Company Helps Move Freight More Efficiently: Grizella Helps Brokers and Carriers Find Each Other
Sunday, March 25, 2007
By LINDA SAILER The Dickinson Press
HEBRON The PostEverywhere services provided by a Hebron software company are moving truck freight more efficiently across the United States and Canada.
The software programmers are currently restructuring the present services to make the system more efficient, said company President Mark Draeb.
"We're streamling the infrastructure," he said. "At the same time, we're providing consulting services outside the transportation industry."
The Grizella Corporation was founded in 2001 by Hebron natives and brothers Mark and Jon Draeb, together with friend Nik Hultgren of Denver.
Mark Draeb was living in Denver at the time and brought his software business partners to Hebron for a game of paint ball. The group liked what they saw in the Hebron community and wanted to stay.
Seeking financing to initiate the move, Draeb said the Stark County Development Corp. and the Hebron Economic Development Corp. were among the first investors to support the venture. With additional sources of revenue secured, the company relocated in September 2003.
The company is located on Main Street. Jon Draeb is vice president, while Hultgren is the chief technology officer.
Draeb said the company is named after the fictitious alien race that worked as a third-party mediator to improve communications in the Star Trek television series.
The name is a good fit for the type of services the company provides to the trucking industry.
Its principal software product PostEverywhere is a posting service that helps freight brokers and carriers to essentially find each other. With one entry of key data, the software allows either party to enter the freight they need shipped or trucks they need filled. Other requirements might include destination, load weight or load size.
The software posts these requirements to over 35 different posting sites to help bring the two parties together. Once the match is found, the customer clicks on a button in PostEverywhere to remove the listing on the Web site database. This is done for a flat fee of $19.95 per month.
Draeb said the price has remained constant throughout the years.
In response to needs of its clients, Grizella has developed related services for the trucking industry.
PEP is an auto-posting service that adds PostEverywhere power to the current transportation software.
"It's an interface where customers can electronically send data to PostEverywhere services, reducing the need for additional data entry," he said.
The Wooie Web Sites are a service option for PostEverywhere and PEP customers.
With a Wooie Web site, the PostEverywhere or PEP services instantly appear on the customer's Web Site.
Draeb said the trucking industry faces the challenge of an economy on the decline.
As truckers compete for limited freight orders, the PostEverywhere services become even more important.
"It's a huge indicator for what's to come. The trucking industry is usually one of first indicators of the economy. The volume of loads being moved has been down for six months...and substantially down," he said.
"Another important thing is we're trying to help our Web site partners survive. We need their competition," he said.
"One of the things we've been doing is provide consulting to our Web site partners," he said. "From a consulting perspective, we help to develop and manage (host) their Web sites."
Draeb anticipates continued growth within the company. The company currently includes the founders; software programmers Collin Scull and Wayne Witzel of Hebron; graphics designer John DeGraff, who works at Boulder, Colo.; and the customer service/accounting team of Kristi Kraenzel, Michyle Stern and Jess Scull.
"We definitely envision a 15-20 person company. Those are the goals," he said.
Draeb continues to appreciate living in Hebron, where an uncle is the city's dentist and his mother, Verda Draeb, operates a tax and bookkeeping service just down the street.
His wife Lauri works as an account management officer for a company based out of Chicago.
They enjoy the rural lifestyle, where the cost of living and the cost to run a business are low. The couple is active in the community, with special involvement in the Hebron Park Board.
"In Hebron, we can go home for lunch and walk the dog," he said. "When we talk about the quality of life in North Dakota, it's not just a cliche."
Pictured above, President Mark Draeb works at his office in Hebron. Mark Draeb, left, reviews the day's project on a white board with programmers Wayne Witzel and Collin Scull. Jess Scull assists with customer service questions in the Grizella Corp. office in Hebron.
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