A setback is a set up for a comeback. For entrepreneur Leroy Brown,
the catchphrase has become a mantra of sorts by which to live and start a
business. LCB Trucking?a dump truck and debris hauling company based in Franklin Park, New Jersey, was launched in 2002 after Brown suffered a career setback.
When his corporate career in the circulation and delivery departments at both the New York Times (NYT) and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was about to end, Brown decided to take a leap of faith and become an entrepreneur. After more than 12 years of overseeing the delivery of copies of the WSJ to various parts of New York and New Jersey, Brown along with about two dozen other workers in the circulation and delivery departments were about to be furloughed–victims of the impending dot-com bubble burst in 2000-2001.
Brown, a native of Orange, New Jersey and whose grandparents owned and operated a community grocery store for more than 50 years, used the impending doom of possible unemployment to set up for his come back. ?I convinced the company {WSJ} to let me take over my circulation and delivery responsibilities as an independent contractor versus a salaried employee,? Brown said in a recent interview with TNJ.com. The company saw it as a cost effective move and offered him a severance package and awarded him a contract for delivery services. ?I was able to hire all 27 carriers and additional staff and LCB Trucking was born,? he said.
However, during the second year of the three year contract, LCB was dealt a blow when the WSJ struck a new deal with the NYT for national delivery services and ended it’s connection with LCB. ?I couldn’t compete with the cost savings the Times was offering,? Brown said. He added, ?Losing the contract with the Journal almost put me out of business,? he said. But it didn’t.
Now, more than 12 years later, Brown has survived and while some of the specialties and dynamics LCB Trucking have morphed over the years, the company has carved a niche for itself in the highly competitive dump truck and debris hauling industry.? For example, in 2009, LCB Trucking was awarded a multi million dollar contract to work on the massive New Jersey Transit’s $8.7 billion Access to the Regions Core (ARC) tunnel project. The project was deemed as too expensive and subsequently canceled in October 2010 by Gov. Chris Christie. However, despite the setback, Brown said between 2012 and 2014 revenues for LCB Trucking have tripled—due in large part to a number of state government, bi-state, county and local service contracted projects.
Lastly, in an effort to tap into uncharted markets, Brown said he has strategically partnered with entities such as the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey (AACCNJ). ?I want to secure more federal, corporate and private contracts,? Brown said. ?Organizations like the AACCNJ can help me to make inroads into those markets.? For more information, visit the LCB Trucking web site.
