March 2022

Amid surging inflation, regulatory uncertainty, the aftermath of COVID-19 and the Great Resignation, there is no shortage of ongoing concerns for business executives in 2022. But the one they're the most worried about is the supply chain, according to the results of a newly released poll.

Nearly 85% of chief financial officers point to supply chain disruptions as among their biggest sources of unease. The poll, which was conducted by financial services firm BDO, involved 600 chief financial officers leading highly successful organizations, meaning companies whose annual sales are at least $500 million. Respondents identified the supply chain (84%), limited options for experienced hires (79%) and tax reform (79%) as their top three stressors so far in 2022.

"The pandemic exposed weaknesses in global supply chains, [but] these issues were percolating well before," the report notes, as quoted by Supply Chain Dive.

Small-business owners also affected by talent troubles
In addition to the problems the pandemic has created for the supply chain, COVID-19 has also led to job loss, but more in the way of workers voluntarily leaving their employers for other opportunities than layoffs. The talent shortage is something small businesses are encountering as well. In a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business, nearly 1 in 4 small-business owners (22%) cited labor as their top challenge.

Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at the NFIB, noted that small-business owners have been struggling with hiring for awhile now, during which time diminished output has contributed to supply chain instability.

"Throughout the country, the number of job openings continues to exceed the number of unemployed workers, which has produced a tight labor market, especially on Main Street," Dunkelberg said in a press release. "Small-business owners are working hard to recruit and retain employees to get back to a full and productive workforce."

In this regard, it comes as little surprise that chief financial officers in the BDO poll cited supply chain disruption and the talent shortage as their two main business risks; fewer people working has contributed to the demand-side pressures fueled by customers.

Revenues may grow, but will profits follow suit?Revenues may grow, but will profits follow suit?

CFOs confident revenues will be strong
Despite these concerns, though, CFOs remain optimistic that 2022 will nonetheless be a successful year in the long run. Approximately two-thirds of respondents said they expect their revenues to be higher this year than in 2021.

What may prevent organizations from reaching their profit goals is inflation, as the cost of doing business continues to push higher and higher. The Producer Price Index, a Department of Labor statistic that measures wholesale prices, rose a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in February compared to the previous month. The growth rate slowed from 1.2% in the January report.

NFIB's Dunkelberg noted that the combination of inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages may ultimately lead to slower sales and reduced earnings if business owners — chief financial officers and otherwise — can't find a way to adjust their processes to the current economic environment.

Second only to wages, fuel is the biggest business expense for motor carriers, which is why the spike in gasoline prices has hit the trucking industry hard. To avoid further setting back an already overburdened supply chain, the American Trucking Association has two words of advice for the White House: drill more.

On behalf of the nation's largest trucking trade group, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear has called on the Biden administration to take an "all-of-the-above approach" to the fuel price crisis. This includes increasing both offshore and onshore drilling, issuing more natural gas permits, tapping the strategic petroleum reserve and working with domestic and international oil producers to ramp up supply.

"The American Trucking Associations … urges the Biden Administration to increase American oil and natural gas production to help bring down domestic fuel prices, providing immediate relief to our nation's supply lines," Spear wrote. "We cannot let an energy crisis compound the supply chain crisis, and we have the power and resources to prevent that from happening."

Domestic oil production has slipped
For several years, the United States was a net exporter of crude oil and the amount of oil it's produced has risen with each successive year since 2017, topping out at nearly 13 million barrels per day in January 2020, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. But it's dipped ever since, averaging 11.3 million barrels per day for the year as a whole.

How much more will the price of a barrel of oil cost?How much more will a barrel of oil cost?

This fact, combined with growing demand now that COVID-19 mitigation measures have ended, has contributed to the rising cost of unleaded regular gasoline and diesel. But prices at the pump have climbed even more dramatically in recent weeks after Russia — the world's third-largest energy producer — invaded Ukraine. For instance, for the week of Feb. 28 — two days after Russian forces breached Ukraine's borders — the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline nationwide was $3.60 and $4.10 for diesel, the main fuel that commercial trucks use. Prices per gallon rose to $4.10 and $4.85, respectively, a week later, then to $4.31 and $5.25 the week after that, according to government data. A year ago at this time, unleaded was $2.85 and a gallon of diesel cost $3.20.

While motor carriers have various strategies that enable them to absorb surging gas prices — like surcharges — that often isn't the case for smaller commercial trucking outfits, Spear mentioned in his letter.

"Lacking the financial reserves to weather this storm, many of these companies are at risk of failing given current projections for global crude prices over the next 12 months," Spear said. He added that since 97% of motor carriers qualify as being small — operating 20 trucks or fewer — rising energy prices left unchecked have the potential to decimate the industry.

In the meantime, while the rate at which fuel costs are increasing may slow down, economists say to expect further price hikes at the pump for the foreseeable future.

The supply chain can't seem to catch a break. Between COVID-19 infections, the Great Resignation, port bottlenecks, weather disasters (e.g. the freak ice storm in Texas) and now the war in Ukraine that is escalating by the day, the supply chain is taking one hit after another.

Because of this, supply chain management teams have been forced to recalibrate their current processes to overcome the interruptions and disruptions that they're encountering every which way.

Depending on your needs, your industry and what workflows personnel follow in terms of ongoing production, whether in the factory or the office, you may want to consider implementing a different supply chain management model than what's in place now.

Here are a few of your options, what they're all about and in what circumstances each model may make sense to deploy for your business:

1. Fast chain model
If you're in manufacturing, the fast chain model can make a lot of sense. The fast chain model is for supply chains in which the product that's being created has a limited shelf life or life cycle. This may include anything that doesn't have a lot of staying power in terms of popularity, nor last very long once it's purchased. In short, it's anything that's trendy or ephemeral in nature.

Time is of the essence when it comes to trendy items. Thus, the quicker the end product can move off of assembly lines, the better positioned a producer will be. If there's a need for speed, the fast chain model is ideal.

Is your supply chain management model in need of a makeover?Is your supply chain management model in need of a makeover?

2. Continuous flow model
As its title more or less implies, the continuous flow supply chain model is designed for production processes that are repeatable and highly rote in nature. Widely considered to be the most traditional of the supply chain models, continuous flow is for assembly line-centric production, where there's high volume but the steps involved in turning a raw material into a finished product are the same. Leveraging automation can make sense for the continuous flow supply chain model.

3.  Agile model
Are the goods that you sell to your customers custom made, where the end product is ultimately dependent on the request? If so, the agile model is worth adopting. Whether it's ceramics, fine art, certain kinds of food or other specialty items, the agile model is best suited for creating items or orders in small batches, even one at a time. In this way, it's the opposite of the fast chain model, because the emphasis is on quality rather than quantity.

4. Flexible model
There are some businesses where demand can be very temperamental and unpredictable. At one moment, orders are minimal, while in the next, you can't produce fast enough. The flexible supply chain management model ensures that the processes in place are adaptable and can be swapped out when the need arises in accordance with the pace of customer demand.

The more familiar you are with your business and its ongoing needs, the better off you'll be when it comes optimizing how you manage your supply chain in a pervasively challenging environment.

President Vladimir Putin has received near-universal condemnation for invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine. As a result, Russia is becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, with several well-known businesses pulling out of the country and governments placing embargoes on oil originating from there  — the United States being one of them.

But oil isn't the product from Russia that the U.S. is banning from entering the country.

In the latest tranche of sanctions announced by the White House, President Joe Biden has placed a moratorium on several imports deriving from Russia, including seafood and non-industrial diamonds, as well as certain alcoholic beverages.

A fairly sizeable amount of the seafood that enters the United States from overseas markets derives from Europe's largest country by land mass. According to data from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the combined worth of Russian seafood exports to the U.S. in 2021 was $1.2 billion, making it the eighth-largest overseas exporter by value. Most of what Russia sends to other countries each year is snow crab, king crab and cod.

King crab is a major export for Russia.King crab is a major export for Russia.

Additionally, the White House announced it would no longer export luxury goods to Russia, including cars and high-end apparel.

"This will ensure that U.S. persons are not providing luxury items, such as high end-watches, luxury vehicles, high-end apparel, high-end alcohol, jewelry and other goods frequently purchased by Russian elites," the White House said in a press release. "The U.S. export value of the products covered by today's luxury goods restrictions is nearly $550 million per year. The elites who sustain Putin's war machine should no longer be able to reap the gains of this system and squander the resources of the Russian people."

Around 10% of the oil the U.S. imports comes from Russia
These latest actions designed to punish Russia for its unprovoked attack on Ukraine follow the White House's decision to stop accepting oil imports from the Kremlin. Despite the record-high gas prices that the U.S. is seeing across the country, President Biden made the embargo official on March 8, following calls to do so from lawmakers and much of the American public. A considerable portion of what the U.S. imports for energy needs comes from Russia, averaging the equivalent of 209,000 barrels of crude oil per day in 2021, according to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. That accounts for approximately 10% of all of the U.S.' oil imports.

While the U.S.' supply chain will likely feel the effects of the moratoria on seafood and oil in the coming months, any impact from the ban on alcohol will be minimal at most. Only around 1% of the vodka the U.S. received from overseas markets in 2021 came from Russia, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Meanwhile, as Russia is being cut off economically by more countries, the Kremlin is responding in kind. The government said it would no longer ship at least 200 products that it typically exports to Western nations for at least the remainder of 2022, as reported by Supply Chain Dive. Those items include technological, telecommunication and medical equipment.

Through strategies like adopting longer operating hours and relying on shipper-owned containers to shore up moribund container volume, the ports are in a better position today than they were during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. But conditions likely won't get back to pre-pandemic norms until sometime next year at the very earliest.

The grim assessment comes from industry executives who recently convened at the annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference held in Long Beach California. Citing ongoing struggles like high employee turnover, elevated demand and limited space to offload, industry stakeholders warned we've likely already seen the best of what the year has to offer for overall port performance.

"We don't see the tide turn in 2022," said Thorsten Meincke, who serves as a board member for logistics firm DB Schenker, as quoted by Supply Chain Dive.

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the two busiest in the country — use a variety of key performance indicators to assess how things are going there at any given moment, such as number of gates moved, reefer dwell time, berth time and container dwell time. Despite January being the single busiest first month of the year since the Port of Los Angeles originally opened back in 1907, several of those KPIs have improved from where they used to be, according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. But the bottlenecks and vessel delays that have become the norm will almost certainly stick around for a bit longer.

Ronald Widdows, chief executive officer for chassis service firm FlexiVan Leasing, said that virtually all vessels and port users are operating at peak capacity. "Every ship is full," Widdows explained. And there's no ship ready to come on the next voyage. So I think that goes on for a while."

Freight rates are on the rise for both air and ocean shipping.Freight rates are on the rise for both air and ocean shipping.

Traffic is up despite heftier shipping rates
Largely in response to elevated demand, shippers are now charging more. For example, during a recent earnings call with investors, outdoor cooking products manufacturer Weber said it will raise rates in the coming weeks, the third time that it's done so in the past year.

Even though dwell times are down and containers are being unloaded and removed at a quicker clip than they have been in the past, high vessel volume is keeping the ports in a persistently busy state. Indeed, according to Sea-Intelligence, west coast ports are expected to see a 40% increase in the number of vessels originating from Asia this spring compared to 2019.

"This is just a symptom of a bigger problem that is global that affects origin ports in Asia, and that's probably going to continue so I think we're gonna see more waves," Widdows said, as quoted by Supply Chain Dive. "It gets better a little bit then 'Here they come again.'"

Meanwhile, after a record-setting January for the Port of Los Angeles, shipping volume nearly hit an all-time high for ports overall in February, with facilities handling approximately 2.07 million TEUs, according to Hackett Associates and the National Retail Federation. That's a 10.5% increase compared to a year earlier (1.87 million).

On the heels of a report indicating inflation rose to its highest level since the early 1980s, new numbers from the Department of Labor indicate prices picked up their pace in February, the latest bit of bad news for the supply chain.

Fresh off the revelation that the Consumer Price Index climbed 7.5% in January — a 40-year high — the CPI grew at any even faster clip a month later, up nearly 8% compared to 12 months ago, the Labor Department announced. The last time inflation experienced such a jump was back in 1982.

The report comes mere days after the average price for a gallon of gas reached an all-time high. For the week ending March 7, the average cost for a gallon of unleaded regular was $4.10, according to the Energy Information Administration. That's up from $3.60 during the last week of February and $2.77 a year ago.

Sam Bullard, an economist at Wells Fargo, told investors that supply chains are taking hits from several directions, including developments in international affairs.

"The Ukraine-Russia conflict will only further stress supply chains, including agriculture and energy, and thus continue to add inflation pressures over the coming months," Bullard said, according to USA Today.

While much of the data collected for the CPI occurred before the invasion, the cost of energy has been on a steady incline for well over year, only recently taking a more dramatic turn higher. Indeed, as CNBC pointed out, energy prices were up 3.5% in February on a year-over-year basis, accounting for approximately one-third of the 7.9% upsurge.

Surging gas prices are at the root of inflation.Surging gas prices are at the root of inflation.

Although the Consumer Price Index examines how much more — or less — everyday Americans are spending for their basic needs, rising inflation takes a toll on business owners as well. Because the economy largely runs on oil — used to make plastics, heat buildings and power transportation methods, among other uses — operational expenses rise when fuel prices increase. Furthermore, supply chains are impacted by the ripple effect fuel costs have on production processes as well as consumer demand. With less discretionary income available, buyers may buy less or stop purchasing certain items entirely, leading to demand volatility. In light of the hostilities in Eastern Europe and how they're affecting gas prices, economists expect the CPI to maintain or increase its growth rate in March.

Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economics, told The Wall Street Journal that the war in Ukraine comes just as the supply chain issues caused by COVID-19 were subsiding.

"We thought that inflation would come down, especially due to the untangling of the global supply chain," Naroff said. "[B]ut we don't know how what's happening in Ukraine will re-tangle that."

In the meantime, the Federal Reserve is poised to raise interest rates as a means to bring inflation under control, a move that will likely occur at its next meeting. Speaking to the Senate Banking Committee, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said business owners, consumers and industry stakeholders should expect inflation to persist, "at least for a while," the Journal reported.

From food to fuel to futons and footwear, anything and everything costs more today than it did as recently as six months ago. With the Consumer Price Index reaching a 40-year high, consumers are feeling the pinch as inflation takes a bite out of their spending power and household budget.

But of course, it isn't just customers who are paying more nowadays and getting less; so are business owners. Indeed, according to the most recent statistics available from the Labor Department, the Producer Price Index rose 1% in January and close to 10% for the year as a whole, a near all-time high for the measure that tracks wholesale prices.

Here are a few ways leading executives are combating runaway inflation beyond simply charging more for their base products and services.

1. Reining in expenses
Perhaps the most straightforward way to offset inflation is by looking for ways to cut back, and that's what several organizations are doing. For instance, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods noted in a recent earnings call that the fuel supplier is introducing several cost-savings measures that are poised to reduce operational expenses by $2 billion between now and 2023, Supply Chain Dive reported. General Electric, meanwhile, is cutting costs by "retooling" its procurement team, which is charged with obtaining the supplies GE needs for its production processes.

"We are just trying to make sure that we are working with our suppliers as smartly as we can to get the best combination of quality, delivery and cost possible," said Lawrence Culp, CEO at GE, during a corporate earnings call held in late in January.

2. Eliminating formerly free services
Not even Peloton, the at-home fitness brand that experienced substantial sales growth during the pandemic, has been unaffected by inflation. In fact, with demand for its spin bicycles and treadmills down from where it used to be, higher operating costs have cut into its profits more than many anticipated. But instead of raising the price for its equipment or the cost of monthly memberships, Peloton is no longer making delivery and setup a complimentary service. Since January, delivery and set up costs buyers $250 for its Bike and Bike+ and $350 for its Tread treadmills, according to CNBC.

Businesses are boosting productivity as a means to offset rising costs.Businesses are boosting productivity as a means to offset rising costs.

3. Increasing capacity
Defense contractor Raytheon is feeling the sting of inflation on multiple fronts, so much so that it expects to spend $150 million more in business expenses this year than normal. In an earnings call, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said the company is aiming to counterbalance this by increasing production, specifically by finding opportunities in factories to boost production efficiency, such as by leveraging automation or other supply chain optimization measures, according to Supply Chain Dive.  

Even if business owners' supply chains start to get back to normal, inflation is likely to persist for the foreseeable future, necessitating ongoing cost-cutting strategies. According to a survey conducted by the Conference Board in January, 35% of U.S.-based CEOs said they expect elevated pricing pressure caused by inflation to last into 2023, with 24% anticipating it lasting for longer than that. 

As the Ukrainian border descends into chaos and citizens flee for safety, senseless loss of life won't be the only casualty of the conflict; the supply chain will also suffer a blow, as many logistics firms are halting business operations in the war-torn region and prices are climbing.

From the likes of UPS and FedEx to A.P. Moller-Maersk, several shipping companies have announced they will not be engaging in traditional business activities in portions of Eastern Europe for the foreseeable future.

"In light of the current circumstances, FedEx and TNT services will be temporarily suspended in and out of Ukraine until further notice," FedEx advised in a press release obtained by Supply Chain Dive. Shipments already in transit will be temporarily held in our network."

UPS and Moller-Maersk have made similar pronouncements, stating that the ongoing circumstances in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus have made servicing the region untenable.

Several high-demand products come from Ukraine and Russia
The knock-on effects of stopped shipments are set to be considerable. Aside from the fact that these three logistics firms are responsible for transporting a substantial portion of all the items that manufacturers — as well as customers — depend on for their needs, Russia and the Ukraine are major exporting nations, whose resources are important to various production processes. For example, Russia is a major exporter of crude oil, the country of origin for approximately 8% of the world's supply, according to Al Jazeera. Russia is also the United States' second-largest supplier of oil among foreign countries. Ukraine, meanwhile, has a prosperous agricultural sector, exporting ingredients and staple products found or used in breakfast cereals, cooking oils and meat sections at grocery stores.

Oil prices are skyrocketing due in part to what's happening in Eastern Europe.Oil prices are skyrocketing due in part to what's happening in Eastern Europe.

Dwindling vegetable oil supply levels appears to have contributed to a 4.2% jump in the Vegetable Oils Price Index, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. That's an all-time high for the measure. 

Boubaker Ben-Belhassen, director of markets and trade division for the FAO, said the price spike is attributable to several factors, including bad weather and not enough people to fill open jobs.

Economy runs on oil 
Another supply chain complication is the centrality oil plays in global commerce. While the most direct impact of oil is on the cost of gasoline, oil is used in everything from plastics to solvents to furniture and toys. When there's less of it — or the perception of a shortage exists — prices go up for just about everything.

And the longer the occupation lasts, the worse the supply chain pain will get, according to Koray Kose and Sam New, who work as senior analysts for the advisory firm Gartner.

"We expect severe shortages of hydrocarbon, critical minerals, metals and energy," the analysts warned. "Prices for those items will likely spike, thanks to both the shortages and behaviors such as irrational buying and protectionism."

As for what supply chain managers can do to mitigate the effects, New and Kose recommended diversifying both sourcing and logistics routes as much as possible and taking the advanced steps necessary to respond to inventory issues as they present themselves.

Two words sum up some of the ongoing dilemmas at the nation's shipping ports: not enough. There isn't enough room for ships to offload their freight, not enough port personnel to assist in these offloading efforts, not enough truckers to drive goods to their intended destinations and not enough of the containers that are needed to store and transport those items.

On this latter front — insufficient container volume — freight forwarders appear to have discovered a solution.

Typically, shipping containers are either owned or offered by carriers. But lately, an increasing number of shippers are bringing their own instead. Indeed, according to container leasing firm Container xChange, shipper-owned container usage (SOC) has tripled since 2019 among logistics entities responsible for transporting freight. Some of these companies using SOCs include FedEx, BDP International and Yusen Logistics. 

Container volume has been an ongoing conundrum for many ports and is one of several contributors to the logjams that are occurring there. As The Wall Street Journal reported in August, a combination of factors has led to the shortage, including the shutdown of the Yantian port in June and the weeklong Suez Canal blockage that happened in March. The closure of these ports — though temporary — has led to severe imbalances in where containers reside. Some parts of the world have too many, while for others — like the U.S. — there aren't enough.

Christian Roeloffs, founder and CEO of Container xChange, noted that this is a clear example of stakeholders bringing solutions to supply chain problems.

"The rise in awareness for SOCs shows that industry participants are responding to the supply-chain pressures by diversifying their sourcing strategy," Roeloffs explained.

Shipper-owned containers are helping drum up inadequate supply for ports.Shipper-owned containers are helping drum up inadequate supply for ports.

SOCs can be a problem causer
All this being said, leveraging shipper-owned containers as opposed to those from carriers is not without its potential complications. In fact, every advantage is tempered with a possible disadvantage. For example, as Supply Chain Dive points out, accepting SOCs can help avoid surprise fees that may come from detention and demurrage. But at the same time, this can also lead to missed opportunities in instances where carriers may offer discounts on freight.

There are also pluses and minuses from a logistical perspective. While SOCs give shippers more control over what company they use as a carrier, more choice in the process can ultimately lead to increased downtime, trying to decide which provider is the best and can be trusted. In other words, it can lead to paralysis by analysis.

Regardless of what strategy or option freight forwarders choose for their container needs, some of the country's most volume-heavy ports required every last one of them and then some in January. Over the 31-day period at the Port of Los Angeles, for example, nearly 865,600 TEUs were processed, according to a press release. The 3.6% increase in traffic made this past January the port's busiest on record, which traces back to 1907.

The Port of Los Angeles also saw a surge in empty containers in January, rising more than 21% on a year-over-year basis at 332,202.

Amid turmoil in Eastern Europe, inconsistent COVID-19 guidelines from health officials and seemingly endless supply chain disruptions, some would contend that the state of the union is one of confusion. But during the annual speech to a joint session of Congress, his first as commander-in-chief, President Joe Biden attempted to bring clarity to what his administration and the private sector are doing to shore up the supply of high-demand products.

Of all the items that are hard to come by for both consumers and the business entities that need them, chips may top them all. Found in everything from smartphones to smart refrigerators, the ubiquity of microprocessors has contributed to the ongoing shortage.

What is the Innovation Act?
The Innovation Act may help with that, President Biden noted during his speech. Originally passing the House of Representatives in 2013, but failing to garner enough votes to clear the Senate ever since, the Innovation Act is a bill that seeks to soften some of the rules and regulations regarding intellectual property and what does and does not violate existing patents. Easing some of the restrictions, supporters contend, would help to stimulate innovation and competition, which are crucial to increasing overall output.

A leading chip manufacturer relying on lawmakers to come to an agreement on the bill is Intel. In January, Intel announced its plan to build two new chip manufacturing warehouses in Columbus, Ohio, as Time first reported. In doing so, this $20 billion investment would enable Intel to dramatically increase overall microprocessor capacity.

The supply chain was among the issues addressed during the State of the Union.The supply chain was among the issues addressed during the State of the Union.

President Biden called on Congress to pass the Innovation Act to turn Intel's investment intentions into a a reality. Furthermore, if it is signed into law, Biden noted Intel may even expand the multi-billion dollar project by a factor of five.

"Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who is here tonight, told me they are ready to increase their investment from  $20 billion to $100 billion," Biden said. "That would be one of the biggest investments in manufacturing in American history. And all they're waiting for is for you to pass this bill. So let's not wait any longer. Send it to my desk. I'll sign it. And we will really take off."

Other supply chain solutions
The White House over the last year has advocated for, or implemented, a number of measures designed to improve the flow of goods and services. Last fall, the Biden administration announced that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the two busiest in the country in terms of daily volume — would remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Since then, backed-up container volume has dissipated, but not by as much as some had expected. Additionally, in February 2021, Biden signed an executive order that authorized a comprehensive review of the nation's most in-demand products to determine what can be done to stimulate increased supply for those products and mitigate obstacles or vulnerabilities that may stand in the way. The Departments of Defense, Agriculture, Transportation, Commerce and Energy, among others, participated in these assessments. The findings and conclusions from those executive agencies can be found at the White House website.