Episode Transcript
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Matt Weitzel (00:01):
This episode of
the GSE podcast is brought to
you by Fort Brand, not youreveryday GSE provider.
We go beyond belt loaders andbag tractors, offering tow
barless pushbacks, de-icers andairport maintenance equipment,
all available on demand acrossNorth America and the UK.
(00:21):
Whether you need electric unitsto support your ESG goals or
traditional equipment fortoday's ramp, fort Brand
delivers flexible leasing withthe option of full-service
maintenance to keep your fleetat peak performance.
When you partner with FortBrand, you get more than
equipment.
You get expertise, reliabilityand a commitment to keeping your
(00:43):
operation running smoothly.
Visit fortbrandcom to learnmore.
This is Brad Compton, this isLuke Brown, this is Jeff Barrett
, this is Tessa Farson, andyou're listening to the GSE
Podcast.
All right, well, welcome toanother edition of the GSE
(01:06):
Podcast.
I'm Matt Weitzel and I'm herewith Nicole Romeo and Angie
Betterman.
Nicole is from Fort BrandServices and Angie Betterman is
from Fast Global Solutions.
So Nicole is my brand newcolleague, so we're going to
start with her.
How are you doing, nicole?
Nicole Romeo (01:26):
Doing great, matt.
Thank you, I'm glad to have youon our team.
Matt Weitzel (01:29):
Thank you so much.
It's been an awesome experienceso far and we have this really
incredible thing that we'regoing to talk about today.
That's the reason we're havingthis special podcast.
But, nicole, why don't you diveinto what you do at Fort Brand?
Nicole Romeo (01:42):
Sure.
Fort Brand has been in businesssince 1983, selling, renting,
leasing and maintaining groundsupport equipment and airfield
maintenance equipment, and Ijoined Fort Brand in 2019 to
help establish more leases inthe GSE space, and so I've been
(02:03):
a director of sales since Istarted and love what I do and
love our industry.
So happy to be a part of FortBrand.
Matt Weitzel (02:10):
Yeah, everybody
knows Nicole, and Nicole and I
just missed each other at XSEEDbecause that's who she was with
beforehand.
We just missed each other by acouple months or whatever, but
now we're all part of one teamand it's awesome.
Angie, you're with Fast GlobalSolutions.
Tell us a little bit about Fast.
Angie Betterman (02:28):
Fast is a GSD
manufacturer.
We've been in business since1979.
We started out as WatkinsAircraft Support Products, or
WAT, rebranded to Fast GlobalSolutions in 2015.
I've been with the company for10 years and I'm their national
account manager.
Matt Weitzel (02:46):
Nice, okay,
awesome.
Well, thank you all so much forjoining me today.
We have a special topic thatwe're going to cover.
So, nicole, do you want to kindof kick it off and kind of tell
us why we're here today?
Nicole Romeo (02:58):
Sure, so Fortbred.
We like to give back tocharities, and this year we
decided to focus on breastcancer and just providing a
charity for breast cancer.
So every year, about there'sabout three hundred and seventy
six thousand new cases of breastcancer, and that statistic
keeps climbing.
(03:18):
And so, with Breast CancerAwareness Month right around the
corner, we wanted to be able toprovide support to the patients
with a bag cart charity and afundraiser.
Matt Weitzel (03:31):
Yeah, so we're
going to.
So we've kind of partnered withwith FAST, and Fort Brand is
going to purchase a bag cartfrom FAST and FAST has done some
pretty cool things with the bagcart and I'll let Angie kind of
explain that.
But we are going to have thatbag cart inside of our booth at
the GSE Expo and we are booth2012.
(03:52):
And you can come by and see itand then hopefully win it,
because we're going to have asilent auction.
But let's hand it over to Angieto kind of explain a little bit
about this bag cart.
Angie Betterman (04:06):
So this bag
cart is our new Bravo Series bag
cart.
It is.
It's going to have pinkcurtains.
It's white with pink curtainsand then it's going to say
grounded in hope, just fightingfor breast cancer awareness.
So we thought it'd just be acool idea to partner up with you
guys.
You asked us if we would tobuild this Bay Carp.
(04:26):
It's been such a fun project towork on and just collaborate
with you guys and I'm excitedfor everyone to see it.
I can't wait till it gets onthe tarmac at this fun customer
whoever wins this with thehighest bid to get this Bay Carp
.
But it'll be fun just to see itout there on the tarmac with
(04:47):
the grounded in hope on the topand then grounded in hope on
both sides of the bag cart withthe pink curtains.
I think it's.
You know everyone's going to beable to see it from flying into
the airports and everythinglike that, so super excited to
have this on the tarmac.
Matt Weitzel (05:05):
Yeah, so we have
the Grounded in Hope logo that
we created for this and we'regoing to have it on the side and
then on top as well.
So, yeah, like you said,customers flying in they'll be
able to see it.
It's going to have those pinkcurtains on it and we're going
to have it in our booth soeverybody can come by and check
it out.
And then we're going to have aQR code that people can go scan
(05:27):
that with their phone and go inand bid on this thing and see if
they can win it for theircompany.
The starting bid is currentlyat $1,500.
And obviously this bag card isworth a lot more than that and
plus, it's a great way ofshowing your customers that that
you're helping out the NationalBreast Cancer Foundation, which
(05:49):
is which is, at the end of theday, the reason we're doing this
whole thing is for the, forthat we get from the silent
auction will go to the, the, thenational breast cancer
foundation, and then we'll havealso have like a separate QR
code, um, at the booth that youcan just go ahead and scan.
(06:11):
And then, if you want to donatefive, 10, 15, however many
dollars you want to, let's saythat you don't necessarily need
the bag card or want the bagcart.
You can still donate to thecause, so we'll have a separate
link for that as well.
So so that'd be really cool foreverybody to see, I think, and
it's really going to stand outat the booth, which is which is
super cool.
So what else do we want to?
(06:33):
What else do we want to coverhere, angie?
What do you think?
Angie Betterman (06:37):
Well, so the
auction is going to start before
the show so we're going tostart it September 8th through
September 17th.
On the 17th it closes atmidnight.
The winner is going to beannounced at the Women of GSE
event, which is September 17that 1145.
We will know who the winner isat the GSE Expo.
(07:00):
So that's exciting.
You know, if people want toknow more about the Bravo bag
cart, fast booth number is 7019.
And there will be stuff youknow in your guys's booth that
will say where we are.
But if they want moreinformation about the bag cart
or if they're looking topurchase more bag carts, they
can always stop by our booth andtalk to us about it.
Matt Weitzel (07:22):
Yeah, that's
exactly right.
I'm so glad you mentioned allthat.
So we are definitely going toput stuff up on LinkedIn so that
way people can go ahead andstart thinking about those,
those purchase orders, right,and how much they're going to be
able to bid on this bag cart.
So, yeah, it's gonna be supercool.
So let's kind of go into theexpo really quickly.
Nicole Romeo (07:49):
Nicole, what are
you looking forward to the most
at this, this year's 2025 GSEExpo?
Just excited to be able to giveback through our charity and
just see you know all the commonpeople that we work with
throughout the year and haveeverybody in one room.
It's always such a great showand it feels like you know our
friends are all together.
So that's what I'm reallyexcited about for this year at
the GSE show.
Matt Weitzel (08:07):
I agree it's.
We just have such a greatcommunity, the GSE community,
and can't wait, like you said,see all my friends and stuff
like that.
So yeah, it's always.
It's always really excitinggoing to Las Vegas and seeing
everybody.
Angie, what about you?
Angie Betterman (08:21):
Probably the
same thing.
I'm really excited for peopleto see this bag cart and for it
to be at your guys' booth andjust showcasing it and seeing
how much money we can raise forbreast cancer awareness.
I think that is huge.
Like Nicole said, seeing allthe friends and I feel like some
of you guys are family withinthe GSE community because
(08:44):
there's a lot of longstandingrelationships with the customers
that are just great to have toany new customers that are
coming that haven't been there.
Nicole Romeo (09:10):
Yeah, that's a
good point.
Yeah, exactly yeah, women whoare experiencing breast cancer,
such, as you know, mammogramsand patient navigation services,
which really takes care of somegaps that are in our healthcare
system.
So it's not just for research,it truly is.
This charity truly helps womenin their fight and not just
(09:32):
trying to come up with a cure.
It just takes care of thepatients.
So that's really exciting forus to be able to, you know, give
back in a different way.
Matt Weitzel (09:40):
Yeah, that's an
amazing charity.
Nicole Romeo (09:42):
And to really make
an impact.
Matt Weitzel (09:43):
Yeah, no for sure.
Yes, I agree, that's.
It's a, it's a great charityand we want everybody to come by
the booth, see the see the cartand put bids in on it.
And if you and if you can't puta bid, you know, donate some
money.
And you know, all support thisgreat cause.
So we're gonna be doing plentyof online activity.
Everybody should be able to seeit on LinkedIn.
(10:06):
There, should you know, there'sgonna be QR codes in the booth,
all that kind of stuff.
But if you listen to thispodcast and you want to share it
with people, please go aheadand share this podcast with
others in the industry so thatway, they make sure they're
aware that this is happening and, like I said, it's gonna be a
really cool opportunity forthese customers to really
(10:27):
support a cause and then showtheir customers that they're
supporting a cause as well.
Nicole Romeo (10:33):
Right, and also,
the winner of the bag cart will
not only get to be announced atthe Women of GSC meeting at the
end of the expo, but we're alsogoing to do a press release in
the field where we can, you know, ship the bag cart to the
customer site and then have acollaborative marketing campaign
in October, which isappropriate since it is breast
(10:56):
cancer.
Matt Weitzel (10:56):
Oh, that's awesome
.
Yeah, you're right.
Nicole Romeo (10:58):
So it's a really
great charity.
It's going to be fun.
Matt Weitzel (11:02):
You're going to
get put up on the for-brand
LinkedIn.
You're probably going to makeit on the fast global solutions
LinkedIn.
You're going to be LinkedInfamous folks.
If you win this thing and Idon't know, maybe I could be
convinced to get a picture withthem.
You know, with the bag cart,that's an extra incentive.
People are going to want that,so and I'll sign something if
(11:22):
they make me.
But yeah, so definitely.
You know, come out to the booth, go to Fast Global, learn more
about you know how great thisbag cart is, because not only
are you supporting a great cause, you're getting a great bag
cart right.
Angie Betterman (11:34):
Yeah, exactly.
Matt Weitzel (11:40):
So you're getting
a great bag cart right?
Yeah, exactly.
So I mean it's a two for one.
It's great so well, thank youall so much.
Is there anything?
Nicole Romeo (11:44):
else that I've
missed anything.
Nicole or Angie, I think we'vecovered it all.
If anybody has questions, theycan reach out to any one of us,
so then we can help point in theright direction.
Matt Weitzel (11:54):
No, that's a great
point.
Yes, please, If you have anyquestions about this or how you
can be better involved, or anygeneral questions, please reach
out to me or Angie or Nicole.
If you don't have our emails,connect with us on LinkedIn.
We will definitely help you sowell.
Thank you all so much forjoining me today.
I know it's been a shortepisode, but I'm so glad we were
able to get out thisinformation.
Angie Betterman (12:14):
Thank you.
Yeah, we're excited to see youat the GSE show everybody, and
can't wait till a couple weeks.
Matt Weitzel (12:20):
Awesome, there you
go.
See you in Vegas everybody.
Thank you.
Nicole Romeo (12:24):
See you.
Matt Weitzel (12:28):
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(12:49):
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