Page 52 - BusinessWest Macrh 6, 2023

THE FACES OF HOLYOKE BUSINESS >>
Black Rose Trucking
These Two Women Are Hauling a Load of Ambition
All Yolanda Rodriguez and Ashley Ayala needed to start a hauling company was ... well, a truck. Soon, they will have two. And they’re not stopping there.
That second truck is the result of a suc- cessful crowdfunding campaign on Patron- icity, bringing in $21,448 from 35 backers, more than their goal of $19,950. It’s an example of growing by thinking outside the box.
“Our long-term goal is to have more equipment and do more transport, which means more employees and growing our company,” said Ayala, the daughter in the mother-daughter ownership team that launched Black Rose Trucking three years ago. “We definitely have big dreams of hav- ing a lot of trucks, and being able, in the future, to offer different services than what we do now.”
Rodriguez has been in the commercial trucking industry for a long time, and Ayala eventually caught the bug. “She had a dream of owning her own business,” Ayala said. “She’s passionate about what she’s doing, and that kind of rubbed off on me. So a few
years ago, I ended up getting my commercial driver’s license as well. And we decided to make a business out of it. Her dream kind of became my dream.”
COVID-19 delayed the process, and Black Rose didn’t start taking jobs in earnest until early 2021. “We just kept going until every- thing kind of opened up,” Ayala said.
They haul asphalt and other materials to and from construction sites, as well as doing paving and milling work for contractors and on highway projects, all the while taking pride in their position as women of color in a male-dominated field — and pride in their city as well.
“I was raised in Holyoke, so I see how Holyoke has progressed. And I’ve seen all these small businesses also come about and grow,” Ayala said. “We see these restaurants and other businesses come about that are owned by women of color. You can see every day how they’re progressing, and they’re still around. It’s definitely a nice feeling to be a part of that.” BW
—Joseph Bednar
Co-owners Yolanda Rodriguez (left) and Ashley Ayala
Holyoke Sporting Goods
This Venerable Institution Helps Foster Team Spirit
Nothing says ‘team spirit’ quite like matching uniforms, and whether you’re on a sports team, a sales team,
or even team Gas & Electric, there’s a place in Holyoke to find your team spirit — Holy- oke Sporting Goods.
Originally founded in 1928 in down- town Holyoke by James Clary, the company moved to its current location on Dwight Street under current owner and operator Betsy Frey in 2005.
“It’s in a much easier section of town to get to, we’re right off of the highway, which is convenient,” Frey said. “We have our own dedicated parking lot, which is nice, too; you don’t have to park on the street.”
Holyoke Sporting Goods caters not only to sports teams, but to many area busi- nesses. “We do a lot of schools; we sell their sports equipment and their uniforms,” Frey said. “Then we do leagues like Little Leagues — we’ll supply them with all their baseballs, their equipment, their uniforms. I also do a lot of municipal stuff for the city of Holyoke or the city of Springfield, like Holy- oke Gas & Electric, Water Works, Housing
Authority, all the uniforms that they wear — they’ll wear shirts and stuff with a company logo on them. So we do all that.”
And with St. Patrick’s Day — along with Holyoke’s famous St. Patrick’s Day Parade — right around the corner, look no further than Holyoke Sporting Goods for related merchandise.
“Right now, we’re doing a lot of stuff for St. Patrick’s Day,” Frey said, “so I have a lot of Holyoke stuff with shamrocks and things like that.”
Frey said she enjoys running a busi- ness in Holyoke, adding that she gets a real team-spirit feeling from the city.
“Oh, it’s great,” she said. “Holyoke’s a great place to be in business. The people here are extremely supportive; they like to support their local businesses. I sell a lot of stuff in the store that has ‘Holyoke’ on it or is related to Holyoke. The people in Holy- oke are wonderful; they support the busi- ness. This is a good community to have a business in.” BW
—Elizabeth Sears
Owner Betsy Frey
Staff Photo
52 MARCH 6, 2023
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