Kreg Keesee Joins Roundtable with Assistant Secretary Toloui

Tuesday, 8 November 2022


Kreg Keesee Joins Roundtable with Assistant Secretary Toloui

Kreg Keesee, our Chief Operating Officer, recently joined a group of approximately 20 Cincinnati area business leaders in a roundtable discussion with Assistant Secretary of State for Economics and Business Affairs, Mr. Ramin Toloui.

Mr. Toloui was in town to discuss and gather feedback on the benefits of 30 Years of Open Skies Air Transport Agreements, and the intricate relationship between international aviation policy and global supply chains. He was fielding questions from Mr. Keesee and the group of leaders regarding recent foreign policy issues related to global supply chain bottlenecks and the U.S. State Department’s goals related to alleviating the downstream effects on local businesses.

“As business leaders, we have obvious concerns on a range of highly disruptive supply chain and shipping-related issues”, Kreg commented. “Michelman is a global manufacturer with headquarters in Cincinnati. We ship and receive raw materials and finished goods via both air and sea around the globe. Over the past two years alone, we have seen shipping costs multiply by a factor of 4x or 5x, while, at the same time, shipping times have increased. These challenges are obviously significant, and I personally appreciated the opportunity to voice our concerns directly with Assistant Secretary Toloui.”