It’s All CONNECTED TappCONNECT Inc. is a new name but the legacy behind it spans more than 70 years By Nerissa McNaughton
P
hil Strong, President of TappCONNECT Inc., has always been an entrepreneur.
“I’ve had an eye for business ever since the age of 17 when I came to Canada,” he smiles. “I was born in Italy. Dad was a Canadian civil servant so that meant we got to move around Europe and Africa. When I became of age for university, we moved to Canada. My first job was delivering newspapers. That was self employment at its best!” He continues, “I always had a small side business, even when I had a salaried job. To be honest, I never kept a salaried job for very long. I always preferred having my own business.” His own business turned into businesses. “At one point,” Strong explains, “one of my past mentors took me out of accounting and put me into a management role at Laidlaw, which was part of Yellow Cab. That was serendipitous because I had driven cabs when I was in university. Later, I
bought Yellow Cab. Then we started buying other companies and things took off. It was great!” Today, the businesses under the TappCONNECT umbrella include Edmonton Greater Taxi Service, of which the two main brands are Yellow Cab and Barrel Taxi; J&P Auto; Prestige Limousine; Prestige Contracted Transportation and Cliffs Towing. Cliffs Towing has been in operation for more than 70 years and Yellow Cab has operated since 1945. Strong has continued to expand and improve on two essential legacy businesses in Edmonton while using his entrepreneurial drive to change lives in and outside of his brands. “We have 134 direct employees, but I like to say that we provide a living for over 965 families,” smiles Strong. “Most of our 831 drivers are owners/ operators. The executive team, management team and the drivers are why TappCONNECT stands out from the competition. I can’t do all this work, obviously! I must have great people around me. My philosophy is, you must empower people to let
TappCONNECT Inc. • Celebrating 70 Years
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