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Kevin “Big K” Doublin (1952-2017)
The industry is mourning the passing of Kevin Doublin, founder and owner of Big K Corporate Transportation based in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. The company, which he founded in 2010 with his wife, Jadwiga, was actually a “retirement” project for him: He had worked for many years with the Milwaukee Country Transit System as a professional coach bus driver. Having driven buses during his career, he remained a bus enthusiast. Despite his illness, he was able to continue running the company with the assistance of his family.
The Chicago native was a fixture on Facebook, often exchanging passionate but good-natured barbs whenever a comment was made about his beloved Chicago Cubs—and he was clearly on top of the world when the Cubbies won the World Series in 2016.
Through his company, he participated in many charitable drives, including donating a limobus during the “Stuff the Bus” drives to collect toys for displaced children at a local women’s shelter. The company also sponsored meals for the shelter.
A viewing will be held on Friday, January 13, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Proko Funeral Home in Kenosha, Wisc. The burial will be private. More information can be found at prokofuneralhome.com.
He is survived by his wife, Jadwiga; his two daughters, Melissa and Christine; grandchildren, Jozef, Brooklyn, and Cesar; a sister, Kathleen Rich; and his mother-in-law, Danuta Koziol.
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Avanti CEO and President Erich Reindl
Houston — Effective January 1, 2017, Avanti Transportation and A Ambassador Limousine & Transportation have merged their operations.
Avanti President and CEO Erich Reindl, A Ambassador President and CEO Mike Hajek, and their respective CFOs closed the merger on December 30, after roughly three months of conversations and determining how the two companies will combine their employees, fleet, offices, and resources. Reindl and Hajek were emphatic that the entire A Ambassador and Avanti Teams are welcome to stay on board.
“We explained that nobody is getting fired,” Reindl said. “We have no intention of letting anyone go.”
Reindl added that unifying the two Texas businesses will create one of the largest companies in not only the Houston region but also the state—and was a decision that both he and Hajek feel will yield untold benefits to both outfits.
“It’s a combination that gives both companies a great opportunity because we have something the other company doesn’t have, and vice versa,” Reindl said. “It’s a really good fit with incredible advantages down the road. We don’t overlap on any of our accounts. It’s really a compelling financial and strategic transaction, I think.”
While the two companies have a combined 150-vehicle fleet—including four buses from Avanti and 36 from A Ambassador, plus sedans, Mercedes-Benz Sprinters, and SUVs—Reindl said that they will work to “trim the fat,” getting rid of older vehicles that don’t need to be replaced to “increase the fleet’s efficiency.”
The companies will work from Avanti’s three-acre property, which Reindl hopes to outgrow “in the near future,” as they combine their strengths to both companies’ benefit.
“A Ambassador has year-long contracts on their buses that Avanti doesn’t have. They work with passenger airlines where they transport the crew and the first-class passengers, while Avanti has the cargo airlines,” Reindl said. “I consider Avanti an old-style limousine company as we knew it 15 or 20 years ago. We are strong in that market and nationwide: We not only have affiliate work but also clients nationwide. That is our strength.”
The merger comes as a response to an ever-changing industry, one that Reindl sees as having changed tremendously in the past five years especially in ways that put larger companies at an advantage.
“Smaller companies may run into difficulties moving forward—some of them are already facing hardships. I’m not saying a larger company doesn’t have that problem, but a larger company maybe has the resources to get through that. On top if it, we will be, as a larger company, able to attract and go after clients that smaller companies would not have the opportunity to,” Reindl said. “And with TNCs, we haven’t been as affected as the taxi industry—yet. But it could come. All I know is that the cake did not get any bigger and everyone out there is nibbling on the cake. I think at this stage, bigger is better.”
Visit avantilimos.com and aambassador.com for more information.
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Destiny, Heather, and Melody sharing their holiday with Chosen Payments’ Sarah McKee and Jeff Brodsly
Moorpark, Calif. —Credit card processor Chosen Payments recently helped two families in need have a “Chosen Christmas” by donating presents and gift cards this holiday season. The company selected a family in the Midwest as well as a local household who have been struggling with financial issues over the year.
In Michigan, Chosen Payments assisted a family of five, whose middle child, Melody, suffers from Moebius syndrome, a rare neurological disorder characterized by weakness or paralysis of multiple cranial nerves. The condition puts Melody in the hospital for months at a time, which puts a hefty financial burden on the family.
After hearing of the family’s plight, Sarah McKee, Chosen’s VIP client relationship manager, arranged for the company to adopt the family, and she and CEO Jeff Brodsly travel to meet the family in person. In addition to the gifts donated by Chosen Payments others in the family’s community came forward and made a mortgage payment for them.
In their hometown, Chosen assisted a single mom raising three kids. This Moorpark family was brought to the company’s attention through the local chapter of the Boys and Girls Club. Chosen acted as Santa, and gifted the children with toys, sporting goods, clothes, and shoes as well as a family dinner at Red Lobster.
Visit chosenpayments.comfor more information.
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