Hartford Business Journal Special Editions

84 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017 Transportation INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › By Christina H. Davis W hen most people think of the limo rental business, they think of proms, weddings and the occasional trip to the airport. But for Lindsey Limousine of Windsor, that type of business —called the "social side"—actually ac- counts for only 5 percent of the company's revenues. e majority of the company's business is on the corporate side, providing rides to executives traveling in, around, to and from Connecticut. "We're at JFK airport [in New York] daily, we're at Boston daily," explains Michael Lindsey, founder of Lindsey Limousine. A detour Lindsey founded the company soon aer graduating from Keane State University in New Hampshire. His plan was to be a stock broker, but drove a limo aer graduation while he studied for his broker exams. While the limo driving was supposed to be a short-term job, Black Monday in October 1987 put the brakes on his career in finance. Lindsey moved home to Connecticut and thought about his options in the limo market. "I did some research on what services were around, and there were not that many," he recalled. "I also looked at whether I could do it better than what others were doing, and I thought I could." Lindsey's first car was a long, white stretch limousine. And for many years, he was do- ing nearly every job at the company, including answering phones at all hours of the night. "For the first six or seven years, I never said, 'Hello,' into a phone. I said, 'Lindsay Limousine.'" Today, his company has plenty of people to answer the phones. And it operates a fleet of 50 vehicles that includes not only limos, but a variety of crossover vehicles, SUVs, vans and buses. e company has also grown through the acquisition of the website airportlimo.com as well as through the in-house development of driver-scheduling soware. "We've almost transformed to a tech company," Lindsey said. And that constant evolution is partly what keeps Lindsey so engaged in the busi- ness aer nearly 30 years. "For some reason, I've always been driven to be better," he said, explaining that he and his staff are always looking for ways to set themselves apart from the competition. "For the Lindsey customer, it's not so much about the car, it's more about the expe- rience," he said. "e feedback that we get day in and day out is just how nice and pleas- ant the people are to talk to. You can teach almost anybody anything, but a personality is something cultivated over the years." As far as trends in the industry, Lindsey says he's seen a move away from the tradi- tional stretch limo to roomier vehicles like the Mercedes Sprinter. "e Sprinters have been kind of taking over… the insides are gorgeous," he said. But, there are also plenty of requests for something more traditional. "ere are times that people just really want a limousine," he said. "A limo has that panache." ❑ Michael Lindsey In 2016, the service carried 1.3 mil- lion passengers and more than 500 vehicles, exceeding its pre-recession numbers for the first time, says Director of Marketing and Public Affairs Stan Mickus. "Our service is critical," he says. "Our service can shave hours and hundreds of miles off your drive." During its peak season, from April to anksgiving, Cross Sound Ferry runs 62 arrivals and departures daily. Other times of the year, boats typically leave every hour between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. e state also hosts another ferry service, the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Co., which runs ferries between Bridgeport in the southwestern corner of the state to Port Jefferson, N.Y., on Long Island. For its part, Cross Sound Ferry is con- tinually working to improve its fleet, which includes seven passenger/vehicle ferries and one high-speed passenger-only ferry. "We reinvest significantly every year in upgrading our equipment," Mickus says. "A lot of what we do is based on feedback from our customers. We have a strong, loyal group of customers." is year, the company has majorly renovated its largest passenger/vehicle ferry, named the John H., with all new pas- senger cabins. e ferry also features an exhibit in partnership with Mystic Aquarium. A recent DOT calculation estimated that the ferry saves more than 70 million vehicle miles each year, Mickus says — miles that, in many cases, would otherwise have been driven on Interstate 95. e company is an important part of Connecticut's transportation infrastructure, he says, and travelers like that ferries help them avoid "the highway hassles." "We try to keep upgrading the service," he says. "We want to make it a no-brainer for them." ❑ BEHIND THE WHEEL Lindsey Limo Founder Finds Fast Success on CT Roads PROFILE > Continued from page 82

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