Fast 25: Koola Logistics

Revenue growth FY 2020 to 2022: 234%
2022 revenue: $24.5 million

Relocating: Steve Paliska and his family were living in California and he was working in real estate when he decided he didn’t want to raise his kids on the West Coast. His wife, Nancy, is from Batesville, Indiana, and he graduated from Purdue University. So they decided to move back to Indiana in 2019, and he used his knowledge of logistics and trucking to open Koola Logistics in Carmel. Koola is a freight brokerage, the middleman between truck drivers and people who ship. The company doesn’t own trucks; it’s a sales and service company, Paliska said.

Principles: Paliska said he started Koola based on four core values: faith, family, fitness and freight. All decision making is based on those pillars, he said. Initially, the company had three employees. It now has 35 and expects to double in size by the end of the year. “Our growth happens organically and naturally, the product of a great culture,” he said.

Their spaces: Koola has a heavy presence in the food industry, and Paliska said trucking has become so important in that area because to cut down on warehousing costs, companies aren’t holding the amount of inventory they once did. “They’re dependent on a smooth supply chain to have that product shipped in time when they need it,” he said.

Spread the word: Koola is positioned to continue to grow, Paliska said. Being a small company, it’s still a tight-knit enterprise that is directly responsive to its clients. The goal now is to “get our name out there and getting that first opportunity to show them what a Koola difference is.”

Misheard lyrics: The name “koola” came from his children. They had a song they would sing along with—“Body” by Loud Luxury—but they didn’t know the exact words. They would always sing “koola.” What’s actually being sung? “Crew love.”•

Check out more of IBJ’s ranking of Indy’s fastest-growing companies.