Managing freight, pushing another goal

Ni Suphavong and her family never met the Minnesotans who sponsored their resettlement to this country after they fled their native Laos to escape the Vietnam War.

Repaying that generosity is a driving force at Jade Logistics, a freight management services company in Eagan.

Through her Give Back program, Suphavong donates a percentage of net proceeds from every shipment to a charitable or nonprofit organization of her customer's choice, in that customer's name.

Employees play a role in the program, too. Suphavong requires them to do volunteer work and gives them 40 paid hours a year in which to complete their service. She also makes donations to the organizations her employees support.

"The heart of my company is giving back to our community," Suphavong said. "[Because of] the generosity of a complete stranger who didn't know our family and gave us the money to come live in the United States ... I have the opportunity to give back to the community. As a business owner, I want to be able to do that for somebody else."

Suphavong had roughly 15 years' experience in the industry before opening Jade Logistics in September 2007. She launched the Give Back program in July 2008, as soon as she began turning a profit.

She hopes the donations will help attract new business, which she hopes to keep with competitive rates and responsive, round-the-clock service.

Suphavong expects this year's revenue to match last year's $1 million. That could double or triple in 2010 with the recent addition of two salespeople.

"My goal is to do $10 million within five years," she said.

Suphavong believes the Give Back program helps Jade Logistics, already a woman-owned, minority-owned business, further stand out in the competitive field of freight management service, or third-party logistics. Such companies allow manufacturers and distributors to outsource their transportation services.

Instead of owning their own fleet of trucks, third-party logistics companies specialize in working with trucking, air cargo and shipping companies to find the best way to move customers' products across the country or around the world.

"A lot of companies don't have time to manage their freight," Suphavong said. "We will manage the transportation for the customer and they can focus on their core business, which is their product."

Jade Logistics offers competitive rates, Suphavong said, because of the good deals she gets with trucking companies and other carriers she has worked with over the years.

She also is available day or night to respond quickly when problems arise.

"It's really all about customer service, because we don't have a product to sell," Suphavong said. "We have our service, and that's us. So I want to make sure we are the best that we can be."

Suphavong was Jade's sole employee before her recent hires.

"I did everything," Suphavong said. "I worked 24/7. I basically lived in my office. Now I have the time to run my business."

Jade Logistics manages all Canadian freight for Apothecary Products as well as some domestic shipping, according to Mark Johnson, vice president of international sales for the Burnsville pharmacy supplier.

"Her customer service is amazing," said Johnson, noting difficulties he's had reaching other companies when problems have occurred. "In this industry, to separate yourself you have to do it on customer services. She drops everything and makes sure it gets done."

Suphavong, her parents and three siblings arrived in this country in 1979 after spending several years in refugee camps in Thailand. They first lived in Tennessee but moved to the Twin Cities when her father, who had taught English in Laos, got a job with the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Suphavong joined Richfield High School's chapter of DECA, an association of high school and college students who study marketing, management and entrepreneurship. Her free-enterprise project, promoting local minority-owned businesses as vendors to larger companies, won first place in a national competition.

She dreamed of being a veterinarian or teacher. But when she needed a part-time job while taking classes at Concordia University in St. Paul, she ended up at a fledgling air cargo firm.

She went on to work full time in sales positions at a number of freight management companies before she was recruited to join a minority-owned firm. There, she worked as a sales representatives to Fortune 500 and other companies that allocate money to do business with companies owned by women and minorities.

"It's a tough market to be in if you're a woman, but I kind of surpassed the good-old-boy network," Suphavong said. "There are not many women-owned, minority-owned companies in transportation or trucking or any kind of shipping."

When she set out to start Jade Logistics, Suphavong could not find investors or get bank financing. She finally got the company going by borrowing "a big chunk" of her parents' 401(k) money and maxing out her credit cards.

"My parents would reach out to anybody who needed help," Suphavong said, recalling her father's work to assist other refugees resettling here. "I want to follow in those footsteps, and I feel like I can now with my business."

The expert says:

David Deeds, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of St. Thomas' Opus College of Business, said a challenge Suphavong likely will face as her company expands will be maintaining the high level of service she has established.

"This is what sole proprietors brings to the business, but as they hire people and expand, they're consumed by a lot of other things, the business grows beyond their personal touch, and it's a challenge to maintain and inculcate that kind of touch into a business as it grows," Deeds said. "Nobody cares like the entrepreneur."

Deeds cautioned that competition for corporate business targeted for women- and minority-owned companies can be just as fierce as competition in the broader market.

"It's important that you're not just pigeon-holed as a woman-owned, minority-owned company," he said. "The programs ... can give a nice start but you don't want to get trapped in them. You've got to move beyond that. She's got to make Jade Logistics a strong and viable brand that can compete for any business. To reach $10 million and beyond, that's going to be the key."

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Woodbury. His e-mail address is todd_nelson@mac.com.