Karen Torres

Fractional COO, CSCO & Operational Leadership

At Gold Flora, I led supply chain operations in a highly regulated environment, driving significant improvements in distribution and logistics. My strategic initiatives resulted in $1.1M in annual cost savings and the successful launch of a logistics hub in Northern California, which greatly enhanced our service levels and operational efficiency.

- Head of Distribution and Logistics - Develop and implement strategy, processes and policies for Distribution and Logistics. - Implement Continuous Improvement methodology. - Streamline processes to create efficiencies and synergies between Supply Chain departments. - Hire, train and develop staff for distribution and logistics. - Cannabis compliance, regulations and transportation safety. - Inventory Control & Management. - Third party transport contract negotiations and lane efficiencies.

- Advisor/Consultant and SME in Logistics & Freight Brokerage/Capacity Management model. - Freight Analysis, Pricing & Rate Negotiations. Experienced in RFP's. - Sales and Operations for both traditional and tech based Freight Brokerage. - Available for Training & Development of Carrier Development teams and Carrier Relations departments and departmental policies and procedures. (Start-Ups and Re-Orgs) - Available for term projects under contract.

Tasked with the organic growth of the U.S. fleet that services the Western region of the United States, and development of the Logistics (third party) division. Sales and Operations Management responsibilities include: Business Development: Overall strategic management of existing customer accounts as well as the vetting of new business opportunities. Support sales staff with pricing analysis, lane analysis and putting together strategies in which we can align with customers and provide solutions to gain new core business for our assets as well as with our third party carrier partnerships. Process Development and Implementation: Collaboration with existing operations staff to come up with innovative ideas and efficiencies to streamline daily workload and dispatch processes. Asset Management: Staying up to date with Safety and Compliance rules and regulations to allow us the ability to maintain a “Satisfactory” safety rating and keep our insurance and liabilities costs at a minimum. P&L Management & Administration: Responsible for all hiring/firing duties, driver recruiting and retention. California labor law compliance, workers comp regulations, payroll and HR responsibilities, including benefits administration. Brokerage Development: Sales, Account Management and Carrier/Capacity development and management. Vetting all new sales opportunities, as well as carrier onboarding and compliance files. Utilizing third party services for carrier safety compliance and portfolio management.

Responsible for the development of operational procedures, KPI’s and sales strategies of our technology platform to independent owner/operators and small transportation companies. Tasked with the hiring, training and development of employees as well as implementation of department processes in order to achieve our company initiatives.

Carrier Development – Responsible for the sales and marketing of NFI Brokerage to transportation companies in North America and Canada and growing our over the road capacity allowing NFI to sell better and align their existing clients with the right carriers. Process Development and Implementation – Collaborate with the NFI Brokerage leadership team to create and implement better business processes to strengthen the current model and develop people expectations, systems and sales/business policies. Business Development – Solicit new accounts through cold calling, referrals, networking and high-level proposals. Support our sales force by providing cost analysis for domestic FTL, LTL and Consolidation solutions to existing and potential clients. Act as the lead point of contact for large customer bids and negotiations.