NEW ORLEANS — Trucking Innovation, a trucking and hauling, logistics and project management firm, today announced it has closed a $1.38 million investment by New Orleans-based Advantage Capital. The financing, in connection with the Louisiana New Markets Tax Credit Jobs Act, provides the working capital necessary to purchase additional trucks, expand operations and grow as many as 20 full-time jobs.
Founded and led by Otis Tucker, Jr., Trucking Innovation (TI) has developed from a one-man, one-truck operation in 2013—funded by personal savings and a $10,000 loan—to a local leader in trucking and hauling, with a fleet of 13 trucks and 17 employees.
“Like many other businesses in 2020, our revenues took a hit when the economy stalled and construction sites went quiet,” said Tucker. “This investment brings critical funding to our business, providing stability as the economy slowly recovers, as well as the growth capital we need to expand our fleet, add to staff, and gear up for expected growth. I am proud to grow my company here, not far from where I grew up, and bring good jobs back to this community.”
Long battered by the economic implications of the pandemic, Louisiana’s economy is rebounding. Though tourism and hospitality-based industries will be slow to recover, the construction industry is gaining momentum as projects once paused are beginning to take hold.
“Business expansion and job growth is critical to our state’s economic recovery,” said Senator Rick Ward, R-Port Allen. “I sponsored the Louisiana New Markets Tax Credit program to ensure that businesses, especially those in communities that need a lift, have better access to the capital they need to grow and create good quality jobs. I have seen firsthand the impact of this program on local businesses and families across Louisiana, and I am excited to watch Trucking Innovation’s continued progression.”
Louisiana’s New Markets program, passed by the legislature in 2020, incentivizes private capital investment in small businesses located in low-income or hurricane-damaged areas to drive job growth and economic expansion. The program also encourages investment in rural areas of the state, along with minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned businesses, which have often been underserved by traditional sources of capital.
“This program works to close the financing gaps that minority-owned firms have long faced, and help communities, businesses and families recover,” said Senator Ward.
“As a venture capital firm and small business lender, we are focused on investing in small businesses like Trucking Innovation, those poised for strong job growth and lasting impacts on their communities, with flexible funding solutions that meet companies’ specific needs,” said Justin Obletz, managing director at Advantage Capital. “Otis is exactly the type of entrepreneur we seek out, with dynamic vision, leadership, and ability to drive continued expansion in the business he built from the ground up.”
About Advantage Capital
Advantage Capital provides financing to established and emerging companies located in communities underserved by conventional sources of capital. Since 1992, the firm has invested more than $3.6 billion in companies from a diverse array of industry sectors and has helped support more than 65,000 jobs. Learn more at www.advantagecap.com.
About Trucking Innovation
Trucking Innovation is a trucking/hauling, logistics and project management firm based in New Orleans. Learn more at Home – Trucking Innovation LLC (truckinginnovationnola.com)
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