October 14, 2025
Supply chain summit provides industry exposure
Without logistics, everything stops.
That was the key message conveyed by Travis Burt, co-founder of TransImpact, during his keynote presentation at the East Carolina University College of Business’ inaugural Supply Chain Management Summit at the Main Campus Student Center.
“Logistics is more than just the trucks, planes and ships, it’s about how goods move from where they’re made to where they are needed,” Burt said. “So across towns, across countries, across the board, everything you use today, your phone, your laptop, even the clothes you’re wearing, is here because of a well functioning supply chain.”
Burt began his career at UPS, where he developed his expertise in logistics and operations before retiring to launch TransImpact, an analytics and technology company in Emerald Isle. He was one of five supply chain professionals who spoke at the event, including Casey Raynor ’10, senior supply manager for Hyster-Yale; Jackie Boggs, manager of supply chain engineering and systems for Avantor Fluid Handling; Carl Turner, senior vice president of supply chain for Alvogen; and Kenneth Vines ’13, senior quality assurance specialist for Thermo Fisher.
The event was designed to give students exposure to careers in the field and to hear from professionals about their experiences, said Dr. Jon Kirchoff, chair and associate professor of supply chain management in the College of Business. Almost 250 students registered to attend.
Supply chain management covers a variety of opportunities and career choices, Kirchoff said.
“I tell students this all the time — if you’re very analytical there are great jobs for supply chain analysts for the global supply chain. If you are a relationship person, you can be in procurement, negotiations, purchasing, and if you have some sort of combination of the two, you are really in a sweet spot,” he said, adding that graduates from the program are in high demand from businesses and recruiters. “We have a great program, it’s growing, we have excellent professors, and we have excellent placement of our students as well.”
The speakers discussed topics such as the importance of supply chain management, overcoming challenges and potential careers in the industry. Burt told the students that they have the opportunity to be a part of exciting changes due to rapidly advancing technology.
“Your generation will be leading the way using new tools, data and ideas to solve these problems more effectively,” Burt said.
It’s a wide-ranging field that’s part of nearly every kind of business, he added.
“You can work in your hometown or halfway across the world, because every major company needs supply chain professionals,” Burt said. “The best part here when it comes to careers, is they are careers that make a difference. Supply chains are an invisible force that keeps the world running. When they work, people don’t notice. When they fail, the world pays attention. You’re stepping into a field where your work matters every day.”
Winston Smith, a junior in the program, said he came to soak up as much advice as he could.
“When COVID hit, when everything got shut down, when everything just took so long to get anywhere, it kind of opened my eyes,” he said. “And I [decided] I kind of want to go into the field of supply chain, learn how everything works, so that if a natural disaster or something like that ever happened again, that I could maybe help solve the problem.”
Cayman Crisp, who’s working on a master’s degree and a finance certificate, wants to work in finance but is taking an operations and supply chain management course.
“My professor has talked about the similarity of these areas,” he said. “I try to make it a point to expose myself to different areas of things, and I thought it was very interesting.”
Raynor, who started at Hyster-Yale as an intern after graduating from ECU, later led the company’s internship program for four years, and said several interns from ECU have gone on to become leaders in the organization.
“ECU graduates have a heavy influence throughout our supply chain operations,” he said.
Hyster-Yale’s supply chain involves more than 25,000 parts from over 400 different suppliers, he said.
“Without parts, our plants can’t build,” so managing the effectiveness and efficiency of the supply chain is critical to the company’s bottom line.
COB Dean Mike Harris said the college has now held conferences and summits like this one in business technology, finance and accounting.
“It provides a professional engagement opportunity for students to network and learn more about the diverse career paths in these fields,” he said. “Supply chain is a great example of a field that integrated with everything else; supply chain management impacts all elements of every organization.”
Kirchoff said the plan is to make the Supply Chain Management Summit an annual event, building on the success of the inaugural event and creating continued excitement in the supply chain management program at ECU.