<%=str_Content%>Trade Innovations, Inc. Facilitates Import Compliance and
Supply Chain Security

"Trusted Trade Through Security and Compliance"

• Increase supply chain velocity.

• Reduce expenses and associated costs.

• Enrich supply chain security.

• Enhance supply chain visibility.

• Develop and implement innovative practical programs and solutions that enable companies to exponentially increase direct import penetration.

For more information contact Trade Innovations at (95) 990-0396 or send an e-mail.

Meet the Partners

Michael D. Laden

Mr. Laden has almost 30 years of experience in the international trade industry, most recently as the President of a customs brokerage firm operating exclusively for and inside of a mass retailer.  Mr. Laden has been licensed by US Customs since 1981.  He served the maximum two term limit on the Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) providing advice on customs matters to the US Treasury Department and the Department of Homeland Security.  He is a member of the CBP Trade Support Network (TSN) which is currently designing the next CBP computer architecture known as ACE (Automated Commercial Environment).  He was the executive sponsor of a self-filing program for customs entries (>200,000 entries annually) and helped a mass retailer achieve the coveted ISA designation.  Mr. Laden is also credited with developing some of the most creative and ingenious customs compliance programs, policies and procedures; allowing his employer to achieve unprecedented levels of compliance, while lowering associated landed costs.

Mr. Laden is a recognized expert in the customs compliance and the supply chain regulatory environment.  He was a founding and charter member of the Business Alliance for Customs Modernization.  He has served on the Board of Governors for the American Association of Exporters and Importers (AAEI) since 1988, and is a past Chairman.  He is also a member of the World Customs Organization’s Private Sector Consultative Group and meets regularly in Brussels, Belgium to discuss issues affecting customs compliance, security and global trade.

Mr. Laden has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Subcommittee on Appropriations concerning Customs Commercial Operations and Enforcement Policies.  He also appeared as a witness before the Senate Finance Committee on matters related to container security and operations in a post September 11th environment.  Mr. Laden has also been a featured speaker on Customs and Border Protection and related matters before many national organizations.  He travels extensively and has taught the fundamentals of importing to thousands of foreign suppliers and manufacturers worldwide.

Kelby G. Woodard

Mr. Woodard spent eleven (11) years with a mass retailer located in Minneapolis, Minnesota as the Director of Supply Chain Assets Protection.  In this capacity, he and his team were instrumental in providing supply chain security expertise to the legacy US Customs Service in the months and years following the attacks of September 11th.  The result of these consultations was the formation of the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.  His employer was one of the seven charter members of C-TPAT and has maintained a leadership position in defining new criteria and standards as a result of his efforts.  Mr. Woodard also managed the Operation Safe Commerce project and Smart Box testing and has worked on several projects focused on the use of RFID technology to secure global commerce.

Mr. Woodard was responsible for a global security team that focused on risk analysis and mitigation strategies spanning a supply chain spread throughout 84 countries.  He and his team was also responsible for significantly reducing cargo theft issues within the United States and providing assets protection services to 28 distribution centers.  Prior to his experience in the private sector, Mr. Woodard served with the U.S. Customs Service in Washington, DC. 

Mr. Woodard holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Dallas and Certificate of Global Security Management from Georgetown University. Mr. Woodard is a renowned expert on subjects ranging from global security to cargo theft issues and advises key congressional staffers regarding these issues on a regular basis.  He has given numerous presentations around the world to groups such as the World Customs Organization (WCO), Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), International Cargo Security Council (ICSC), ECR Europe, RFID Journal Live, and Retail Forward Europe.  He has also trained countless overseas vendors on the complexities of complying with US security requirements.  Mr. Woodard has authored articles on the future of supply chains within the new global security context in Loss Prevention, International Security, Supply Chain Management Review, as well as numerous other periodicals.

Trade Innovations, Inc. is an approved Service Partner of Corporation for International Business and a Sponsor for Trade Bridge International.