Success Story _ Fortified Development Trucking
Fortified Development Trucking | Aurora, CO
Fortified Development Trucking strives to be an innovative and solutions-driven, minority-owned trucking company, challenging their drivers to provide reliable and excellent customer service while balancing their career and family. Their mission is to become the transporter of choice for construction hauling and short- and long-hauling from coast to coast. With the byline “Realizing Potential at Every Level in the Trucking Industry”, Fortified Development Trucking offers reliable, safe, timely delivery that is the most cost-effective trucking carrier available for construction hauling projects and line-haul in all 48 states.
Fortified Development Trucking is a family-owned business, based in Aurora, that began in October of 2019. Owners Arthur and Monica Gilbert come from a trucking family in Pittsburgh, PA. After years in the corporate world, with husband Arthur in real estate and their son also in business, they decided to research the trucking industry. They found low-paying opportunities with taxing schedules, making it difficult to maintain a healthy home life. In response to the struggle, the partners pooled their experience to create a solution to meet their needs, as well as offering viable employment opportunities for individuals coming out of incarceration.
They started their business with personal investments, credit cards, and a Small Business Administration loan from the Colorado Enterprise Fund. They believe in building relationships. Through partnerships with the community and the trucking industry, they are working to build a transportation company that delivers not only freight, sand, gravel, dirt, and more, but also “Hope“ to the community.
Their partnership with the Aurora-South Metro SBDC has spanned at least four years, gaining assistance in business planning, lending options, trucking regulations and government certification. Today, with help from the SBDC’s certified advisors, they hold the following small business certifications: MBE, DBE, WBE, SBE and ESB. Business is booming, with annual revenues increasing, for example, six-fold from 2021 to 2022. They’ve also added three full-time employees for a total of five.
For more information, visit Fortified Development Trucking.
“The Aurora-South Metro SBDC has helped our business connect with technical resources, prime contractors, and other invaluable tools to sustain our business,” said Arthur Gilbert, owner. Fortified Development Trucking doesn’t just talk about hope for the community but they now provide prevailing wages for those who want to work in the transportation industry."
Arthur & Monica Gilbert, Co-owners
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