Adam Hill’s CEO Letter 2025
Dear Friends, Customers, Partners, and Vendors –
Happy New Year to all of you! We made it through yet another year together – and what a year it was.
I am excited to be able to share another CEO Letter as we look back on the year that was and look ahead to what we hope will be another successful (and hopefully more predictable) year in 2025.
2024: A Year of Change and Growth for Scarbrough
We finished 2024 as a completely different company than where we started the year, quite literally. After careful reflection, we started the year by launching a fresh look to our brand and a new name to better reflect who we are: Scarbrough Global.
We also started and ended the year with exciting acquisitions and growth of our service area. We acquired a Canadian Customs Brokerage operation and introduced you all to Scarbrough International (Canada) in April, opening a physical office space in Toronto. As part of the acquisition, we welcomed Nick Brenie to the Scarbrough team when he joined as Vice President & Managing Director, Scarbrough International (CA). This allowed us to expand our offerings to cover all of North America.
We also ended the year with an exciting acquisition. Effective January 1, we acquired Texas-based logistics company Parker & Co. Frank Parker has put together a great team and a highly successful operation and we are excited to welcome Frank and the team to Scarbrough! We were drawn to their strong company culture and attention to customer service, so I knew they’d fit right in with our existing team and service.
And finally, we took some time to celebrate our 40th anniversary as a company. We took the chance to look back at all the amazing things our team has been able to accomplish since Roger and Jeannie founded Scarbrough in 1984. And since none of our success would be possible without our wonderful clients, vendors, and partners, we shared the occasion with all of you!
I saw so many familiar faces from across the globe and was able to put some new faces to names as well. As many of you know, I am a firm believer that logistics is a people business at its core. So being able to share our anniversary and successes with you was a no-brainer.
An Unpredictable Year Around the Industry
Looking back, it’s actually a little hard to believe how much happened in our industry in 2024. Overall, we saw a bit of a downturn across the industry as a whole. There were plenty of contributing factors to that, though. The ongoing crisis in the Red Sea continues to affect shipping lanes and safety, causing rerouting and delays to shipments. We also saw the tragedy at the Port of Baltimore when the Dali cargo ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, collapsing it. More recently, we dealt with a brief dockworker strike along the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, leading to weeks’ worth of backups.
In Canada, we saw the long-awaited rollout of the next phase of CARM. Now the official way to pay duties and taxes on all imported goods, CARM is supposed to streamline and digitize the invoice and payment process. Despite some early kinks and inconveniences, early returns seem positive.
Looking Ahead to 2025: More Excitement Ahead
From an industry perspective, no news would be good news in 2025. After the roller coaster year around the world in 2024, we’re just looking for a return to some semblance of normalcy in business. Underlying numbers look promising for a market bounce back across the board, so we should see a solid year ahead as long as the outside factors stabilize.
On our side of things, we’re looking forward to welcoming all our new employees from Parker and helping them get settled in and comfortable. With 70 new employees there will be a lot to learn, but I’m confident they’ll hit the ground running and become integral parts of our operation.
Even with all these moving pieces, Scarbrough continues to look for new ways to grow and continue adding value to our customers. Look forward to more exciting news coming on that front later on in 2025!
As always, we look forward to working with all of you in the coming year and ask that you continue to expect more from us! Here’s to another great year together.
All the best,
Adam Hill
President & CEO
Scarbrough Global
