Their grandfather was the founder of St . Louis County & Yellow Cab in 1935 . Kim & Debbie grew up in the family business and even as kids would often help stuff monthly charge account invoices to be sent out to customers . ( Long before technology took over .) When their father took over the reins of the legacy operation later it was Debbie ’ s husband , Basil that stepped in to help run the taxi operation . The sisters decided to follow their own paths when it came time to establish their careers .
“ Debbie and I had no desire to work in the taxi business ,” Kim admits . She went on to spend 18 years in the hospitality industry with Drury Hotels beginning her career as a Corporate Sales Trainer and ending her tenure as the Director of National Sales & Marketing . Working for this highly successful family business gave Kim a strong foundation of leadership & hospitality experience that she could bring to her family transportation business .
Debbie joined the taxi business in October 2001 “ part time ” which lasted about a month before deciding to jump in to help take the taxi operation to new places . Debbie is a CPA and worked for many years in private and public accounting . “ Debbie ’ s knowledge of the financial aspects of many different industries coupled with incredible skills to develop solid process management has made a huge impact on the successful growth of the family business .” says Kim .
An example of that growth began shortly after Debbie and her husband Basil , decided to start BEST Transportation in July of 2002 . Debbie says . “ The black car trend that began on the East and West coasts was really starting to come alive in St . Louis . We saw an opportunity to expand and thought , let ’ s create our own .”
That idea of venturing into chauffeured transportation was more than just sedans . We started with several sedans , two limos , a van and two mini coaches . Focusing primarily on weekday corporate business . In 2005 , Kim joined the family business and brought her leadership , sales & marketing experience to the team . At that time , we decided to begin diversification of our fleet and business segments . Adding more mini buses , party buses , limos and additional vehicle types as we developed the markets .
Weddings and weekend social events were a major growth area for the company .
In 2009 , GO BEST Express shared ride shuttle division was created after being awarded a 5-year St . Louis Lambert Airport Transportation contract . This was a great opportunity to further diversify and grow all aspects of our transportation business .
Over the years we have had many challenges , the 2008 recession , Uber launching in St . Louis which impacted our sedan and taxi business , Ferguson riots in 2014 resulted in multi-year convention cancellations impacting GO BEST Express and then we had 2020 with Covid !
Despite so many transportation companies being hit hard , Kim & Debbie credit their strategy of business diversity , building an incredible leadership team and commitment to the company ’ s mission statement that is helping our company keep our team and vehicles moving . The company ’ s mission statement is : “ Our family of companies commits to Going that Extra Mile for our customers , team , independent operators , and community . We will exceed expectations in everything we do : It ’ s how we do business .”
In 2018 , it was BEST ’ s own empowered Executive Team who passionately advocated for buying new motor coaches for our fleet . The owner ’ s credit this team “ for making motor coaches a reality at BEST .” We began with 2 new TEMSAs and plan to add more motor coaches as business rebounds post Covid .
Already in 2021 , the demand for large vehicles has increased since BEST is a Department of Defense supplier , has many college , private schools and sports teams accounts that drive the need for the larger buses . As the company delves deeper into the charter work , their next growth area will be more tour and longdistance jobs .
Kim & Debbie currently have more than 200 families that rely on our family of companies “ to provide for them and to give them this longevity ,” which is a responsibility we are keenly aware of . “ If these businesses aren ’ t successful , we ’ re not the only ones affected by that ,” Kim says .
With developing such a great team Kim & Debbie are blessed to get to spend more time with their husbands enjoying time away ( or working remote ) from their Florida homes . Even when away from St . Louis the sisters are still actively involved in their businesses !
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