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Over the last few years, I have gotten to know an interesting fellow named Robert Garland of Hiwassee Dam, who in addition to being a N.C. Entrepreneur of the Year for his work with Vengeance Creek Stone has invented an automatic pill dispenser, is growing a fabulous garden in his mother’s memory, and spent years living and working overseas and making connections. Despite being at an age when many people would happily retire, the energetic Garland is still hard at work with an idea he thinks could change the entire world for the better.
“A supply chain for a new golden age of global trade” is what he calls it, and that’s what Garland & Zhang LLC has set out to do. (One of the connections he made is his wife, the Zhang of the company.) Here’s the opportunity, as he sees it.
“The world is entering a new era of global trade, characterized by realignments in geopolitical power, energy strategy, and supply chain resilience. Garland & Zhang LLC is launching a bold initiative to establish a sovereign, U.S.-anchored supply chain platform that operates through a unique combination of HUBZones, Opportunity Zones and Foreign-Trade Zones. Through these zones, G&Z is developing not just commercial destinations for retail – though that is one component – but fully integrated transshipment, assembly, storage and distribution nodes that connect American consumers and producers to global markets,” a release from Garland & Zhang says. “Through G&Z’s innovative but solid legal and logistical model, tribal lands become sovereign gateways for tariff-free global commerce.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration just last week approved Garland & Zhang LLC for the HUBZones program, so the company is well on its way.
I’m not savvy enough on the global economy to know how this would actually work, much less replace existing supply chains, but if it did the benefits would be obvious. The business model for this “sovereign trade and logistics ecosystem” has several different aspects to it, with a key being the ability to avoid tariffs.
G&Z claims it will develop and manage sovereign trade corridors through HUB, Opportunity and Foreign Trade zones. These corridors will host a mix of:
- Foreign-Trade Zone Logistics Platforms: Receiving and processing goods for deferred-duty entry, transformation and export. Goods may be processed in the United States as though they never entered the country.
- Retail & Direct Sales Centers: Manufacturers will develop and lease storefronts to reach consumers directly.
- Value-Added Light Manufacturing: Transformational processing, kitting, labeling and assembly within the zone. Companies from around the world can work with G&Z to establish manufacturing facilities that complete goods already three-fourths completed abroad into HUB Opportunity Zones. Such goods can be shipped around the world, and in the United States, with no tariffs.
- Global Export Integration: Goods can be re-exported from these sovereign platforms to other nations with no tariffs under U.S. FTZ law.
- Energy, Raw Materials and Infrastructure Imports: G&Z’s platform is also suited to develop and manage flows of bulk goods, raw materials and fuels in the energy and manufacturing economy.
While retail and light manufacturing are the first wave, G&Z’s long-term vision is broader and more consequential. The platform will develop into one that:
- Enables global suppliers to enter U.S. markets efficiently, with minimized risk.
- Creates new revenue and development streams for tribal governments.
- Establishes legal trade infrastructure that can flexibly accommodate diverse goods, including critical commodities.
- Provides investors with access to a fed approved, tax preferential, replicable and scalable commercial infrastructure.
Garland said he hopes a less-expensive supply chain will bring more prosperity to rural areas and be an answer to prayers.
Details: Call Robert Garland at 828-644-8149 or email robertgarland9@gmail.com to learn more.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him with comments and questions at 828-837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.