Page 236 - BWM March 2013

236 | Business World Magazine | March 2013
of sergeant, was a correspondent for Stars &
Stripes, and survived two separate helicopter
crashes during his time in the service. Upon
returning home, Gilbert landed a job with a
transportation enterprise where he worked
for some six years until a disagreement with
the employer led to his parting company. Un-
employed and unsure as to his next step, Gil-
bert soon determined that he would launch
his own transport initiative and conduct the
business in accordance with the values that
had been instilled in him by his mother and
his faith.
His company started with a single pickup
truck, a small 1,000 square-foot warehouse
unit and Gilbert making a lot of sales calls.
He secured enough business to compel his
purchase of a larger truck after some six
weeks of opening, purchased by using a farm
tractor for collateral. And by then, he had al-
ready determined a strategy that he was con-
fident would help separate him from compe-
tition.
“When we started the company, it was
very unique,” says Gilbert. “Computers were
just coming of age, but they were big and
bulky and a lot of companies didn’t want to
move them.”
EDC Founder George Gilbert praising service of his team during employee conference.