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Q&A With Adam Hill

President & Chief Operating Officer of The Scarbrough Group, Adam Hill.

November 27, 2023

"Growing our business and employee headcount in the current market was significant. While many of our competitors locally, regionally, and nationally implemented layoffs, we stayed true to our team."

Q: What do you consider your organization’s most significant achievement or highlight over the past year?

A: Growing our business and employee headcount in the current market was significant. While many of our competitors locally, regionally, and nationally implemented layoffs, we stayed true to our team. While business may not be as bright as it was just 12 months ago, our dedication to our team remains unwavering.

Q: What do you see as the odds of a recession between now and the end of 2024?

A: The general definition of a recession is technical in nature, a fall in GDP in two successive quarters, so I will leave that exact claim to the experts. However, I do think that if we can take a step back and look at the years starting in 2019 that lead into today’s market, the picture gets a bit clearer.

During the Pandemic-driven years companies quickly learned that their supply chains were one of their most valuable possessions as they could not sell what they did not have. That realization, along with excess stimulus funds flowing into consumers’ hands, created quite the inventory storm surge. As with any storm surge, the water (inventory in this case), must recede to “normal.”

What we are witnessing today, is a slowly receding inventory. We have seen the volumes dip year-over-year, I don’t think we could have taken too many more months of the surge, but we are seeing a start of a return to normal levels that hark back to 2019.

While the storm surge has peaked and is now receding, I do think it will take until the second half of next year to get back to where we all need to be, and some normal shipping patterns start to emerge again.

Q: We have the new KCI up and running; what do you believe is the Next Big Thing we should pursue in the Kansas City region?

A: As Kansas City has so much going for it right now, the focus should be turned to the World Cup and the international stage it will put Kansas City on.

Q: Speaking of KCI: Have you used it yet? If so, what are your early impressions?

A: Coming from the old KCI, that first walk into the new KCI is breathtaking. I am excited about the potential it brings to the city and the hope for maybe a few more international (business related) destinations as non-stop service (i.e., London).

Kansas City continues to work hard to put itself on the map and not just a part of the fly-over states. The new KCI serves as that beacon for both residents and tourists alike.

Q: Did you have a key mentor on your way to leadership? If so, who was it, and what was the most important thing you learned from him or her?

A: So many people have taken me under their wing as I have grown into my current role, even some who may not know it, but I have keenly observed how they ran their businesses. More than anyone our founders, Roger & Jeannie Scarbrough, taught me that at my best I am only a reflection of my team.

Q: Who’s the CEO—local, national or global—you admire most?

A: Jack Welch

Q: What’s the best business book you ever read?

A: Winning – Jack Welch

Q: What is the most essential skill you look for in leadership-level hires?

A: This is a tough question as each leader I add to the team brings with him/her their own unique abilities to fill a void we are missing or need upgrading from me. There are three things that come to mind when I think about all our leaders.

  • Insatiable Curiosity: Constantly asking why about both internal and external forces that drive our business. Why did we do this? Why did our customer do that?
  • Grit: Simply the ability to get things done and persevere.
  • Passion: I want people who are passionate about what they bring to our leadership table. While those passions can lead to heated debate, that debate makes us better for it in the end. I tell my team often, my job is to drive the bus, your job is to make sure I don’t drive it off a cliff with all of us in it.

Q: If you could start a charity, what would the mission be?

A: Help hungry kids not go hungry.

Q: What’s your current employee headcount?

A: 181

Q: Over the coming year, do you plan to add/reduce staff or hold at current levels?

A: We plan to hold steady within our operational ranks. We have made a few key hires and internal reorganizations recently that added to both our product offering and leadership head count.