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A&T Emporium Success Story

A&T Emporium, Atlanta and Tommie Howlett Jr.

Title / Role: Owners
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Formed in: 2014
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What do you do?

The Company's mission is to provide transportation services for companies seeking to ship products locally, regionally and OTR in 48 states. At A & T Emporium, listening to our customers is an important factor in the success of our business. Our goal is to provide the most efficient, successful, and compelling shipping experience. The services we provide will include direct contact with the freight from pick-up to delivery. Freights will be treated with equal importance regardless of the size of the freight or the distance. 

What inspired you to start your business?

Tommie was a truck driver and encouraged me to help start our trucking business.

What influenced you to seek help from SCORE?

I had heard about SCORE years ago but didn't check them out.  My sister told me about the program and we were in a new lane and needed help.

How SCORE helped.

Ken Senour has been very helpful.  Without Ken's help, we would not have been able to complete our business plan. Ken encouraged us to think about things we had not thought about like an actual budget, salaries, and overhead.  Ken introduced A&T Emporium to Cecelia Barringon.  Cecelia helped the company create an employee handbook, company policies and our safety handbook.  Ken also introduced Dan Leslie who helped A&T Emporium with the financial part of their business plan. Without these three SCORE mentors, our company would not be doing the things we are doing.

What's great about my mentor?

Our mentors helped us think about issues we had never thought about.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a small business?

The first thing you should do is contact SCORE because you need a mentor no matter what business you are starting. You need someone who has a background in business.  I would tell them to research, research, research.

What would you tell a fellow business owner about SCORE?

Running a business is not about yourself. It is about helping others. Just like when we needed help and SCORE helped us, we need to reach out and help others.

What have you learned from your experiences as a business owner?

The most difficult part of the business is the stuff you don't know. Every day you learn something new. Even though you know your trade, the business itself and how other people operate a business are always different, and there is always something to learn.

Additional media
My mentors
Headshot of Ken Senour
Ken Senour

My background includes 46+ years in the areas of engineering and environmental consulting, executive...

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Headshot of Cecelia R Barrington
Cecelia R Barrington

I can help company performance in the areas of human resource management and retention, operations...

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Headshot of Daniel Leslie
Daniel Leslie

I have practiced accounting in corporate settings for over 35 years; helping my empolyers enhance...

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318 NW 13th Street,
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Oklahoma City, OK 73103
(405) 768-3488 x101

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Funded, in part, through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.

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