Penticton trucking company gives back to community through hospital donation

PENTICTON – A well known Penticton transport firm has stepped up to the plate and offered a generous donation to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation’s hospital tower campaign.

Berry & Smith Trucking Ltd. recently provided a $30,000 donation to the foundation, which is aiming to raise $20 million towards equipment for the new care tower, set to begin construction this spring.

Vice President Mark Berry says the hospital foundation represents a great cause, noting the donation is about giving back to the community.

“The community has supported our company over the years and we feel strongly about that, too,” he says.

The trucking company has been a part of the Penticton business landscape since the mid-1950s, when co-founders Stu Berry and Ted Smith combined the operations of two small trucking operations in the area.

Since then, the company has grown to become one of the biggest trucking firms in the B.C. Interior, with offices in Penticton, Calgary and Vancouver.

In addition to operating the city’s transit service, Berry & Smith has also provides school bus service in the Okanagan Skaha school district. The business employs 180 people and has 110 trucks operating across North America.

Three generations have worked for the company and many of the workers have been with Berry & Smith for more than 35 years.

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