A growing Chattanooga-based freight brokerage business expects to add about 100 more jobs by year's end as it benefits from a reopening of the national economy and a focus on certain sectors.
Trident Transport plans to put about 88 of the jobs in Chattanooga with the remaining posts split between offices in Florida and Minnesota, said Tim Webb, the company's chief financial officer.
"Chattanooga is the flagship where we see the most growth," he said.
Trident, which last year expanded into office space in downtown's North Shore, likely will grow revenues about 122% in 2021 to some $200 million, Webb said.
The company had doubled in size each year until the coronavirus-stricken 2020, he said. Still, revenues grew 75% last year, the company official said.
"We never laid off, we never furloughed," he said. "We made a decision to send 90-95 percent of our workforce to work from home. Employees appreciated that. Some were more successful at home than in the office."
Webb said Trident likely will finish the year at up to 230 employees, with about 200 in Chattanooga.
Heath Haley, the company's chief executive officer, said Trident's culture is entrepreneurial, so it needs to operate in a city that shares that spirit.
"The economic development in this city has created a destination for growing businesses and startups," he said. "We felt the buzz of this city over seven years ago we decided to set up shop here, and the energy of this city has been growing since."
Webb said that as the economy continues to reopen, transportation prices are rising and companies are more receptive to getting pricing from different business, and that has helped Trident.
Also, Trident has zeroed in on certain sectors - he wouldn't say which ones - and those have done well.
In addition, the company has implemented a new training program and proprietary in-house software.
"We always had a training program in-house," Webb said. "What we hadn't had was a dedicated trainer."
The software tracks key performance indicators of employees, he said, and they made it like a game.
"It helps eliminate the negativity of management," Webb said. "It allows them to track their own progress and use it for their own personal gain."
Daniel Lucas, the company's director of innovation, said new team members leveraging Trident's latest technology and training are seeing more success on a quicker scale.
"Investing in our team's tools improves employee morale, efficiency, and commissions," he said. "We are now helping them earn more from day one."
Trident is hiring for entry-level account manager positions, among other jobs found on Trident's career website at www.tridenttransport.com/careers.
Inc. 5000 has recognized Trident as one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States for three years in a row, ranking in the top 500 twice.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.