Logistics Plus CIO, Emile Zafirov, recently participated in an online article from CIO Outlook focused on “Big Data” with the headline Big Data: Changing the Way Logistic Companies Function Today. A clipping of the article is shown below.
Since July 2014, Alex Wagner has been serving as the head personal fitness trainer for Logistics Plus employees (see video below). Having a fully-equipped fitness center at the Logistics Plus global headquarters at the historic Union Station in Erie, PA is a nice perk for the company’s 100+ employees that work at this location (one of more than 40 around the world). But having a fitness center is of little value if there is no one on-site with the expertise to coach and inspire employees to work out correctly and safely.
That’s where Alex comes in. Five-days a week, and just about every hour throughout the day, Alex works one-on-one with Logistics Plus employees to develop and execute personalized training plans using a variety exercises modeled after the CrossFit fitness regime. Prior to joining Logistic Plus, Alex was a member of the United States Air Force (USAF). Having completed his full-time tour-of-duty in February 2014, Alex has remained a member of the armed force reserves ever since.
A few weeks ago, Jim Berlin, founder and CEO of Logistics Plus, allowed Alex an excused leave-of-absence to pursue a new level of service to our country: Enrollment in the USAF “Phoenix RAVEN” Special Armed Forces Program, which Alex successfully completed this past week! The intensive two-week, 12-hour-a-day Phoenix RAVEN program qualifies selected Security Forces personnel to perform as members of a force protection team assigned to deploy with DoD aircraft to austere environments. Students are trained to perform as teams to detect, deter, and counter threats to personnel and aircraft at deployed locations by performing close-in aircraft security and advising aircrew on force protection measures. In addition, the program prepares students to perform anti-hijacking duties on select missions.
After program completion, unit program managers sustain a high level of preparedness for the Ravens through intense physical training, realistic use-of-force scenarios and written and practical evaluations. Additional courses in geographic/cultural orientation offered by the Air Force Special Operations Command are provided to increase members’ awareness of cultural areas they frequently transit on missions. Combat survival and additional aircrew-specific training have been recently added to meet theater aircrew requirements.
The first Ravens graduated in February 1997. Since then, more than 2,200 USAF security forces have graduated from the Phoenix Raven program. Graduates from the program also include members of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Federal Air Marshal Service. Upon graduation, Air Force Ravens are issued a lifetime numeric identifier for their accomplishment.
Congratulations Alex! We are very proud of your accomplishment and your ongoing service to our country!
Thank you to the employees and family members that helped us celebrate LP’s 20th anniversary this weekend at Peek’n Peak Resort. Click below to view a Flickr photo album for the event.
Cool news from our very own Jeremy Chaffee. Jeremy manages the Logistics Plus truckload solutions department, and he has been an employee of the company for 16 years.
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My daughter, Kaylene Chaffee, and her softball team will be competing in the Little League, Senior League Softball World Series from Sunday, July 31 to, August 7th. Kaylene (#20) is a utility player that usually plays at the Catcher and Shortstop positions.
The USA East / Pennsylvania District 1 Senior Softball team is comprised of girls, 16 years old and under, from 6 different area high schools, General McLane, Cambridge Springs, Saegertown, Cochranton, Titusville, and Conneaut Area Senior High. Each player had to distinguish themselves in 12 regular season Little League games and then try out and make the District 1 All Star team cut. After that, in order to progress this far, the team has already had to place first in a series of tournaments including the Pennsylvania Section 1 Tournament and the Pennsylvania State Tournament, and, just this past week, the East Region Tournament where these ladies traveled to Worcester, MA and spent a week competing against 11 other state championship teams from ME, VT, NH, MA, NY, NJ, RI, NJ, DE, and MD.
The girls leave on a bus Saturday morning to the Senior League Softball World Series in Sussex, DE where they will spend the following week competing daily against 9 other championship teams from around the world, including 5 other US regional teams, Canada, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Europe-Africa, for a chance to compete in the Semi Finals and World Series Final that will be broadcast next weekend on ESPN 3 and ESPN.
This team is a wonderful group of fun and extremely talented young athletes who are completely dedicated to their sport, and I’m excited that my daughter is among them. Most of these young ladies have both played with and competed against each other since they were 6 years old on various Little League, travel ball, and high school softball teams, and to see them all together now representing our local area, the state of Pennsylvania, and the Northeastern US is just amazing. It has already been a fantastic adventure to see not only how this team has come together, but also how the community has rallied around them. When they won the PA state title, the team had just 5 days to raise the over $11,000 necessary to fund the trip to the East Tournament in Worcester. Local businesses, organizations, and individuals contributed generously and they easily surpassed that goal to make that trip a reality. The experience of travelling to Massachusetts and now to Delaware to compete against the best teams in the world has already been a fantastic experience, and, win or lose, it is something that these girls, and their proud families, will never forget.
Anyone can follow the girls progress next week at http://www.seniorsoftballws.org/ and on the team’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1001783353262305/.
For more information about Little League and the Senior League Softball World Series, see http://www.seniorsoftballws.org and http://www.littleleague.org
Check out this cool YouTube video and performance by Stacy Rabat – an international logistics specialist for Logistics Plus in Erie, PA. The video is to promote the WQLN Kids Club – a local program where children receive free admission to special events, a club t-shirt, a special birthday surprise, and local coupons and discounts for parents.