Grant helps students stay in Ariz., start business

by Betty Beard - Jan. 7, 2012 07:49 PM
The Republic | azcentral.com

What started as a University of Arizona class project for two graduate students has now become a unique company that can help truckers all over the U.S. earn more money.

And the story behind the creation of the Tucson-based company, Post Bid Ship, shows not only that it can be a good idea to get innovative-minded people to come to Arizona but also to encourage them to stay and start a business.

The company was one of eight that received Arizona Innovation Challenge grants last year from the Arizona Commerce Authority. It snared $137,000.

Post Bid Ship sells unused space in semitrucks.

Trucks taking a product from Point A to Point B typically have to return with empty trailers about 70 percent of the time, which is an inefficient use of diesel fuel, driver time and wear and tear on the truck and roads, CEO Micky Thompson said.

So using an Internet-based automated system, the company lets shippers like Shamrock Foods Co., Safeway and others find empty spaces in trucks going the direction they need, when they need it.

The company already has about 600 trucking companies representing about 100,000 trucks involved. Post Bid Ship receives 1 percent of what the truck owner receives for carrying a load, such as $18 on a $1,800 cargo.

And the idea started as homework.

Thompson, now 37, moved from Tennessee three years ago to attend the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management to earn a master's of business administration degree. There he met fellow student Jarret Hamstreet, now 29, who had worked for a family trucking business in Oregon.

Together they developed a business plan for Post Bid Ship.

"We wondered why this had never been done before," Thompson said.

They graduated in May 2010 and received job offers in other states. But Thompson said Paul Portney, the dean of the Eller College, persuaded them to stay and to start the business.

"He stopped Jarret and I and said, 'We didn't bring you all the way to Arizona and educate you so you could leave and go to other states,' " Thompson said.

The pair landed about $300,000 of investments within months of graduating and last August began charging for their services and going commercial. They have 11 full-time employees.

"We own houses so we are pretty much settled," Thompson said. "We are staying."

Source: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2012/01/07/20120107arizona-business-grants-starters.html

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