It was good so many Rotarians could join us today for our trip to Vietnam!  Gordon reminded everyone that Harriet Meyerhoff has designated RCSE as a place for people to make donations in Eric's honor.  If you would like to make a donation, please make a check out to RCSE and send it to PO Box 60822. Savannah, Ga 31420.  All money collected will be donated to The Rotary Foundation.  After all Rotary business items were discussed, Gordon introduced our speaker for today - Will Sandman.  
 
Will works for Avery Dennison and has lived in Asia for several years.  He has worked in China, Hong Kong, and is now currently working in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam.  Avery Dennison specializes in a wide variety of labeling and functional materials: labels, hangtags, heat transfers, price sticker - things that are known as trims.  They have 30,000 employees globally and manufacture in 50+ countries.  It is a $6 billion dollar company and have contracts with Nike, Adidas, H&M, Walmart, and Gap (just to name a few).  Will is on the performance side of the business and is in Vietnam managing a group of people who are trying to determine how to increase sales.  In other words, where should they invest in order to get new business.  Will then showed us a presentation that he shows to clients in Vietnam.   Over the past 17 years, Avery Dennison's growth in Vietnam has been phenomenal and would be more if not for COVID-19.  
 
TheVietnam plant serves as a liaison between brand and factory.  There are 2800+ people at the Vietnam plant and it produces 30 billion hang tags per month.  Avery Dennison has to coordinate between the brand and factories and keep everyone happy.  They have their own internal grading system and rate 99.8% on reliability and flexibility.  Speed is key in this industry.  Brands want to manufacture their products and bring them to market quickly.  Avery Dennison does perform tests on their products before they can be sold to the factory.  Sustainability goals are at the core of everything they do. 
 
Vietnam has a growing economy which is great fit for Avery Dennison.  Will says he enjoys working for Avery Dennison because he likes being on a global team.  He enjoys living in Vietnam because it is affordable, has great people, has amazing food, is easy to get around, and there are communities of ex-pats that make you feel at home.  So far, there have only been 315 cases and zero deaths in Vietnam from COVID-19.  Will says this is because Vietnam shut it down when the outbreak first began.  If you have any questions about Will's career or Vietnam, Will would be happy to talk with you.  Please contact Gordon Matthews in order to get his contact information.