May 11, 2023
Name: Greg Galbraith
Company: Market Express
What it does: Transportation-trucking/railroad
Title: President
Focused on sales and marketing, Greg Galbraith helped lift Market Express to become one of the fastest-growing companies in Oregon, with a projected revenue of $286.7 million this year. As part of the C-suite and board of directors, he identifies new opportunities for sales and growth. Community focused, he is a board member of the Peter & Julie Stott Foundation benefiting education, the environment, arts and disadvantaged communities. He is also on the board of the Pacific Northwest Evans Scholars Foundation, providing college scholarships for youth golf caddies with limited finances.
What is your favorite piece of business advice?
Know what you know and what you don’t know.
What advice would you have told yourself 20 years ago?
Don’t limit yourself. You don’t always know what you’re capable of.
What was your biggest challenge last year and how did you overcome it?
The company was growing so quickly I was concerned about the infrastructure we had in place to support the business. The first action was to keep the team’s morale high and very focused by encouraging employees to collaborate on the most important priorities. Next, I encouraged cross training among individuals and groups while adding minor technology enhancements to drive better productivity and efficiencies. Most importantly, empowering our people, especially certain key roles, to make decisions quicker and to support them along the way. These actions appeared to have a profound impact on our ability to get through the work, create high customer satisfaction, while also looking forward to sustaining what we were building.
How could local and state leaders improve the climate for businesses? Our leaders need to put some stakes in the ground and take action. Businesses don’t feel like our elected officials are listening. Crime, drug use and homelessness are just some of the problems impacting our city and dampening business enthusiasm. With genuine engagement and collaboration between local and state officials and our business leaders, we might be surprised at what is possible.