Ask anyone who works at PortCity about what they hear most, and the answer is usually the same: “Do you work in that huge building?” PortCity’s 1.2-million-square-foot facility on Georgia Highway 21 is a familiar sight for thousands of people on their daily commute or on their way to the airport. But as PortCity marks its 25th anniversary, its leaders say the building isn’t the real story. The people are.

PortCity started in 2001 with six employees, two box trucks and three pickup trucks. There was no playbook and no safety net, just a small team willing to bet on themselves, outwork the competition and do right by their customers. Billy Robinson, now Chairman of the Board of Directors, walked away from a steady job running a branch of more than 60 people to make that bet. “If it didn’t work, I figured I’d go sell something, ” he said.

It worked, Robinson says, because of the people who showed up every day. “It takes a village. No one person — me or any of the other shareholders — could do any of what we’ve done without the people we’ve surrounded ourselves with, ” he said. “This has never been about me or anybody else. It’s always been we; it’s always been us. ”

Grit, Good People and the Fundamentals

PortCity’s story is an American Dream story, built one truck, one customer and one team member at a time. One longtime team member was hired at 19 and started out sweeping the back of the warehouse before moving into sales and helping grow the business. Stories like that are common at PortCity, where people are given room to grow as far as their goals and work ethic will take them.

Robinson likes to compare business to sports: block, tackle, score and then share the win. “The only difference between a big company and a small company is the number of zeros at the end, ” he said. “You can’t have success without good people — people who dream a little bit and look outside the box. And if you don’t evolve, you die.

The Next 25 Years

For CEO Eric Howell, the anniversary is a starting line, not a finish line. “We’re going to continue to dream big, think big, and always get after it, ” Howell said. “We’re working on some game-changing, industry-changing solutions right now, and we’ll continue to expand to new markets throughout the U.S. where we see tons of opportunity. ”

“We’ve come so far from where we were — not just building-wise, but technology-wise and people-wise, ” Howell added. “However, the real reason PortCity has lasted 25 years is God’s blessing and provision, putting the right people in the right place. I have to give a ton of credit to Billy Robinson. None of us would be here if wasn’t for Billy’s dynamic magnetism, incredible generosity, and vision. ”

For Robinson, the milestone comes down to gratitude. “I’ve never been so proud or so humbly thankful for everything our people have done, ” he said. “After 25 years, we’ve done well. But I still think that we’re just getting started. ”