Trenton Gravelle and Michelle Bryant-Gravelle
Silver Grizzly Transportation
NW-ACE Graduate
Silver Grizzly Transportation: Service that Goes the Extra Mile
Entrepreneur and motivational speaker, Dr. Tony Allesandra notes that “[b]eing on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.”
Retired CIO of Dell Computers, Jerry Gregoire, explains that for businesses, “[t]he customer experience is the next competitive battleground.”
While business leaders
may use different metaphors to describe the role of service in a business, one
commonality stands true; the importance of focusing value around customer
needs. Silver Grizzly Transportation, a luxury transportation service company
in Prince Rupert, exemplifies this focus through their tireless pursuit of
providing customers with top class service to meet their needs.
Silver Grizzly
Transportation (SGT) was founded after Michelle Bryant-Gravelle, Corporate
Affairs Manager of Ridley Terminals in Prince Rupert and a former school
administrator and teacher, and her husband Trenton Gravelle spotted a need in
Prince Rupert for passenger transportation services focused on customer service,
particularly for out of town business people visiting and working in the
community. In August 2015, Trenton and Michelle co-founded Silver Grizzly
Transportation to meet this need in the community.
Silver Grizzly Transportation is known for going beyond the call of duty to provide customers with a personalized, luxurious experience no matter where they are travelling. SGT is also known for its immaculate safety record and ensures reliable, on-time service that customers can depend on. SGT has an extensive list of offerings provided to its customers, including corporate travel; airport transportation to and from YPR and YXT; travel from Prince Rupert to Terrace; travel from Prince Rupert to Kitimat; special events services; weddings and prom. SGT provides many services to its customers, and the quality of each of these services must not be overlooked. Each guest of SGT receives the total customer experience, including refreshments, Wi-Fi, DvDs, iPad use, newspapers, and magazines during their trip. You can also see the quality through the recognition SGT has earned from members of the communities it serves.
Shortly after the
company’s founding in 2015, Silver Grizzly Transportation was nominated for the
Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award and the Business of the Year in the Prince
Rupert Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards. Following these
nominations, SGT was again nominated for the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award
in December of 2016.
In SGT’s second consecutive nomination for the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Award, the nominator explained that “Michelle is well known in the community and her company exemplifies what she has worked hard to achieve. She looked out side the box to see what was missing in our community and created it. Silver Grizzly Transportation is customer focused, they go out of their way to make the customers feel comfortable while taking their service and they get them to their destination safely and in style. The drivers are friendly and courteous, making travel enjoyable. This is a great small Aboriginal business.”
Silver Grizzly
Transportation has only been in business for just over a year and half, but has
made a tremendous impact on the community. To be nominated for the Aboriginal
Entrepreneurship Award, the business or entrepreneur must show initiative and
risk, while showing leadership and vision to create a positive impact while
maintaining their position in the community as a respected role model for
others.
When describing the community in Prince Rupert, Michelle explains that it has been a significant part of the company’s success in such a short period of time. Michelle notes that “[e]veryone knows each other,” in Prince Rupert. “We may not know each other by name, but there is always a smile and a nod or a hello when you walk by someone else.” This makes it easy to get to know members of the community and build networks in the business community.
So, you might be
wondering what’s next for Silver Grizzly Transportation. SGT is still a young
business, and Michelle describes that “Trenton and [her] are working together
to get the business off the ground and to get the word out about the new type
of passenger transportation.” Focused on continuing to connect with and support
the community through their service approach to business, Michelle describes
that in Prince Rupert, “when the sun shines on this rainy little town it lights
up like a diamond and there is no other place [she] would rather be.”
Michelle also has
valuable advice for prospective entrepreneurs, explaining the importance of
resilience in new business development. “Keep going, even when things don’t
seem like they are going your way, look for another avenue, another supporter,
or someone who can give you some constructive criticism. Don’t be afraid of
failure, take it as a learning experience and keep moving forward.”
The team at ACE is
delighted to see the level of success that Silver Grizzly Transportation has
achieved since its founding in 2015. Trenton and Michelle’s ability to spot
opportunity to position SGT in the marketplace in Prince Rupert has shown their
proven entrepreneurial vision and approach to serving the community while
growing their business. The continued focus of SGT on connecting with customers
through their service has shown meticulous effort focused on creating and
developing a sound business plan centered around a need in their community that
also generates revenue, thus creating a sustainable business.
As Roger Staubach,
Superbowl champion, states, “[t]here are no traffic jams along the extra mile.”
Silver Grizzly Transportation continues to demonstrate this to be true, and we
at ACE wish Trenton and Michelle continued success as they venture forward
continuing to provide service that goes the extra mile.
Links:
http://www.silvergrizzlytransportation.com/about-us
http://loveprincerupert.com/businesses/silver-grizzly-transportation
http://www.futurpreneur.ca/en/microsites/thrivenorth/
blog/silver-grizzly-transportation/
http://awards.princerupertchamber.ca/nominate/aboriginal-entrepreneurship-award
