Salvatore “Sal” Stile ’92 and Damien Stile ’96
Co-founders and respective president and COO, Alba Wheels Up; Creators, Salvatore J. Stile ’92
Professional Sales Competition at Bentley
When the full effect of COVID hit last March, imports into the United States drastically declined. But because we are visionary specialists in what we do — international shipping and customs clearance — Alba Wheels Up was able to do a pivot.
Business decreased in many of our core areas and in verticals like apparel and retail. But there was a strong need for expertise in U.S. Customs and FDA rules and regulations, in order to move PPE [personal protective equipment] such as masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. Alba became one of the largest facilitators of PPE to hospitals and government agencies.
Our ability to navigate the pandemic goes back to having prepared for it back in December 2019 and early 2020, when we noticed businesses in China shutting down. We prepared for our staff to go remote and ensured the proper IT infrastructure as if we would be shut down — even though we are considered essential services.
It’s in our DNA to run the company by planning for worst-case scenarios. That goes back to our somewhat humble upbringing and not taking much for granted: Health and wealth are on loan to you.
This rang true when our father died from COVID in April 2020. You never know what life is going to bring, but you have to be as resilient as possible and try to get through it. Our father loved business, loved seeing his sons excel in business.
It was a bittersweet moment: We had just suffered a tragic loss, but our business was flourishing and we were able to save lives by bringing PPE to the United States.
Being passionate about our work and creating value, we recently decided to sell an interest in the business. COVID has taught us that timing is a lot in life. Alba is on a strong uptick to grow. With the backing of private equity and a tremendous amount of resources to make the transition, we’ll be able to double or triple the company in a short time span. Alba is very healthy and profitable, but we want to see it have even greater impact on a business and social level.