Originally published: January, 2024
“Can you ship giraffes?”
That’s just one of the many questions Robin and Michael Penn have fielded in their operations of Hedge & Penn Logistics warehouse-distribution management. It was asked tongue-in-cheek by another local business owner after seeing the company’s advertisements about being able to ship anything, no matter how big or small.
Their response? “Yes – if you need us to, we can.”
There’s not much that we can’t ship, explained Robin, CEO for the international and domestic freight forwarder, more commonly known as a logistics company. Their primary business location in Jackson, Georgia, part of Central Georgia EMC, focuses on warehousing and distribution. Hedge & Penn Logistics is considered a boutique forwarder because of its size – only three employees work at the Georgia location – but the company moves freight, including health and beauty supplements, vinyl bags and product packaging, and veterinary equipment, daily all around the country as well as internationally. Thanks to Conexon Connect, Hedge & Penn Logistics now operates more seamlessly and more efficiently than ever before.
When Robin started in the business, she had no idea what freight forwarding meant – she wasn’t even 18 yet. But she took the job instead of enrolling in college or the military, and she never left. “Now here I am, and I have my own business,” Robin said proudly. “It’s an industry where I’m always going to have a job. Logistics is always needed, in good times and bad times.” Robin brought her husband, Michael, into the business about 6 years ago and they’ve never looked back.
“As for most companies these days, if we didn’t have the internet, we couldn’t operate. All of our operations are web-based, including a warehouse management system for one of our biggest clients, whose orders come in daily. If your email is not functioning properly or you can’t get on the portal, then you’re not doing business.”
All of Butts County where the office is located was a rural area, Robin said, and if it weren’t for Conexon Connect, they wouldn’t have had internet service at their home or business. When they started the business, they operated from hotspots. It was expensive and frustrating, she said, with everyone trying to work from a single internet access point. “It was a nightmare!” she said. “In this industry, people don’t like to wait. We were so happy to see Conexon Connect come through.”
The Penns heard about Connect service from marketing flyers to their home and business and reached out for more information. From the first encounter with their sales representative, Robin said, Conexon Connect customer service has been phenomenal. “Everyone we have dealt with has been extremely competent at what they are doing,” she said. “They have been very friendly; they’ve followed up on everything they said they were going to do.”
Hedge & Penn Logistics has been thrilled with Connect, powered by Central Georgia EMC, fiber internet service from the moment the business was connected in October 2022.
“We were told service would take 30 days to set up, and Conexon did it in less than 20. It was fast,” Michael said.
Thankfully that fast, Robin added, because at that point, while they waited for the new service, they were again left working only from hotspots. Conexon Connect even had to run new lines because its fiber service didn’t yet exist in the area. “And you still did it in less than 30 days!” Robin recounted. “We dealt with our former service provider for months, with billing and service nightmares that still aren’t resolved.”
Conexon Connect’s reliability is worlds apart from their former provider, Robin added. Since starting with Connect, powered by Central Georgia EMC, the couple’s business experienced one brief outage, in the middle of the night, and service was restored within less than an hour – all before 5 a.m. that morning. Previously, phone lines and internet connection could go out for days on end, and without it, the Penns’ business stalled.
“We have been with Connect, powered by Central Georgia EMC, for just about a year now, and it has been flawless,” Michael said.
“Our business is stressful, like everything else. But you learn something new every day,” Robin ended. “Conexon Connect’s reliability and speed has helped to make it less stressful for all of us at Hedge & Penn.”