SACC-GA member since 2015

Interview with Robert Cormier
Group Director, Strategic Development

Tell us a bit about yourself and Paramount!
I’m the Group Director for Strategic Development at Paramount. I’ve been
with Paramount in the U.S. for just over four years and I’m based in Raleigh, NC.
I’ve been in the relocating and moving industry for 27 years and lived overseas for
19 of those years; in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. I’ve also
lived in Boston, and in California for five years.

Paramount has its headquarters in San Diego, CA and was established in 1996.
The organization has steadily grown since, from one location in San Diego to
locations all over the key cities in the U.S. and Canada and a newly established
office in Mexico. We also have large operations in Germany and Singapore. The
company is currently moving over 40,000 international moves per year, which
makes Paramount the largest international moving corporation in terms of
moving volume. We’re growing rapidly and have a close relationship with the
largest airline companies in the U.S. For the last six years, the focus has also been
on domestic moving services that doesn’t require moving with airlines on the
request of our corporate clients.

Why did Paramount join the chamber?
Sweden is one of the markets we feel is underserved. There’s no relocation
firm that focuses on Swedish relocations and we therefore felt that we should get
more involved in this market. I met Sara Henriksson (Executive Director at the time)
at an event held by the German Chamber and she introduced me to the
Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce-Georgia.

Which was the latest event you attended held by the chamber?
I attended Sweden Day and the Golf Tournament last year. I also visited Sweden House
in D.C. and SACC Summit 2017.

What trends do you see in the logistics industry?
We see a change in the allowances that companies are offering for their moves, it’s
a combination of cost and the environment. Younger customers that are
relocating don’t move a lot of furniture which means that we have to adapt to the
shipment allowance.

Which opportunities does this create for Paramount?
Our operations aren’t large, with around 200 employees, which make us able to
adapt to this change by changing our structure. We are utilizing our partner network
and it doesn’t affect our cost structure.

We’re investing a lot in technology systems, such as apps and electronical applications.
This makes it easier for the younger generation to communicate. We are also capable
to do video surveys to determine how much weight and volume our customers need to
ship, which means that we don’t actually have to go to our customers’ homes.