At Superior Van & Mobility, General Manager Jan Jordan says the most rewarding aspect of the business is providing mobility to those with limited access and seeing the joy on customers’ faces when they receive their new converted vehicle.
“People would not get out of the house without the ability to take their power chair or scooter with them,” says Jordan. “There’s nothing like seeing someone go places they’ve not been able to go before.”
Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Dan Cook founded the company in 1976. Today, Superior Van & Mobility has nine locations throughout Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana. Since the 1980s, the mobility industry has made large, significant changes and Superior Van & Mobility has been one of the leaders of the pack, introducing varied options to customers from stylish conversion mini vans to trucks and even trike motorcycles.
Jordan, an Evansville native, has been the general manager of the Tri-State location, 3414 Interstate Drive, for 10 years, and was one of the first employees hired for the Evansville store. The local store has won many awards for customer service, including ranking No. 1 in Braun Corp.’s Customer Satisfaction Index. A former mechanic for two different car dealerships in Evansville, Jordan has a long background in automobiles.
“There’s a lot of different adaptions that we do,” he says. “Not just for drivers, but for passengers as well. In our industry, we see a lot of people who need the service, but it’s not 100 percent the person who’s handicap, it’s the caregiver (too).”
The company also does work with Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center, vocational rehabs, and Veterans Affairs. Superior also supports local Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) groups.
“It’s (rewarding) when the customer has a smile on their face,” says Tim Schultz, a mobility consultant at the Evansville office. “It’s when they are actually able to get out of the house and do the simple things that we take for granted every day.”
Superior Van & Mobility can outfit a conversion vehicle with zero-effort steering, computer operations near the console, a joystick or smaller steering wheel for driving, and many different lift options. Most of the vehicles in Superior’s inventory come from two companies that build conversion vehicles; Braun Corp. and Vantage Mobility International. These companies convert vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Chrysler, and Dodge.
Superior’s owner Sam Cook also is the president of the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, which was formed to make sure qualified mechanics and builders are working on conversion vehicles.
“We are one of the top four or five businesses in the country doing what we do,” says Jordan.
For more information about Superior Van & Mobility, call 812-402-8267 or visit superiorvan.com.
