The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

BizTech incubator company turns profit despite recession

John Guggenbiller, president and part-owner of ODW Logistics Transportation Services Inc., which specializes in transportation logistics and management, plans to add at least six more employees by the end of the year.

Staff photo by Greg Lynch John Guggenbiller, president and part-owner of ODW Logistics Transportation Services Inc., which specializes in transportation logistics and management, plans to add at least six more employees by the end of the year.

Third injured firefighter remains at burn unit
Updated 5 min. ago
Lebanon Police Officer of year inspired by grandfather
2:21 p.m.
Sheriff to target drug trafficking on highways
11:59 a.m.
Ohio can finally collect $2.3M in fines
10:22 a.m.
Top grads plan challenging careers
10:17 a.m.
> More headlines

By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer Updated 9:34 AM Tuesday, March 8, 2011

HAMILTON — ODW Logistics Transportation Services Inc., a transportation services company, couldn’t have opened at a worst time.

ODW opened in BizTech Center in May 2009 with three employees at the height of the recession. But instead of failing to get off the ground, the business turned a profit by the end of the following year, said John Guggenbiller, president and part-owner.

As of Monday, its employee count was up to 12 — with three jobs added since December — and Guggenbiller said he expects the company to employ 18 by the end of this year.

“We see a lot of growth,” he said.

The company was a part of the BizTech incubator, which nurtures young firms, helping them to grow during the vulnerable startup period.

Guggenbiller has worked in the transportation field 35 to 40 years, starting when he was 16 on a loading dock. Through his experience, he came to know ODW, a Columbus warehouse and trucking company.

He came up with an idea to fill a gap in its supply chain services by arranging transportation with a technology for customers to schedule trips to haul their goods, negotiating customer contracts with truck companies for better prices, managing different load sizes of various customers such as less-than-truckload and consulting on customs for international shipping.

He formed a joint venture with ODW, which stands for Ohio Distribution Warehouse. As a joint venture, the companies have a mutually beneficial relationship. Guggenbiller said his company can provide services to ODW’s customers.

Approximately 20 of ODW’s 100 customers use the transportation technology services, said Jeff Clark, ODW vice president of sales and marketing.

“They have some transportation technology and experience to bring to the table to discuss with clients,” Clark said.

The joint venture gave the Hamilton company the boost to get started and armed it with a full circle of supply chain services, but ODW isn’t the end game; Guggenbiller said picking up new customers is.

It has several hundred customers, such as Budenheim USA Inc. of Columbus, CandyRific of Louisville, Ky., and Milton’s Baking Co. of San Diego, Calif., according to the Hamilton office.