Gentle Giant Moving Co., has been named "Independent Mover of the Year" by the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA). The Independent Mover of the Year Award, or "the Indy," is presented each year by AMSA to one moving company for outstanding achievements as a service provider and significant contributions to the moving industry. The Indy will be presented to Gentle Giant CEO Larry O'Toole in recognition of his company's employee retention and development programs, 80% customer repeat and referral rate, and noted philanthropic involvements.
Indy award recipients are selected for their role in enhancing the image of the moving and storage industry through hard work, dedication to customer service, and commitment to quality practices. Gentle Giant was chosen from among dozens of nominees based on accomplishments in all of these areas. Specifically, the Moving and Storage Company retained nearly its entire employee base during the most recent recession despite significant economic challenges, by offering structured work-sharing and temporary furloughs and instituting other operational efficiencies, in which every employee in the company participated. The company also manages the Gentle Giant Charitable Foundation which it uses to channel contributions to numerous charitable causes aligned with the company's mission and values. Gentle Giant maintains a stable profit margin despite market conditions that have forced numerous moving companies out of business.

Gentle Giant Moving Company has been in business since 1980. Over the past decade the firm was honored with the Better Business Bureau's International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics and won the Best of Boston award from "Boston Magazine" nine times. The Moving and Storage Company's innovative employee development and communications programs earned it a place on the "Wall Street Journal's" list of Top Small Workplaces in 2007, the first year the award program was implemented by the newspaper in partnership with Winning Workplaces.

"As we celebrate our 30th year in operation, I want to congratulate every Gentle Giant employee, each one a leader in his or her own right, for achieving this distinction," said Gentle Giant Founder and CEO Larry O'Toole. "I am grateful to AMSA for this opportunity to highlight the amazing attitude of our Gentle Giant team and the determination of our employees to win customers for life and raise the bar for the moving industry with every move that we perform."

Gentle Giant has also earned the right to participate in AMSA's ProMover program, which helps consumers easily identify a quality, professional mover.

"Congratulations to Gentle Giant," said AMSA President and CEO Linda Bauer Darr. "The company has set highest standards and is committed to community involvement. I'm delighted to see a member as deserving as Gentle Giant get such recognition."

The Indy recipient is selected by a panel of industry experts. The award will be presented at a ceremony at AMSA's Annual Conference & Expo happening in Phoenix, Ariz. on Feb. 23, 2010.

About Gentle Giant Moving Company, Inc.

Founded in 1980, Massachusetts Moving Company Gentle Giant is a premier residential and commercial mover, offering local, interstate, and international service. Named one of the Boston Business Journal's Best Places to Work in Massachusetts in 2004, 2005, and 2006, winner of the 2006 International Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Better Business Bureau, winner of the Better Business Bureau's Torch Award for Excellence in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2008, nine-time winner of Boston Magazine's "Best of Boston," six-time winner of The Improper Bostonian's "Boston's Best Moving Company" award, seven-time winner of the Angie's List "Super Service" award, and 2007 Top Small Workplaces award from the Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces, the company's services include craning, piano moving, complete packing and unpacking services, and other related services. Gentle Giant offers storage facilities and dispatches crews from its sixteen offices in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington State. For more information, please call (617) 661-3333.