Trams, trolleys and shuttle buses that people love to ride.

For Nancy, Leah and Rachel Munoz, this is a family affair. Specialty Vehicles is a third generation, family owned business in Henderson, Nevada that has been women-owned for two generations. Nancy began her career working for her father, a manufacturer of trolleys and trams, and after his passing reincorporated his company as her own, starting Specialty Vehicles. Her daughters Leah and Rachel began working for the company as teenagers during school vacations. Today, mother and daughters continue to grow the company and are considered the premier provider of the most diversified line of transportation vehicles in the world. 

The company, which started by offering one trolley to customers, has now grown to a 27 vehicle fleet, including specialty trolleys, trams, mini-trams and buses. SVI also offers sustainable solutions to customers concerned about their carbon footprint, including alternate fuel sources and zero-emission battery powered people-movers with a solar panel option.

During tight economic times, even though upfront costs were daunting, Specialty Vehicles grew with the help of an SBA 7(a) loan from Mutual of Omaha Bank for working capital to develop new lines of business and additional revenue.

A novice to manufacturing, they jumped in feet first to create a vehicle they could call their own. Working in-house, the owners developed specifications, trained personnel, sacrificed their own paychecks and built a unique specialty vehicle. The first Metro Tram sets were delivered to federal agency buyers and new orders continue to arrive.

As a result, the company’s net worth has steadily increased and additional jobs were created both for SVI and their manufacturers. TMC Development recently funded an SBA 504 loan to purchase an industrial building to expand SVI’s manufacturing and distribution operations. The larger staging area and dock-high loading ramp at the new facility will help the company ship and receive vehicles, saving thousands of dollars each year in towing fees alone,” Leah Muñoz said. "In the past two to three years, we went through an expansion and overgrew our current facility. It was a lot of hard work, a lot of sweat and tears.”

Future plans include purchase of yet another building as the company continues to grow.