Good Neighbor Podcast: Frisco

EP 352: Rethinking “Made Here”: What Global Sourcing Really Means For Quality And Price

• Sophia Yvette

Share episode

What Makes Lucas Michael Payne with Force Global Supply a Good Neighbor?

Looking for a smarter way to get materials to your job site without the markups and delays? We sit down with Lucas Michael Payne, founder of Force Global Supply, to unpack how factory-to-site importing helps developers and large GCs save real time and money—while keeping every certification and warranty intact.

Lucas’s story began in the LED lighting industry, where he spent two decades watching how traditional distribution inflated costs and slowed innovation. Instead of settling for that system, he went straight to the source—partnering directly with the same factories behind major brands. That strategy evolved into Force Global Supply, a Frisco-based company now streamlining how multifamily and commercial projects get the materials they need.

We dig into why “overseas” doesn’t mean “lower quality,” how global supply chains actually work, and what truly protects builders—third-party certifications, factory audits, batch traceability, and enforceable warranties. Lucas also explains how direct import can safeguard timelines, reduce tariffs, and create real cost efficiency on a pro forma.

Because the client base is niche—developers and GCs on projects over $5 million—the company focuses on warm introductions, LinkedIn outreach, and proven results, including a $90 million Baltimore project with a public testimonial. Lucas also shares how his team pivoted during the pandemic to import over $30 million in medical supplies when markets froze, proving their adaptability under pressure.

Beyond business, Lucas gives back through the Frisco Diversity Leadership Council, local entrepreneurship, and volunteer work addressing food insecurity—showing that smart sourcing and community service can go hand in hand.

If you’re building at scale and feeling the squeeze on budgets and lead times, this episode breaks down a clear, practical way to source smarter without compromising quality.

To learn more about Force Global Supply, go to: https://forceglobalsupply.com/

Force Global Supply

800-919-1180

SPEAKER_00:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a construction supply store? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Lucas Michael Payne, with Force Global Supply. Lucas, how are you this morning?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm doing well. How are you?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm also doing well. Now we are excited today to learn all about you and your business. Can you start off by telling our listeners just a little bit about your company?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. So Forced Global Supply was a company born of the pandemic, and we'll talk more about that later. But essentially, we import building material directly to new construction projects. What we do is completely circumvent the typical supply chain, which causes all kinds of markups along the way. So basically from the factory to your job site. And by doing that, we reduce cost quite a bit.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, how did you originally get into a business like this, Lucas?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure, so that's an interesting question. So for the last 20 years, 20 years ago when LED lighting was kind of something that people hadn't heard of, I, through another set of circumstances, uh was helping my friend with this LED startup. And so that was, you know, everything from implementing, teaching customers what an what a lead light was. I don't know if we even remember the incandescence anymore. Um, but I was a big part of that um early push for LED lighting in and around the Chicago area and eventually nationally. Um I grew my business uh by 2015. I was uh a lot of people say they got sold to a publicly traded company, but I got rolled up essentially, uh, and you become a vice president or something of said company when that happens. Um but what I learned in that process is what was wrong with that that typical distribution model. You would um ask Cooper, Cree, Sylvania, um, to get a distributorship, and you would have to carry like a million dollars in inventory of old uh antiquated technology. And it didn't make sense for me. So what I did is I got my happy bud on a plane and I flew to China where everything was being manufactured. And I figured out that if I contracted directly with the manufacturers of the product for these large brand names, that oftentimes I could get a white label product at a fraction of the cost with the same warranties and same um certifications that we would expect here in the United States. And so I utilized that information um to set my business apart and to be able to price out um our jobs at the time, which were lighting retrofit jobs, you know, changing existing buildings into more energy efficient buildings. Um, so anyways, we use those relationships uh from direct manufacturers for my own benefit to bring down the cost of uh the jobs that I was um putting in front of our customers.

SPEAKER_02:

Wow. Now, being in your industry, what is the most common myth or misconception on the day-to-day you come across?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, oftentimes we'll hear that something's manufactured someplace else, right? Oftentimes China or Asia, India, um, Mexico. Um, and we think that somehow that devalues the warranty or takes away from um an American-made product or service. And what's often happening is that American manufacturers are doing that work offshore for a number of reasons. And sometimes it's not about a lower labor price or that you're sacrificing any kind of um warranty or you're sacrificing material, but it's just the way the world works. So I think there's a big misconception around, you know, where LED chips are manufactured. For example, there's just some stuff we just don't do here in America, and there's not a tariff in the world that could is going to be able to bring it back. Our labor pool may not be skilled enough. So that was a long answer to a short question. But essentially, um, the way we think about the world and where materials come from and where finished goods happen are often very complex. It takes a lot, for example, to make the cell phone that we think of that we hold in our hand, and all the places that that those parts come together.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, I actually agree with you on that. You know, different countries and different places are just better at making stuff than others, and that's okay because you know, we're all supposed to work together, right?

SPEAKER_01:

That that is right, and and we are truly a global, global economy.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, we know marketing is the heart of every business who are your target customers or clients, and in terms of marketing today, how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_01:

So we typically um are talking to developers, so it's very different because our our pitch is to developers in large construction companies, and we are saying, hey, we're gonna bring down the cost drastically of your project. So our customers are anyone that are building, let's say, a school with uh an office building. Multifamily is really our our biggest um vertical. So anybody that's building a construction project of say in excess of five million dollars anywhere in the country, uh we we could help them the most. Uh because that's such a niche customer, we do a lot of work on LinkedIn. We also um just uh send uh emails out uh to some target customers, and most likely we ask for introductions. So I think one of the art forms that's missed uh on our current generation is that we spend so much time doing things on social media, which is important, and doing things in LinkedIn that we often forget to just ask for the referrals. Because for me, a good year is gaining maybe five to 10 clients, right? Because the projects that we work on are so big and they take a long time. Um, so our ours is a little bit bigger of a niche, but anybody in Frisco in in North Dallas that's developing a product or a project, we would love to help you, or that you have some projects in the pipeline.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, have you ever thought of having your own podcast before?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh sometimes I have. I mean, obviously there's a unique niche that I'm in and right now uh around things with the tariffs and even uh over the last couple of years when we were able to source material when nobody else could during the pandemic is what ultimately brought this iteration of the business on. We imported over$30 million of medical supplies during the pandemic, right? So I do, I think we all have our own highly important set of skills. And outside of the time when I'm not uh importing building material, I'm also um very passionate about the entertainment industry and have another business that does that. So I think that of course we all uh have been interested in podcasts uh or podcasting, and I've I've been fortunate to be on several podcasts and be interviewed about what the work I'm doing, but would love to uh explore it a little bit more.

SPEAKER_02:

And outside of work, you talked about liking the entertainment industry. What else do you or you and your family like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01:

So I have two small kids and one really big kid. So with the two small kids in in your 40s, it really there's not much time else for for other than them, right? My wife and I spend a lot of time uh making sure that they get to their swimming practice and martial arts practice and all of those kind of things. Uh, obviously, we we love being engaged in our community. Right now, there uh is a lot of issues around food insecurity. So my wife and I both volunteer individually and collectively with our fraternities and sorority and other community-based organizations. Um, I'm also right here in Frisco, I'm on the board of something called the Frisco Diversity Leadership Council, uh, where I help uh small businesses and people connect here in the community. So I'm very passionate about uh just the overall entrepreneurship journey and helping people with their journey. When I do get a chance to hang out, again, here in the in the Frisco area, I'm a member of the Cowboys Club and I office here at the Star. So I enjoy that. And when we really get a chance, we love to travel.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, that's amazing. It sounds like quite a full life with your family. All of that is so important to have. Now, one thing our listeners really want to know today, of course, is where can they go to learn more about Force Global Supply?

SPEAKER_01:

So if you go to Force Globalsupply.com, you can find out a lot about our story, some of our projects, and I'm always happy to have client testimonials. So I think right on the landing page, uh, there's a$90 million project that we're doing in the city of Baltimore and uh that we're a part of. It's it's not all ours, but uh where we have a client testimonial talking about their experience working with Forced Global Supply. And really any business I'm in, or any business for anybody out there that's thinking about how they can market their business better, there's nothing like a positive client testimonial. It's why people fart fight so hard for Google reviews, all the you know, for for smaller restaurant style businesses, but that same logic works in larger businesses.

SPEAKER_02:

Most definitely. Well, Lucas, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpfrisco.com. That's gmpfrisco dot com or call four six nine two two two one nine three four five.