By: Gulf Coast Business Review
The line that 1,000 people move to Florida daily has been rendered obsolete in this sour economy.
But frigid northern winters are still on our side.
Larry Tolstyka says plenty of people are still moving to the Sunshine State, but only for a few months. Tolstyka says his company, Autolog, a Linden, N.J.-based auto transport business, is seeing an uptick in Gulf Coast-bound snowbirds, even during the recession.
People “still want get away for the winters," Tolstyka tells Coffee Talk.
Tolstyka expects the company to grow in 2009, too. He's projecting the company's revenues, about $10 million last year, will grow about 20% over the next nine months. The company opened offices in Ohio and Michigan this year, to tap into the Midwest market, which feeds the Gulf Coast.
Four of the company's 11 Florida facilities are on the Gulf Coast, in Tampa, Sarasota, Fort Myers and Naples.
Tolstyka expects that those centers will hit a double-digit percentage growth spurt over the next year, as the company spends more time marketing and reaching out to customers in states such as Ohio and Michigan. The company already ships about 500 cars a year to Fort Myers and another 400 to Naples. The Sarasota and Tampa markets are good for about 300 shipments.
Autolog is a business unit of Romulus, Mich.-based United Road, one of the largest logistics and auto transport companies in the country, with about $250 million in revenues last year.
Headquartered in Romulus, Michigan, United Road is one of the largest vehicle transportation logistics solutions providers in the United States. With over 1,500 employees and a nationwide network of 1,200 late model vehicle carriers, United Road is the technology leader of the industry via its proprietary web-based, real time OVISS information system. The company operates in the 48 continental United States, Alaska, Canada and Puerto Rico. United Road is also the only SmartWay certified
"green" auto carrier in the United States recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding environmental practices. For more information, please visit
unitedroad.com.
http://www.review.net/section/detail/snowbirds-still-come-to-the-sunshine/
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