Most of us think about business in terms of the point of sale. I’ve got a product. You’ve got money. You give me money for the product and boom: we have an economy.

But Adam Smith’s invisible hand didn’t put that product on my shelf. It likely came on a truck. And that truck was built with parts sourced from places near and far. Which in turn were manufactured with raw materials extracted from all four corners of the globe.

That’s a supply chain. Ball it all up, and it’s the backbone of the American economy.

Logistics are an important part of every business. Getting the items that you need when you need them has a big impact on your productivity and bottom line. And that’s true if you’re running a restaurant or building a rocketship. Time is money. So is distance. When companies need something jonny on the spot, many of them use GOPHR, an on-demand delivery app developed by Lake Charles native and resident, Warren Vandever.

Warren Vandever, his delivery company GOPHR uses AI to match packages with trucks across the country

GOPHR is sort of like Priceline for logistics. It connects businesses and consumers to a fleet of 650,000 networked vehicles operated by independent contractors. The app can scan an object to produce a cost estimate, and links up the delivery with the right-sized vehicle. They ship just about everything. Paper clips, building supplies and industrial equipment.

Warren founded the company in 2019 after a decade in the military.

Louisiana has a long history in the logistics business, thanks to its industrial history and the offshore oil and gas industry. And many firms with legacies offshore have diversified their portfolios along with the state.

Complete Logistical Services is a company out of the Northshore area that helps offshore and maritime firms with staffing and recruiting. The person in charge of selling those services is James Brown.

James Brown, at Complete Logisitical Services they’re working on sending tourists into space in a kind of “hot air balloon” and retrieving them when they splash down in the ocean

James is the sales manager at CLS and has a background in marketing. And that has him working in a brand new world for the Gulf of Mexico: SPACE. In recent years, CLS has carved out a niche working with space tourism firms and companies developing offshore wind platforms.

James handles day-to-day client outreach, farming new prospects and making sure current CLS clients have what they need. He grew up in Metairie and lives on the northshore.

Researcher Lea Urdiales, Audio Engineer Dylan Babineaux, Christiaan Mader, Warren Vandever and James Brown, Out to Lunch at Tsunami Sushi

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. Photos by Astor Morgan.