Transportation startup wins 'Will This Float' contest

Photo by Erin O. Smith /
Reginald Yearby pitches GMST Transportation idea during "Will This Float?" competition Monday night at the Waterhouse Pavillion
Photo by Erin O. Smith / Reginald Yearby pitches GMST Transportation idea during "Will This Float?" competition Monday night at the Waterhouse Pavillion
photo Photo by Erin O. Smith / GMST Founder Reginald Yearby smiles as he wins $1,000 prize for best business startup idea during the "Will This Float?" competition

According to estimates by the National Institutes of Health study, more than 3.6 million Americans miss at least one medical appointment or delay medical care each year due to a lack of reliable transportation.

Cheryl Yearby and her husband, Reginald, want to change that, at least in Chattanooga and, in the process, build a brand and business their children can carry on.

Yearby's startup venture, GMST Transportation, began carrying veterans, low-income and disabled persons with non-emergency trips a year ago and recently secured a contract to help with transportation services to the city.

Monday night, the couple also landed an extra $1,000, plus additional Kiva loan support, to build their van transport business in Chattanooga. GMST Transportation was picked by panel of judges to win this year's "Will This Float?" competition during the first day of Startup Week in Chattanooga.

GMST was one of a half dozen business startups pitching their ideas to local investors and, for the first time, Kiva loan program lenders.

GMST is seeking $2,000 in a no-interest loan from Kiva, a global lending program that provides no-interest loans of up to $10,000 for business and nonprofit startups through crowd funding-type loans from lenders who pick their favorite businesses on the Kiva platform.

Chattanooga recently became a Kiva city and the first local businesses on the Kiva platform were unveiled to potential lenders Monday night at the Waterhouse Pavilion in Miller Plaza, the so-called "base camp" for this week's StartupWeek in Chattanooga.

Cheryl Yearby said she grew up in the inner city and is eager to both hire workers from the inner city and transport low-income persons in targeted neighborhoods.

"I want to the ability to hire those that are from the inner city and provide them with a chance to have a job," she said. "After years of working hard for someone else, we can put the same energy into our own in hopes of getting the same results. You always get what you put in it. One of the biggest things we are looking forward to is building a brand that our kids can carry on."

GMST is a non-emergency transportation company formed in October of 2017 focused on veteran, low income and disability communities.

"We're in the golden years of the baby boomers, where transportation is in demand, and it is very important to get to an appointment on time," Yearby said.

In his pitch to investors, Reginald Yearby said 19.6 precent of low-income families missed doctor appointments, often due to problems getting transportation to the doctor.

"As a family owned and operated business, we are able to share that family love to our clients as we help in their time of need," Yearby said. "With time, we plan to grow, build and rebuild our community, as well as spread knowledge to youth and families in the surrounding counties."

GMST has four vans, two of which are already painted and ready to roll for the business.

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