Saving money, primarily by avoiding tariffs, might have been the main motivation for buyers at the event, but they were not just looking for the lowest bidder.
At least not Doug Drake, the materials manager at Baxter Enterprises, who manned the company table. He could have met many of these suppliers through a Google search and a video call, but he wanted to be able to shake hands and meet face-to-face.
To him, personality matters in the manufacturing world, and some attitudes he doesn’t get along with.
“They can be a real pushy salesperson,” Drake said. “Most of the time I don’t care for that.”
For the salespeople, they’re here to avoid wasting time hunting a conference floor just to find a company rep without any purchasing power. Grace, of Landrum Workforce Solutions, said that while the match-making is nerve-racking, the five minutes of face time is worth it.
“This is gold as far as I’m concerned,” Grace said.
This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.