Descartes Defies Slowdown.

BYLINE: New regulations, technologies spell opportunity in 2008, despite shipping slowdown, Mesher says

The threat of recession and falling shipping volumes doesn''t worry Art Mesher. His supply chain software company, Descartes Systems Group, defied the slowdown and shifts in currency value last year to post the best financial results in its 27-year history.

And the Canadian firm sees plenty of opportunities to seize this year, despite dismal economic forecasts and a deflated freight industry. "It''s clear that Descartes is countercyclical," Mesher, Descartes'' CEO, told analysts during a March 6 conference call.

Those opportunities are driven not by growth in his customers'' core …