo performs one of the 212 steps that go into an Allen Edmonds shoe.

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at Allen Edmonds. “What’s nice about FedEx is they created a shipping program to meet our schedule.”

“If Allen Edmonds can source a raw material anywhere in the world, we can get it to Port Washington in two to three days,” Whittington says.

On the outbound side, Allen Edmonds now relies on FedEx Ground for weekly merchandise deliveries to its 46 retail locations. And for its exploding e-commerce business, it uses FedEx Home Delivery® and FedEx Express — the latter popular with Allen Edmonds’ more demanding customers, who frequently want their dress shoes by the next morning.

“[E-commerce integration] was fairly easy, thanks in large part to how much FedEx helped us,” Barber says.

WHERE TO NEXT?There is a consistent message coming out of Allen Edmonds: We will always be a shoe company first, and we will always stay true to men.

As Schauer says, “Allen Edmonds is always going to be a men’s lifestyle brand driven from the foot up.”

At the same time, there’s undeniable excitement over the brand’s increasing diversification into accessories and apparel.

Schauer proudly notes that belt sales alone are up 40 percent. As men are drawn to Allen Edmonds for fantastic shoes, they’re increasingly exploring what else the brand has to offer. Today, that includes not just belts, but also herringbone sport coats, wool scarves, briefcases and even leather iPhone covers. As much as possible, these items are all sourced and manufactured in the U.S.

The future of Allen Edmonds, in other words, appears to be as bright as the shine on a new pair of calfskin Park Avenues.

“The brand is hot,” Schauer says. “Men are dressing better. They’re wearing brown shoes instead of beat-up tennis shoes. The grunge look is out. We are really well positioned to capitalize on how men are thinking about themselves today.“

NOWHERE DOES A LARGE COMPANY

MEAN MORE TO A COMMUNITY THAN

IN A SMALL TOWN, and that’s certainly

the case here. Allen Edmonds is currently

the town’s largest employer, just ahead

of insurance and benefits provider Ansay

& Associates.

“The heritage of this area is

manufacturing,” says Allen Edmonds’

CFO Jay Schauer. “We’re so proud to be

a part of that. Since 2008, we’ve

hired more than 250 people in Port

Washington alone.”

From a jobs and tax-base standpoint,

Allen Edmonds is huge. “No doubt about

it,” says Port Washington Mayor Tom

Mlada. But, he adds, it goes beyond that.

“What I value most is the partnership,” he

says. “If we have events here in the city,

Allen Edmonds is always willing to

serve.”

Mlada even asked Schauer to serve

on the Port Washington Economic

Development Committee. The goal: How

can the city incubate the next Allen

Edmonds?

“Allen Edmonds wants to pay it

forward,” Mlada says. “To have that kind

of expertise, that kind of input in what

we do, it’s really critical.”

SHOE TOURISMThe biggest impact Allen Edmonds has

on Port Washington might be tourism.

The company’s Shoe Bank, which is

attached to the production facility and

sells steeply discounted factory seconds,

draws a steady stream of visitors from all

over the Midwest, especially Chicago.

“They come to Port Washington to

buy a pair of shoes on their way to Door

County. They visit the marina. They buy

lunch. They leave and export the Port

Washington brand. There’s a huge

down-the-line impact,” Mlada says.

The impact is so great that the mayor

says the north end of town, where the

Shoe Bank is located, has been identified

for more development, including

landscaping and additional retail. “That

Shoe Bank store does as much business

as any Allen Edmonds store in New York

City. When they shared that with me, I

was blown away,” Mlada says.

What mayor wouldn’t love to have

Allen Edmonds as his or her city’s calling

card? “It’s a great company and a great

American story. We’re so proud Allen

Edmonds calls our city home.”

That sense of pride is everywhere.

On the feet of Port Washington police

officer Eric Schmeling as he walks with

the mayor: you guessed it, a pair of

Allen Edmonds.

The mayor of Port Washington, Wis., Tom Mlada.

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WHAT SHOES MEAN TO MAIN STREETIt’s impossible not to fall in love with Port Washington, Wis. A picturesque small town of 12,000 on the shore of Lake Michigan with a sparkling marina, it has all the charm of a New England seaside village, while still being an easy 30-minute drive from downtown Milwaukee.

See the Allen Edmonds video. Go to fedex.com/access.

This could be the connection that changes everything.

It could be a new energy-saving technology. Perhaps the next medical breakthrough. Or a priceless family heirloom rediscovered. When people access the world, anything becomes possible. To learn more, go to fedex.com/access.

FedEx. Solutions That Matter.SM