CHICAGO—Third-party logistics firms are growing in importance to the nation's economy, and Cushman & Wakefield has decided to bring more focus to this sector. The firm has hired Rich Hamilton as managing director and head of its newly formed 3PL logistics specialty practice group. He works out of the company's office in Rosemont, IL, which serves as the home base for its Americas logistics and industrial services team.

A resident of suburban St. Charles, most recently served as Prologis' first vice president, global customer solutions. In his new role, Hamilton has begun teaming with Cushman & Wakefield's industrial brokers, research and strategic consulting professionals and other special practice groups to provide facility and real estate advisory services for third-party logistics providers.

“The 3PL industry is growing and changing rapidly, in response to new and evolving shipping paradigms,” John Morris, executive managing director of logistics and industrial services for the Americas, tells GlobeSt.com. “Parcel, last mile and urban delivery freight demand has been rising steadily for the last few years. This is expensive, challenging freight. Shippers have been and will continue to seek scale and leverage their more challenging logistics needs. The 3PL industry will need to grow, and improve, to respond. Rich's 13 years of leadership experience in the 3PL industry, combined with his invaluable experience at Prologis, make him an ideal partner for 3PL companies looking to adapt their facility footprints. Rich will be surrounded by a deep bench of resources, allowing him to execute on complete solutions for these companies.”