The Sault Ste. Marie Enterprise Truck Rental branch re-opened Aug. 12 thanks to growth in the local economy and an increased need for corporate, dealership, and insurance towing services.
With that in mind, SooToday visited the revived Enterprise Truck Rental office (sharing the same building as Enterprise Rent-A-Car on Great Northern Road) to chat with the two ‘enterprising’ young people who run the show locally; Jordan Connors, Enterprise Truck Rental Sault branch manager and Lauren Moore, assistant manager (joined by Matt Ross, Ottawa-based Enterprise group truck manager).
Apart from Jordan and Lauren in truck rental, the local Enterprise entity employs approximately a dozen people when one includes the rent-a-car side.
And, along with moving trucks and cargo vans, Enterprise Truck Rental offers pick-up truck rentals, the staff eagerly showing one off to SooToday in their parking lot.
“We target our corporate customers as well as retail customers who are looking for a truck to take a trip out of town for the weekend, and a big part of our business is insurance as well, taking care of people who’ve gotten into an accident and who need a replacement vehicle, towing, as well as dealership customers who need a replacement vehicle while theirs is getting worked on,” Jordan said.
“We service construction and utility companies, courier services, the movie industry, mining...really anybody who needs a fleet of trucks to conduct their business, it’s a really good option compared to leasing or owning if you just need vehicles for a short amount of time. That’s where we come in,” Matt said.
The Enterprise northeastern Ontario operating area’s three main centres of operation are in the Sault, Sudbury and Timmins.
“In terms of opening back up in the Sault, we’ve seen what’s going on in the local economy. There’s definitely an increased demand for our truck services,” Matt said.
Matt, who has northern Ontario roots near Kirkland Lake, said “specifically, to the truck division, it’s pretty gratifying to help our customers, and here at Enterprise the culture here is fantastic. It’s customer service focused and we love working in the same building with our rent-a-car staff.”
“It’s a friendly place. It’s awesome,” said Jordan, a Sudbury native with family members in the Sault.
Lauren, a Halifax native, first moved to Mississauga, Ontario in 2011 before travelling north to attend Algoma University on a soccer scholarship, studying law and justice, before graduating and working for Enterprise for eight months in Ottawa.
“I jumped at the chance to move back and help grow the economy here in the Sault,” she smiled.
“It’s feeling more and more like home. It’s nice to be in a community where people actually do support each other. You’re always looking out for your friends here,” Lauren said.
“I love my team. I love how we support each other and the new truck environment. We get to sit down with those businesses and discuss what their needs are, and at the same time, find out about their businesses, what makes them passionate about what they do.”
“I think that’s important in a smaller town, to be connected with each other,” Lauren said.
“I don’t think we anticipated to be as busy as we’ve been this early on,” Jordan said.
Enterprise focuses on hiring university grads, each of them going into the company’s management training program.
“As you learn and perform, we only promote from within our company. We all start at the same level, so everybody knows what everybody else has been through and learns the business from the ground up. I don’t think any of us considers this ‘a job.’ It’s a career from the moment you start and you feel driven to succeed,” Matt said.
“I think it’s the people we hire, the training we do with our employees, which allows us to go above and beyond,” Jordan said.