INDUSTRY: LOGISTICS
YEAR FOUNDED: 1997
PARTNER COLLEGE: LONG BEACH CITY COLLEGE, COHORT 6

Westcoast Warehousing and Trucking invested over $900,000 in operations to improve efficiencies.

Westcoast Warehousing & Trucking aims to always meet or exceed customer expectations by designing, implementing, and executing supply chain solutions that provide their customers with the least cost and best service logistics network. Westcoast delivers apparel and other merchandise to large retailers such as Macy’s, JC Penny, Bed Bath & Beyond, Costco Wholesale, and Target.

How did 10KSB help you?
A few of the really important things I learned in the program was how to get the right financing with the right people. Learning how to read financial statements and creating dashboards were also tremendous keys to success.

Tell us about a challenge you’ve faced in your business.
Finding, hiring and keeping skilled labor employees and qualified truck drivers.

What do you enjoy about being a small business owner?
I really enjoy the independence I have as a small business owner. It also gives me satisfaction to create jobs and see employees smile daily. Westcoast has been hiring locals over the past two decades. We have had tremendous growth in our business and in the last three years, we have hired 37 employees.

Since graduating from the 10KSB Program, is there an accomplishment or goal you’re particularly proud of achieving?
Recently, we invested over $900,000 to automate picking operations to a new pick to light system. Pick to light is an order fulfillment system that is light directed, which helps order pickers increase their pick speeds and accuracy. Our productivity increased dramatically after installing the system, and what six workers did in eight hours now only requires three workers.