The Legal Field: Legal Perspectives in the Agriculture Industry
Hosted by Agriculture Attorney Amanda Perry Carl, The Legal Field discusses legal topics that are of great importance to the agriculture industry. Our guests provide unique perspectives for the advancement and preservation of this vital industry.
The Legal Field: Legal Perspectives in the Agriculture Industry
Transforming Technology in Agriculture: A Conversation with Erik Larsen, Owner of TransformIT Technology Consulting
Join us on this episode as Amanda Perry Carl chats with Erik Larsen, Owner of TransformIT Technology Consulting. In this episode, we discuss some critical topics related to technology in the agricultural industry! Technology, particularly IT, are such important components of today's agricultural industry, so you will not want to miss "IT"!
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Legal Field Podcast. My name is Amanda Carl, and I am your host of the podcast. And today we are so excited to have our special guest, Eric Larson. Eric, welcome to the podcast today.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Amanda. It's great to be here.
SPEAKER_03:It's great to have you. Eric is a technology consultant and also fractional technology executive. And we will get into that a lot more throughout the podcast. But what he's doing is so fantastic for the ag community and providing this counsel on technology on IT, on how to keep data security procedures in place and compliance with a whole lot of things technology-wise. So Eric, if you could for our listeners kind of tell us who you are. Tell us a little bit about your company. We'll get into more details later, but who you are, how you got into IT, and specifically ag IT.
SPEAKER_00:That sounds good, Amanda. So um I'm probably actually gonna flip that around a little bit because I actually got into ag first before I got into the IT realm. Um, but I I've been in the industry now for over, boy, more than I can uh more than I'd like to uh claim. Probably 30, over 30 years now. Um yeah, just over 30 years. I started back in 1994. Um basically uh you know working through college and um I I've I've always been interested in the agriculture industry. I grew up in South Florida. There's a lot of agriculture, and uh my family was in it. Um and I started working for a tomato packer called Garjulo uh down in Naples, Florida. And uh it was great. I started working in the sales office there, and I was pursuing a degree in marketing, which is what my degree is in actually. And um, as I got more involved, I did some produce sales, I did some logistics work, and uh to this day I'm still in contact with some of the folks that I worked at at Garjulo um in the industry. But as time went on over the next couple of years, I really started to take an interest in the analytics of the sales and the customers, and even did some category management work um with Monsanto when they were involved with Gargiulo. And it kind of just went from there. Um, I got into IT. Um, I did some studying up in IT and uh leadership. Um, and uh I I basically, you know, just kind of went from there. I started working with um the import division. We did um berries from Horty Fruit down in South America, and I started working in that division. Um, and they're actually now what we know as Nature Ipe Farms. Um so I started with them a long time ago, um, and I basically uh worked with them. I went out on my own for a few years, um, and then went back to Nature Ripe Farms, uh, was there for several more years, and then we wanted to move up to North Carolina. So um I worked then for LM companies in Raleigh, which is where I still live in the Raleigh area. And eventually uh I was there for about 11 years and then went to A Duda and Sons and uh was there for almost five years or so uh and had a great time there, and that's where you and I met, Amanda. So that's kind of what brought me here today. So um I I'm also have been very active in the industry. Um I've chaired the PSO, which is produceupply.org, uh, and have done several other um uh things, you know, working with the Produce and uh um traceability initiative and such. So I've always been very active in the uh industry as well.
SPEAKER_03:And it's pretty neat. We both uh came together working at ADUDA and Sons. And what I kind of like to consider critical support roles for the industry, that you know, production is super important and we have to have the production, the sales, but we also have to have these support roles to make sure that what the production side and operation side is doing can actually lead to success for the company. And now we're both we've launched fra fractional companies in our support um roles. So I think that's really cool that that we got to meet and work at DUDA, and now we're kind of doing similar things in legal and in the IT world.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. You know, and you know, and and that's kind of why I formed Transform It, um, you know, in in working with the industry, mostly with the volunteering in the industry. And I had gained some really great experience and knowledge working for some of those large grower shippers. Um, but I really saw in my volunteering efforts that a lot of small to medium-sized farms, packers, and distributors really still need that IT help, you know, especially when cybersecurity came around. I spent some time at the produceupply.org on a committee where we were working with cybersecurity uh best practices and guidelines for smaller organizations. And it really opened my eyes to see, you know, how unaware some of these organizations were to some of the uh risks that were in front of them. So um and also back 10 years or so ago, I got my um project management professional certification to lead projects, which has helped me with ERP implementations and such. And those smaller to mid-sized companies also need that help too, you know, making sure their projects are are moving along fine. Um yet they don't have the uh budget to hire a full-time CIO or director of IT or VP of IT. So um I thought this would be a really good niche to get into and uh having a lot of fun with it over the past three years.
SPEAKER_03:I like to say in this fractional or consulting space that you can help these small and mid-sized companies get the benefits of for me, you know, chief legal officer, general counsel for UCIO without having to pay the benefits. You know, they don't have a flute time person, they're not having to pay benefits, but they get that that knowledge and that experience of someone like you to be able to help them out, but not have to commit to that full-time role and benefits. And it's so critical. Um, we'll talk a little bit about you know why the technology um expertise is so important in the ag industry, but it really is. It's a matter of national security. Um, it really is so important for these small and mid-sized companies to have available to them what the larger companies have.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. And what really gave me the idea was we had hired a cybersecurity um consultant or slash partner um because we knew our team in IT didn't have the uh experience deep enough to know all the latest threats, to really be on it every day all the time. And by us, you know, versus you know, just using somebody on our team, we were able to hire a specialist that augmented our team and we could scale up and down as needed. And and so that's when I got to really thinking, hmm, I could probably do something like this with my skills and experience for for other organizations.
SPEAKER_03:Now tell our listeners specifically, I know you have a wide range of services that you provide, but at Transform It, what kind of specific services are you providing to your clients?
SPEAKER_00:Well, uh, you know, pretty pretty much, you know, the name Transform It um is intentional, um, and it has to do with digital transformation. So um basically, um, you know, I I like to help organizations who are not where they need to be digitally to essentially hang with some of their competitors or be able to exchange information through the industry. Um, but in order to do that, you've got to go through a transformation. You know, you've got to be able to select, pick out the right processes, software, and such that will fit your business and is appropriate to your business that's not going to break the bank and it's not gonna cripple your operation. And so I think that's that's what I find is is most important.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. And you know, I like we mentioned earlier, IT is such a critical part of businesses, no matter the size of the business, but it's so critical for these small and medium-sized businesses to have this expertise, these services. And we know IT and ag has its own particular set of issues. Um, so I kind of want us to to hone in on a few specific issues related to businesses in general, whether they're ag or not. And then we're gonna touch on some things that are very specific to agriculture and have you share some of your expertise with our listeners because I think this is so important, especially this first part to any type of business. Um, and the first thing is, you know, we we have seen this explosion post-COVID of remote work. And it's great because you can I work remotely. Um I think it's wonderful. And I think that for companies, you can bring in talent from all over the country and in some places all over the world with this opportunity for remote work, and you're not just limiting yourself to the talent in your geographic area. And so there are but there are some issues that come along with that, besides just, you know, worrying about somebody standing up without their pants on and being on camera, which we saw a lot, a lot of these weird things at the beginning of COVID, right? We saw people that forgot they didn't have on pants and some of those things. But there are some more serious issues, um, pros and cons of remote work. So can you talk about some of these IT issues that companies might face with remote work and maybe how they can work to resolve those?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And and probably even to elaborate on my on my last answer too, a little bit to go deeper is you know, the the main the main services I provide are or I would say probably threefold. Um, right now, what what seems to be in most demand and what my clients are looking for. Um one obviously is just kind of general um CIO or VP of IT for higher stuff, you know, managing, maybe bridging a gap. Um, second would be uh project management leadership. Um, and then third would be FSMA 204, um FDA regulation readiness. So those those are really what I've been spending a lot of time on lately. And getting back to that first item is right where this question is, where you're at, is you know, setting up these uh the ability to work remotely uh where it's convenient um but also secure, you know. So and a lot of these organizations, you know, they don't have the the leadership to really think this through and and put together a process or have had you know done this before. Um so I think it gets down to when you bring in your own devices and you know enable workforce, uh remote work, work from home, you know, there's things to consider, you know, there's um you know, there's there's pros and cons. So the pros are um uh for like uh you know, you're you're able to get your uh workforce to um work whether they need to be home for some reason or if they're traveling. So many people travel. Um but also you know, the the advent of all this technology in the um virtual meeting space, you know, has has really taken off and even saves some travel expense, you know. But um as an IT leader, um you really have to think about mixing data security with data availability and convenience. Um obviously Paramount is protection of your company's sensitive information. You know, there's there's important trade secrets, maybe there's there's sensitive information that you know you don't want to leak out of your organization. Um, so that has to be considered. Um you also want your employees to have easy access as well to information is needed when working remotely or traveling. So one thing I always had run across in the past was um, hey, you know, I I'm on the airplane all the time, and it, you know, and sometimes they have Wi-Fi, and sometimes when they have the Wi-Fi is not great. You know, I need to be able to um have access to at least some of my files when I'm working and make sure they get synced up well. So, um, and there's plenty of technologies out there right now that do that. In fact, most people already have if they subscribe to like Microsoft 365. Um, so being able to develop a solution that allows certain files and folders to sync down to a user's computer safely and effectively and can be very convenient when traveling. Um also um, you know, we we see a lot of diverse work teams, um, you know, and and uh and hybrid teams where some are on on site, some are working from home, some are outsourced, and really building that cohesion um between all those different types of teams is critical to get things done properly and most cost effectively. So using tech uh applications like Microsoft Teams, where you can have a central file repository, a chat functionality, um, maybe even a uh what they call a Kanban planner, like a uh a planning tool. Um, I help organizations with all that stuff to really, you know, I I kind of look at the and I'm a car guy. I I've I've always loved classic cars. I I I love taking things apart, uh putting things back together. But my analogy is something like that platform, Microsoft Teams, is kind of like the oil in the engine, you know, it keeps everything moving smoothly and prevents it from breaking down. Um, so that's important to have in an organization.
SPEAKER_03:And you know, I think that's all um so great and important because, like you said, you've got to have some sort of balance because it's hard. You know, if you're say a you know, a salesperson and you're traveling all over the country every week and you're spending all these hours on planes, you don't want that to be wasted time. So you need to find that balance where people can be able to make productive use of their time, but also protect the confidential information of customers, of the company, you know, all those proprietary documents and things just to make sure that that's not, you know, getting out on a public network, but at the same time balancing that ability of employees to get work done in different places because that is the world we live in now. I mean, look at us right here. We're on Zoom recording a podcast in two different states. And um, you know, technology makes that great and it makes you know, us have the ability to do a lot of things, and you just don't have as many people in the same spot in an office anymore. So we have to make that work on Sharklet. And I think that does provide a lot of opportunity. Like I said earlier, you've got the ability to work with people or hire people that may not be in your geographic area because of this um, these this ability of remote work or this diverse type of work that we that we have now. So when we're talking about bring your own device um policies, you talked about those. Do you recommend written policies for companies? Kind of what should be in those, and can you help businesses put together those policies if they do have a bring your own device to work? And what are the what are the pros and cons there of those policies?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I definitely recommend having a written policy for several reasons. Um obviously, probably the first one is um many companies nowadays have to adhere to ISO standards or SOC standards. Um, and this is essential for that. Um, you need to have uh written documented policies. Um, but you know, if we were to drill down on BYOD policies, bring your own device policies, you know, there's pros and cons um to offering that, but also having the policy. So some of the advantages or pros of a of a bring your own device policy um that I've seen anyway has been um your expenses to the organization are more planned. Um, you know, people are hard on their cell phones, you know, and sometimes they get broken, the screens get broken, and this and that. And um, and usually in a well-designed BYOD agreement with the employee, you've got a little extra built in there, almost like an insurance note to say, uh, or saving plan to say, you know, hey, we're gonna expect the X amount of percent is gonna need to be uh, you know, screen breakage and stuff like that. Well, you basically build that into what you're offering the client, the uh employee, the you know, as part of their BYOD package. You know, they basically get a certain amount of money per month to own, run a phone, um, and then maybe every couple years uh a little uh burst to you know to say, hey, you know, here's an extra couple of hundred dollars, two hundred dollars for the next time you have to refresh your hardware. So the pros are it's a planned expense for the organization. It's like leasing, you know, it's uh it's always the same amount, you can count on it. Um another pro is employees get to choose their own phone. You know, the phones nowadays, well, and I say nowadays, but even the last 15, 20 years, employees, you know, a phone is such a vital part of their life, and you know, they they have a preference on what operating system is on their phone, what you know, what the hardware is. You know, you've got the uh the apple, you know, the Apple um camp, you've got the Android camp. Um, so they like to choose their own phone and their own platform. Um, they can also use it for personal use um as well. Um, and then the convenience um of just you know having this information at their fingertips when they're not at the office, uh, such as email or maybe even some file sharing. Um, the cons, um, probably the two biggest cons that I see or or drawbacks to a BYD policy in particular is you really got to watch out because you have personal data combined with company data. And um the technology has come a long way with this. Um, there is software out there on the market now that essentially carves, so to speak, an area on your phone or partitions an area on your phone, which is really for corporate use versus the rest of the phone, which is for private use. So there is the ability to really divide them up. Um, and then you have data security, um, and then just lack of control and monitoring are concerns. And again, uh there there is software in place now on the market that allows companies to remote wipe that partition of the phone with the company's information on it. Um, they can control what apps are loaded on it. Uh so so there's there's solutions out there, but it has to be really thought through. It has to be um executed properly where it's a combination of security but also um operability, um, where it doesn't annoy or frustrate the user.
SPEAKER_03:It's come a long way in the last 10 years, if I'm correct, but you know, BYOD was a lot scarier probably a decade ago before a lot of these options were available to companies to remote wipe or have this segregation um of the personal and the company data.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I I remember um kind of somewhat being on the bleeding edge of this um w um maybe 10 years or so ago when I implemented our first policy on this, and you know, a lot was learned. Um was it executed perfectly? Oh heck no.
SPEAKER_03:Uh it never is the first time.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but we um but it was good, you know, the the uh the employees really liked the freedom and the uh you know of having their own phone and having the um ability to do that. There were, you know, obviously some hiccups where if somebody lost their phone or dropped their phone, you know, there were some issues there, but um they quickly got used to it. Um and uh and and I was very careful about what information, you know, was on the phones, you know, uh corporate information versus private information, uh, really trying to keep them as as separate as possible. Because once these technologies came out to do that, that's basically when I said, okay, yeah, we can try this out, you know, we can do it. And and it worked pretty well. And that was 10 years ago. Um, it's just grown since then, you know, with all these uh collaboration platforms like Slack and Teams and all that, you know, it just is is really grown now and it's it's essential.
SPEAKER_03:And to your point about controlling and kind of having a a more more of a lock on cost in instances like what's happened to me recently. The I won't say if it's Apple or Android, but the particular phone that I have decided to do a forced update one night a couple weeks ago. And lo and behold, the next day my phone my storage was full on my phone and it didn't function anymore to force me to buy a new phone. Which I'm gonna get stuff. So at that point, that's my own expense. You know, even if I worked in another company, not for myself, that's my own expense. The company's not getting any of these unexpected phone expenses or kids dropping their parents' phones or you know, all these other things that happen unexpectedly to damage phones.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. And and that's why I also recommend too that when these agreements are drafted, that there's there's a contingency or a little extra buffer in there for when this stuff happens too, where it's not unfair for the employees either. Um, you know, that they've got extra uh built into their agreement for when these things happen.
SPEAKER_03:Well, you know, I think that the we're you know, the the use of, like you said, the use of our phones is critical. You know, we're tied to them all the time. When I didn't a couple weeks ago when my phone just decided to stop functioning because it was full after the update, you realize how dependent we are on them to conduct our business and to do everything um throughout our day with these phones. So to your point about having the employees comfortable with the type of phone that they have, with having their own device, it, you know, it really is important uh when thinking through these policies and when companies are trying to figure out what they want to do.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And you know, whether it's good or bad, we now live in a I want it now world.
SPEAKER_02:Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:So, you know, people are obviously expected to be able to produce information, execute agreements, you know, whether it be at 9 30 in the morning or 8 30 at night, you know, and and unfortunately and or fortunately, you know, that's that's the way it is today. And we have to be able, from an IT standpoint standpoint, uh, support that.
SPEAKER_03:I think especially it was coming before that, I think, but especially in a post-COVID world where a lot of people went to working remote or we were working weird hours because we were also homeschooling kids and you know, all this weirdness, I think there is that expectation a lot of times now that you've got it in front of you on your phone. So you need to respond or you need to execute the agreement or you need to do this thing. So for good or for bad, this is where we are and this is the world that we're living in. But hey, it keeps, you know, keeps you busy, keeps me busy in our different industries.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, and I think as part of I think as part of employee training in the organizations, I think that should be addressed, you know, is is you know, um proper use of the phones and you know what's healthy and what's not, you know, and and and that's where your HR group gets a little bit more involved. Um, but to be able to have that ability is huge in today's world.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Now, on some other issues that are specific to agriculture in the world of technology, I know that you have a lot of expertise and are doing a lot of work, and I think you're actually speaking next week on this topic of FSMA 2.0. And for our listeners who aren't familiar with what Physma is, the Food Safety Modernization Act, um, can you talk to us a little bit about what Physma 204 is to start with?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. So uh I tell you what, I've spent a lot more time than I thought I was gonna spend on this in my business over the last three years. Um but it it but it's it's it's for a greater good, I believe. Um but basically what FSMA 204 is, the final rule, is it's regulation put out by the FDA that is intended to reduce the amount of time it takes for the FDA to perform a recall um on product. See uh prior to FSM 204 regulation, um, which which is where we're at right now, but um it takes the FDA approximately about 35 days to conduct an investigation. Um, and and as you can imagine, that doesn't work when we legitimately have a serious problem with um a particular food that is getting people sick or you know uh people are dying, you know. We have the technology to be better than that. And you know, the FDA recognizes that um they recognize that they spend a lot of time and effort um in these 35 days where they're having to chase down paper records, no digital records, and that's what takes all the time. And it's been confidently estimated that it's gonna take uh an average re recall to go from approximately 35 days down to like five days, which is amazing to yeah, and and it's basically just because of the digitization of the information. So um this is FISMA 204 final rule is essentially an iteration um of what originally began as the Bioterrorism Act of 2002, uh, which basically started the rule of having to have lot traceability, you know, be able to trace back product to a particular lot, um, or or some sort of you know focused um group of product uh for a particular farm or grower. And then as time went on, um around 2010-2011, the Produce Traceability Initiative came along, which was to enhance that or create another iterate iteration on that, which allowed to have case labeling and palette labeling with that traceability information on those labels, um, and sometimes even on the palettes themselves. And so between that, um utilizing EDI to send some of this information um electronically, but also having that human readable on the case and palette labels really helped um traceability moving forward. But it wasn't enough. And because it there was still a lot of paper uh um involved and and and it still took you know time that to track things down and the data standards weren't where they are, but the FISMA 204 rule really um is uh you know requiring anyone who is asked to provide traceability information to provide it in an electronic sortable spreadsheet form, so which is essentially you know Excel or something. So basically you've got um what they call critical tracking events, which is um maybe initial packing, um storage, uh shipping, uh receiving. And so you've got all those critical tracking events at each node in the supply chain. You know, a a shipper will ship product to a distributor. Center who will receive product and then in turn maybe perform a transformation to that product. And you know, like if we think of you know, we've all seen those stoplight bell pepper packs, you know, um, where you have the red, green, and um yellow bell peppers. And so basically they're taking these three different lots, usually, or three different products, combining them into one package, and now they've created this transformation, which is essentially a new product. Um, and then they may ship it out to either a retailer or maybe uh another node in the supply chain. And so FSMA 204 is really to digitize this whole process. And um, so I think I think it's it it it's it's great. And and I think the produce traceability initiative laid the groundwork for this to happen. 95% of the information needed to support FSMA 204 compliance is already on the case labels and has been for over 10 years. Um there's just really, I would say, two to three more elements of data that are needed to make this work, and then of course, transmitting that data electronically through the supply chain. I think some of the advantages of this could be it can build trust in our food supply by improving the transparency in the supply chain. You know, sometimes, you know, we get into waves where recalls become frequent, um, and that starts to erode consumer trust, you know, and and being able to react quickly, really know where the product comes from is going to help trust. Um, and uh some of the challenges I've seen to this though, um, I I think largely what I've seen is at the retail level, um, a lot of the receivers at the retail level have not tracked product to the case level. And um, you can you can imagine the volume that many of these large-scale retailers have. And, you know, to do one extra click or one extra scan can totally cripple their already tight process. You know, we all know that our industry has very tight margins, and you know, we can't we can't afford to to lose any more profitability. Um so so the lot of work, a lot of work has to be done, has to be done to be able to do this without affecting the operational operation materially. Uh then the next challenge is the data standards. You know, we've always had uh data standards in place now for 20 years or so. Um, but many people are unaware of these data standards. You know, GS1 obviously is the front runner in this, uh, the global standards um organization there. Um, but data is not where it needs to be uh from a standards perspective. You know, getting um and I and I'm actively participating right now with the IFPA on a supply chain of the future initiative where we're working at um harmonized data standards, you know, is is getting the data exchanged through our industry uh standardized and harmonized so that it's easy to pass through, you know, and and there's less confusion and you know it's it it's essential. Um and then the other the probably the third challenge I've seen obviously is competing priorities and costs, which is you know, no real great shakes there, right? You know, we we we can expect that. Uh so many companies have you know only a certain amount of dollars to spend on projects, you know, and I I could say you know, with an IT, I know that's for sure. Um so there's competing priorities, you know, to get things done. The the the staff is only so big and there's only so many things they can handle, and there's only so much money to be able to spend on it. So working that into working those software updates into um you know uh into the organization sometimes has to be orchestrated with um roll-ups to software or um change releases and stuff. So uh there's there's definitely some planning and strategy to do there.
SPEAKER_03:To your point that it's it's a challenge from a cost perspective sometimes. You know, companies, especially small, mid-size growers, have to choose, you know, what they're putting their money into. And we've got input costs that are rising all the time, and those profit margins are so thin. And you know, in Florida, the estimates are that the average hourly um labor cost for H2A labor is$27 an hour when you factor in housing and transportation and food. So, to your point, with those thin profit margins, that does become a challenge, but it is so critical for transparency, for consumer trust. Um and a lot of the products you're talking about, like the stoplight peppers or the um convene, a lot of the convenience packaging of the pre-made salads with the nuts and the dressing and things in them. Consumers want those kinds of products. Consumers want the convenience products, but it does bring some of these challenges, like you mentioned. So I think the transparency that FSMA 204 can bring is very critical for that consumer trust. Now they've pushed back the um compliance deadline. Now, what's the current date for FSMA 204 compliance?
SPEAKER_00:It's July 20th, 2028.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. It was January of 26th, I think, correct? And then they pushed it back.
SPEAKER_00:Yep. Um, it was pushed back um largely due to the challenges I've talked about, you know, most of it, I think, at their at the retail level, um, to be able to because what we were seeing um was a lot of companies just hastily putting together processes and and um um implementations to just satisfy um the the regulation itself. And I think a lot of the retailers and a lot of the people in our industry do find value in improving traceability and digitization of these records and want to do it right. And so, you know, worked along with the FDA to come to an agreement to say, hey, let's let's take a step back and let's let's do let's do this the right way. Let's not just slop it together and put it out there. You know, let's let's design our systems intentionally and get it done right. Um, this is a big thing for our for our industry.
SPEAKER_03:And companies do not need to be waiting until and say, oh, we have until 2028 to that point, is these are complicated processed processes to get into place. Companies need to be doing this now so that when 2028 comes, it is not hastily thrown together that they are ready to go.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, oh absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:Some, you know, a couple of other issues that are specific in ag and technology. Um I kind of want your opinion for our listeners. Should agriculture have a heightened sense of awareness with cybersecurity due to food security being an issue of national security? You know, we we see that there have been incidents where foreign countries have perhaps tried to hack into different food companies, food systems. What are your thoughts on that with that heightened sense of awareness?
SPEAKER_00:Well, my answer to your question is absolutely. Um, cybercrime, uh, cyber warfare, um, it's all about having control, you know, especially when it comes to international relations. You know, if other countries or any form of terrorism are able to control how we are operate as a nation, um, you know, for our food supply, et cetera, um, you know, everything's digital anymore, you know, and and if they can get a hold of something uh from the other side of the world and cripple operations, shut things down, um, steal information, that really disrupts our supply chain logistics. And um so every company needs to have some level of cybersecurity processes in place and training.
SPEAKER_03:Um, so for our listeners who may need IT assistance, they may need cybersecurity assistance, they may need FSMA 204 compliance assistance. Um, what is your website and what's a good way to get a hold of you? Because I want them to have your information um because these are such critical things. Our our ag industry is so critical to national security, to keeping our people fed, clothed, housed. Um, and so keeping them um out of some of these cybersecurity or physical compliance issues. What's a good way for our listeners to get a hold of you?
SPEAKER_00:Probably the best way is just go to my website, you know. Unless, you know, you're already connected with me on LinkedIn. Um my company's also on LinkedIn, I'm on LinkedIn. Um, but I would recommend the best way is going to my website at www.transformitonline.com or transformitonline.com. Um, on there you'll find uh a comprehensive listing of our services uh as well as um a link to book some time with me to have you know a free initial discussion on any questions you may have, I'm happy to help. And um, so you're able to get that. Um, you can get my contact information, my email, everything right from there.
SPEAKER_03:And since we've talked about some really serious things today, like cybersecurity and food safety and all kinds of stuff, let's talk about some fun stuff before we end.
SPEAKER_00:So that's great. Um, yeah. Uh so as I mentioned earlier, um I'm for over probably 30 year years now, I have a love for classic cars. Um, I'm a very mechanical person. That's probably why I'm also an IT, but um, I am a huge uh lover of classic cars. I have a collection of classic cars. I buy and sell them. I go to these national auctions and such, and sometimes I even do the work myself. Um uh quite often. I've I've done everything. Uh, engines, transmissions, paint, all that stuff. So it's been my hobby over the years, and I really love it. I think it's a way of preserving the history of America. Um, and uh I I just have a great time with it. And now my son, who's you know, uh into his mid-teens, uh, is really taking an interest in it as well. Um, so it's a great father-son bonding experience as well. And so I I really love that. I love to, you know, showcase my cars and talk with other like-minded um people who appreciate this and and and really enjoy that a lot. It's a it's a great escape for me.
SPEAKER_03:Which is so great and great for your son to be doing with with you too, because I've seen a lot recently in younger generations that may not always appreciate some of the classic older things. I mean, sometimes my kids tell me way back in the 1900s, so what they consider flassic may just be people our ages. I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03:Way back in the 1900s. But it's great to see that appreciation passed on to the next generation. I mentioned in my last podcast with our last guest that we had, but my husband is currently putting in and a couple of our my sons are currently putting a Cummins diesel engine into a 2000 excursion, which has had all kinds of things disrupted. But it's great and cool that they have that ability to work on that together and to have, like you said, that father-son bonding time.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, yeah, and they like Fords too. I like that.
SPEAKER_03:Yes. Well, we also have an 88 suburban, but they like the Ford excursion better. And they're putting that diesel in. Okay, what's your favorite car of all the ones that you've done?
SPEAKER_00:Um, you know, I think the favorite my favorite car I have right now um is my 1989 Lincoln Mark 7 LSC. Oh. Which for most old people, they'd probably know that, but it's a two-door sports car, kind of like the hot rod Lincoln. It was, it's got essentially the Mustang chassis in it, wrapped in um, you know, a really nice, luxurious uh uh two-door uh sport coupe body with some really incredible high tech for its day back in 1989 with analog brakes and it it it uh and and air suspension and stuff. It really was a pioneer of a lot of tech back in the day. So um I love that car. I was fortunate to be able to find one with only 20 some odd thousand miles on it. And I love taking it out for a drive, and it's like going for a drive down memory lane.
SPEAKER_03:That is uh how did you find one with only 20 something thousand miles on it? That's incredible.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I found it on an online auction. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Wow. The things you can sometimes find in online auctions.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly. Yep. And I have an understanding wife, so just have to be careful with that.
SPEAKER_03:That always helps.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:I hope my husband would say the same thing about that most of the time.
SPEAKER_00:Exactly.
SPEAKER_03:So, what are some of your favorite things to do and visit in your area? You're up in North Carolina, you're in the Charlotte area. What are some of your favorite things to do up there?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so um, like I mentioned, I I I pretty much grew up down in South Florida, which is beautiful as well. Um, but my wife and I wanted to experience another part of the uh country, and we moved up to uh North Carolina, and we just love it. You know, you know, you're a half a day drive from the mountains, you're a half a day drive from the coast. Um, but even locally where I am here in the Raleigh area, we have some beautiful greenways to walk around. And especially this time of year now, where you're seeing leaves fall and just taking the dogs out for a nice walk is is very cathartic sometimes in the world we live in.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. We love to visit the mountains of North Carolina every year, and we often talk about how that's one of the greatest things about North Carolina is you have beach and mountains so close to you, um, and without having to go on a 12-hour drive to get to either one. So that's lovely. And a final question before we wrap up your favorite sports teams.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, favorite sports teams. Um well, I will admit that you know, with this car crazy stuff I've got going on, I don't have as much time to watch sports as I'd like to because I'm I'm into that. But um I love the Carolinas, uh Carolina Hurricanes hockey, NHL hockey. Um we've got um we've got an arena nearby that you know I go to, my family goes to, and we love to watch those games. That can really get exciting, especially when it comes to playoff season. And being born in northern New Jersey, I have to be a Yankees baseball fan. So I I keep an eye on those guys as well to see how they're doing.
SPEAKER_03:You know, having grown up a Braves fan, we always disliked the Yankees. However, fun story. Um I was showing at the Florida State Fair showing a pig and was auctioning off my pig, and I didn't know who the buyer was, and somebody pointed out to me. And I look out in the crowd, and I think it was a senior in high school, it was George Steinbrenner sitting right there who bought my pig. And I went over and talked to him, and he was a lovely man. He asked me where I was going to college, what I wanted to do in life, and it really changed my perspective on the Yankees, still a Braves fan, but he was a lovely man who bought my pig and sat there and had a conversation with me like he was a normal, you know, just everyday regular man, um, not the controversial owner of the Yankees. So that is my Yankee story. This he was a really cool guy.
SPEAKER_00:That's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, it was awesome. Well, Eric, is there anything else that you would like to say to our listeners before we cut off? This has been amazing. I appreciate your time.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I really enjoyed it, Amanda. Thank you for asking me to join your podcast. Um, I enjoy them very much. Um, uh the only thing I would say is that, you know, I I I'm in this for the love of it. I mean, obviously I need to make a living, but you know, if if you have any questions or any concerns, like I said earlier, you know, hit me up, contact me. Um happy to jump on the phone with you and and discuss any questions you have. You know, free of charge for, you know, um that initial call just to to chat things out. If you have a you know, question or something like that. Um I'm I'm really interested, you know, uh in our industry. You know, it's so important. It's what I do, it's it's who I am, and I want to help those involved in the industry. It's important to me. So um don't hesitate to reach out to me.
SPEAKER_03:Thank you so much. Thanks for your time and your passion for this critical industry. I think um, you know, we we both have such a passion for keeping this very important industry afloat. So thank you for your passion and thanks for your time.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Thank you, Amanda.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for listening to the weapon build podcast.com.