Getting from A to B: G&P Courier
When you need a package moved from the Baie Verte Peninsula to central Newfoundland, it’s not as easy as walking into a FedEx location. For a local job, you need a local business! G&P Courier always gets the job done five days a week, 52 weeks a year.
Kevin Stuckless was looking for a change when he heard the previous owner of G&P Courier was retiring from running the service. He knew the business was a critical service in a rural area and he and his wife decided to invest in their own operation.
The couple officially purchased the business in late July 2019 and started making deliveries that August.
“(My) favourite part about owning my own business is being my own boss. Meeting old/new clients and being able to provide this service to the general public,” Stuckless says. “Being a small business owner is being able to make most decisions regarding the business myself.”
G&P Courier provides bus services to/from Baie Verte, Springdale, and Grand Falls with deliveries at predetermined stops at businesses they partner with, so the service is always predictable for customers and supports other local industries.
Stuckless believes community connection is key to the success of rural businesses like his. In fact, it was a community organization - CBDC Emerald - which helped he and his wife take over the G&P Courier business. Stuckless took advantage of the First-Time Entrepreneur Loan and the SEA Program through CBDC Emerald.
“CBDC helped me with financial assistance to purchase the business from the previous owner,” he says. “Without them, this wouldn’t be possible. I will be forever grateful that they were willing to take me on as their client.”