Although Bob Goodson works full time at FedEx, moonlights as an adjunct professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College and studies for a doctorate, his busy schedule didn’t preclude him from getting involved in the Memphis World Trade Club.

Having even more to do was one reason Goodson joined the long-standing trade organization and eventually took on duties as an officer.

“The club’s energy and purpose, coupled with my need to maintain a ‘full plate,’ drove me to serve the club as vice president and now, president,” he said.

Goodson is 2009 president of the Memphis World Trade Club (MWTC), an organization that began in 1947 so local business leaders could promote Memphis as a key shipping port for cotton and lumber.

A licensed U.S. customhouse broker and certified customs specialist who works for FedEx as a process improvement adviser in global service and quality assurance, Goodson understands the city’s role as America’s Distribution Center – and he also understands how MWTC can enhance that distinction.

“The club has a rich history of local involvement in the international trade arena and is a respected organization with positive influence in the Memphis region’s transportation and logistics industries,” he said. “As president, I am privileged to serve the club’s industry leaders in our quest for a higher level of partnership and collaboration with the Memphis and global business communities.”

Strengthening relationships

The Memphis-born Goodson joined MWTC four years ago “out of a desire to help strengthen the collaborative relationships of fellow global transportation and logistics colleagues in the Memphis region,” he said.

That decision paid off, with Goodson being elected to vice president in 2008 and now ascending to the club’s highest office.

MWTC’s 2008 president, Gray Carter, called Goodson a “people person with a quick sense of humor that puts people at ease and makes them feel comfortable.” Carter said Goodson’s experience at FedEx has taught him to be a team player who knows how to use resources.

That should make Goodson’s tenure as club president a positive one, Carter noted, especially with regard to MWTC’s signature event, the Multi Modal Conference at The Peabody hotel in the spring.

“Bob is well positioned to be successful in the role of president of the MWTC because he is organized and thorough,” said Carter, vice president of purchasing and logistics at Buckeye Technologies Inc. “He has worked very hard each of the last two years to make our first two Multi Modal Conferences successful. This year’s Multi Modal Conference, which will be held May 10-12, is shaping up to be our best effort yet.”

Future of growth

In addition to the conference, Goodson will be charged with spearheading the club’s Port Night, in which the city honors the Port of New Orleans, and other functions such as the summer golf scramble.

Through all these events plus the monthly club meetings, Goodson hopes to see the MWTC continue to flourish as it has for the past 62 years.

“As we enter 2009 with different economic opportunities than in the past, my fellow officers and I are resolute in our determination to grow the club’s membership by offering learning opportunities, opportunities to serve the community and a forum for members to network,” Goodson said. “The three large events and regular monthly meetings meet these objectives, which is good for the members and good for Memphis.”

Goodson said he believes MWTC can make the city a bigger and stronger player in the global economy by working with like-minded organizations, public and private.

Together, as MWTC club founders did years ago, they can promote the Memphis advantage as a major shipping port, albeit with all four modes of transportation – air, road, river and rail –moving more than just cotton and lumber.

“Memphis will never have enough emissaries pushing the good of our community,” Goodson said. “The Memphis World Trade Club strives to be a structured force and forum that brings together leaders of global commerce from the Memphis region and around the world to help exploit this convergent synergy.”