2024 TMSA Trailblazer Award: Bennett Family of Companies - Book
ELEVATOR PITCH:
The Bennett Family of Companies was started in 1974 by Marcia Taylor – who is now a prominent female CEO in the Trucking Industry. Documenting the company’s history from humble beginnings and capturing its unique culture was an important objective heading into the company’s 50th Anniversary year, 2024. For two years, we engaged with an outside provider (Echo Storytelling), to help us write a coffee table book on the Bennett Family of Companies, called “50 Years of Faith, Family and Freight”. The objective was to capture the memories of the formative years of the company, while most of the individuals who started it are still living, and inspire the next generation of family members and employees to take the company’s culture into the next 50 years.
MEASURABLE RESULTS AND OBJECTIVES ACHIEVEMENT:
The process of writing a book was a challenge none of us had undertaken before. Kris Rzepkowski, VP of Marketing and Communications and Katlyn Foulks, Culture Ambassador and granddaughter of the Owner, set out to capture the most compelling stories that HAD to be told. Formulating the structure of the book and its 8 Chapters came after 3 months of interviewing over 25 key individuals from across the organization’s history. Photo curation was handled by Kris and Katlyn, pouring through thousands of printed and digital pictures in the company’s archives and family photo albums. As the manuscripts were shared by Echo Storytelling and the design layouts came together, infographics and supporting articles, artifacts and documents helped paint the picture of a growing company that diversified into 14 operating units. The key to the book was capturing the personal stories of the individuals that continue to make Bennett what it is today, culminating in the reveal of a purpose statement at the end of the book. 3,000 printed copies of the book were produced as well as an electronic version, after a full year of work.
BLAZING A TRAIL:
Bennett, like very few other companies in Transportation & Logistics is a woman-owned company. To capture the story of one of the most prominent female leaders in the industry was a paramount to the continued success of Bennett. If no one ever heard the story of Marcia Taylor from the very beginning, there would be no way to understand the DNA of Bennett and its unique core values and culture. This book serves as the foundation for the next era for the company, and its beautiful presentation and heartwarming stories of a soft-spoken country girl who survived and thrived in the gritty trucking industry, will be the legend that many women will look to as an inspiration for success. The book was launched during the company’s Annual Symposium on March 2, 2024. It is available on our website in a special 50th Anniversary Celebration section: https://www.bennettig.com/50-years-of-faith-family-and-freight . The ebook in its entirety is located here: https://www.bennettig.com/50thanniversary .
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