When Osseo resident Rebecca Crowell sought a taxi company that could provide regular service to her older mother, she dialed Kilimanjaro Taxi and Handicap Service, intrigued by the company’s exotic name. Crowell was looking for a company that might agree on a frequent user discount for her mother, but several local cab companies had turned her down. Elijah Omweno, owner of Kilimanjaro, agreed to meet with Crowell to discuss her mother’s situation.

“He offered to come out to my house to talk business,” Crowell remembers. “I told him I live south of Osseo, and he said, ‘Yes, I know where that is. I will come there.’ But I didn’t want him to drive all the way out here!”

Crowell and Omweno met at an Eau Claire restaurant instead, and after having coffee and getting to know each other, they came to an agreement. Crowell was highly impressed with this way of doing business, a method not typically employed in the Chippewa Valley, especially not in the taxi trade.

Omweno, originally from Kenya, studied business administration, sociology, and economics in Japan before coming to Wisconsin seven years ago. He had hopes to start a business one day, and envisioned calling it Kilimanjaro. “Kilimanjaro is the biggest mountain in Africa,” Omweno explains, adding that he grew up near the mountain, and has also climbed it.

As an immigrant to this country, he realizes that achieving the American Dream isn’t easy, but he is confident he has what it takes to make it. “If you’re a hard working person, and you have a focus, there’s no way you can’t succeed,” he stated. “As long as you are doing the right thing and you respect the laws of the land.”

    It was a rude and ornery taxi driver in Hudson that led Omweno to think about the taxi industry. He felt that a better service was needed, so he started his company to fill that gap. Kilimanjaro Taxi and Handicap Service became an official company in September 2008.

In addition to Hudson, Kilimanjaro now provides 24-hour taxi service in Omweno’s hometown of Menomonie, as well as Eau Claire, River Falls, Somerset, Stillwater, and Woodbury. Kilimanjaro also focuses on transportation for persons with disabilities. Its six vehicles are equipped with lifts, and can transport passengers between hospitals, nursing homes, and schools between the hours of 6am and 8pm. The company currently has a contract with Community Health Partnership to provide regular transport to those who need additional care.

Omweno’s business philosophy puts emphasis on building lasting relationships with customers above profit or ridership statistics. Kilimanjaro strives to provide the soaring levels of service that a company named for the tallest mountain in Africa ought to, attending to the specific needs of their clients. “I really don’t think about the money, I think about the service. If I give your mom or your dad a good service, I will be rewarded another way round,” Omweno asserts.

Omweno plans to expand his fleet, and perhaps start a new business if Kilimanjaro sees the levels of success he is hoping for. “It has come to a point that they are happy with my business,” Omweno said of the areas Kilimanjaro serves, “which is a nice situation when you are in a business, when you find that the community has accepted you.”

    Kilimanjaro Taxi provides service 24 hours a day and handicapped-accessible transportation from 6am-8pm daily. They can be reached at 715-338-9840.