In James Noble’s small town of Olney, Illinois, you’ll see kids, adults, and families alike whizzing around on scooters on the way to school, to work, or just to explore. These happy Olney residents have James to thank—in April, he introduced his beloved town to the fun and convenience of scooters as alternate transportation, and they have been a huge hit.
“My family and I noticed people using scooters whenever we visited other cities and they looked like a lot of fun!” says James. He soon came across an opportunity with a large franchise to establish and manage a scooter fleet in a new city…and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Since opening our scooter business, we see so many people utilizing them around town,” he explains. “We have everyday riders who may need transportation to a job or to run errands; and we see lots of families, too. It gives kids something to do in a small town like this. It’s also a creative way to reduce our carbon emissions by offering alternate modes of transportation for short trips.” Whether it’s providing a mode of transportation for those that don’t have other options or encouraging residents to get out and explore, the scooters have provided a much-needed respite to Olney residents.
“I absolutely love seeing folks in our little town out riding on them. Sometimes we get great end-of-ride photos or people will leave comments expressing how much fun they had. It makes it really rewarding to bring joy to others.”
But it’s not all fun and smiles. James says that collecting and distributing scooters can be pretty tedious at times: “I collected one out of a tree, if you can imagine that!” He spends his evenings recharging and replacing scooters for use the next day. It’s his own contribution to a community he loves so much.
While that sounds like quite the task, James spends his days as a sales development rep for one of our MarketSource programs. And since—after his day job—it’s time to collect and distribute scooters for tomorrow’s customers, his personal approach to serving others is no surprise: “To leave a person better than when I came.”