Family starts unique Green Courier business in Cincinnati

The Green Courier, in Fairfield, is just one of the latest Greater Cincinnati startups fueled - literally -by the eco-conscious movement.

The small company was founded by a father-in-law/daughter-in-law team who combined their collective backgrounds in sales and auto management to form this unique business.

"Neither of us have a background in the courier business," said co-owner Jacinta Hileman, a former West Chester saleswoman. "But my father-in-law had worked for GM for 30-plus years and had retired. He saw a lot of waste and he wanted to do something that made a difference for a change."

So this past November Jacinta and her father-in-law Richard Hileman launched The Green Courier with a 2009 Honda Insight. Jacinta, who spent the past five years raising her children at home, runs the operational side of the company. Richard works as the courier.

Jacinta believes theirs is the only green courier Service in Southwest Ohio. Such businesses are more common in larger cities like Atlanta and Dallas, she said.

"We thought it was time for something like that here," she said.

Richard makes about 40-50 deliveries each week. Many of the deliveries are downtown, but others are as far as the City of Hamilton. The Honda Insight gets about 42 miles per gallon and produces about 2.92 tons of carbon emissions during a typical downtown to Springdale daily route, she said. Comparatively, an average delivery can gets about 14 miles per gallons and produces 7.8 tons of carbon.

The company is located in Fairfield, but Richard generally works remotely. Customers can schedule pickups or check the status of an existing order online,  then Richard can follow pick up orders through his laptop.

The company's current location is due mostly to economics - the rent is very reasonable - but as it grows it could locate closer to the city. That growth could come sooner rather than later because Jacinta and Richard are already considering hiring a second driver and adding a second vehicle to their fleet, a hybrid SUV that could handle larger orders.

Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jacinta Hileman, co-owner The Green Courier

You can follow Feoshia on twitter here.