Company Name: Gentle Giant Moving Company
Location: Somerville, MA
Nature of Business: Moving and storage
Founded: 1980
Revenue: $25 million
Number of Employees: 246
Average Tenure: 5 years
It began in 1980 with an ad in the Boston Phoenix, a borrowed truck and healthy dose of gusto. With
much dust and sweat, a lot of laughs and more than a few precarious stairwells to follow, Gentle Giant
Moving is now one of the premier moving and storage companies on the East Coast, conducting over
12,000 moves each year with 250 employees. Founder Larry O'Toole reasons the core of such success
rests with the respect and compassion nourished throughout the company's culture, confident that his
employees will in turn pass on such attention to clients. With 25% in new revenues between 2004 and
2007, and 80% of all business derived from repeat clients and referrals, one can indeed infer that Gentle
Giant's formula works. Staff are expected to make billing decisions even at the lower levels, all with the
end goal of minimalizing the trauma of moving. Employees enjoy a solid benefits package, including a
formal mentoring program and a generous 401K plan, and most participate in events organized through the company's own community development foundation.
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