SANTA CLARA, CA—Mar. 22, 2023 — Supply & Demand Chain Executive, the only publication covering the entire global supply chain, has named KlearNow.AI co-founder and chief financial officer Rick Tellez as a winner of its 2023 Pros to Know award. This award recognizes outstanding executives whose accomplishments offer a roadmap for other leaders looking to leverage supply chain for competitive advantage.
Given his more than 20-years of experience in the logistics industry, Tellez knew firsthand the struggles supply chain operators were facing and in 2018, he co-founded KlearNow.AI, a technology start-up with an AI-powered platform that digitizes and automates import processes for supply chain operators. In 2022, the company expanded to include KlearNow Drayage, a cloud-based marketplace that allows importers and drayage partners to negotiate and close drayage business on a single platform.
As CFO, Tellez has made employee recruitment and retention a priority. Last year, he saw an opportunity to reimagine health benefits as costs were skyrocketing. He determined 80-percent of KlearNow.AI employees were not utilizing their full health benefits package, so he explored the option of offering employees low premiums at high deductibles through a half-year beta test. KlearNow.AI also committed to covering 100-percent of deductibles by providing pre-paid credit cards to every employee.
“Reimaging health benefits was a win-win for both our employees and our bottom line and we’re officially implementing this new benefit structure,” said Tellez. “During our test, employees maintained the same amount of coverage at a lower cost, and KlearNow.AI saw nearly $1 million in savings. We reinvested that money back into our company to create incentive and reward programs, and new to 2023 – unlimited PTO. Our retention rate remains high, and we’re seeing recruitment from other major companies as a result.”
“This year’s list is filled with supply chain professionals whose achievements and success stories have helped move the needle in the supply chain,” said Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Supply & Demand Chain Executive and Food Logistics. “They promote safety, sustainability and workforce development. They work toward helping heal the supply chain. They’re actually in the supply chain.”
Supply & Demand Chain Executive received record nominations for this year’s Pros to Know, with close to 400 submissions. A complete list of winners can be found will be profiled on SDCExec.com. The overall winner will be announced live at ProMat in Chicago.
About Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Supply & Demand Chain Executive is the only supply chain publication covering the entire global supply chain, focusing on trucking, warehousing, packaging, procurement, risk management, professional development and more. Supply & Demand Chain Executive and sister publication Food Logistics are also home to L.I.N.K. and L.I.N.K. Educate podcast channels, L.I.N.K. Live, SCN Summit, SupplyChainLearningCenter.com, Women in Supply Chain Forum and more. Go to www.SDCExec.com to learn more.
About KlearNow.AI
KlearNow.AI is on a mission to simplify global trade with AI and ML driven products that make logistics clear, cost-effective, and transparent by transforming B2B supply chains with its smart Logistics as a Service (LaaS) platform. The platform eliminates manual data entry, connects data, people, processes, and organizations for customs clearance and drayage. This enables new levels of collaboration, visibility, automation, and productivity, which reduces logistics costs and creates better customer experiences. For more information, visit www.klearnow.ai