From the Chicago Dispatcher, December 2008
Choice Taxi Celebrates 10-year Anniversary
Company president Zerezghi Iyassu's hard work, supportive family and staff continue to drive affiliation's success.
By: Ashley Mathew
It was his mother who conveyed the message to not come home. Eritrea, battling what evolved into a 30-year war for its independence, had caused members of his family to scatter. So he decided to stay in America to study, to work and to live.
Now, only once has Zerezghi Iyassu returned to his native land of Eritrea. After leaving the war-torn nation in July of 1976, he said with a smile, “There is nothing better than this country.” This country, like it has for so many, provided Mr. Iyassu with the opportunity to achieve a different life. Celebrating its 10th anniversary as an affiliation, Choice Taxi is a direct result of the hard work and dedication Mr. Iyassu has had in changing the course of his future.
From all throughout Chicago many have come to commemorate Mr. Iyassu and the company he was so motivated to establish. A company, which began with six individuals, doubled by the third year to 72, and eventually at its highest point had a membership of 490. Though it has reduced itself to an estimated 342, Mr. Iyassu is proud of the taxi industry, and a team he successfully crafted on his own.
His role as a teacher is what initially led Mr. Iyassu in a new direction. “Being a teacher made me see things differently,” he said. Completing college in Eritrea, he went back to work at the high school he graduated from, teaching science, mathematics and religion. He was offered the position of vice-principal after one year, and principal after two. He served as the principal for five years before accepting an invitation to come to America from a close friend from Eritrea, Dr. Yemane Asmerom.
He began studying at American-Indian Bible College in Phoenix, where his plan was to become a minister. Unsatisfied with the academic discipline of the school, he ventured to Nebraska where he completed his undergraduate degree at Concordia College in Seward. Soon after he moved to Lincoln, attending the University of Nebraska to complete his Masters in School Administration. It was also during this time that he married his wife, Alga, who he had met in Eritrea at their high school. The engagement lasted for five years until she was able to join him in Nebraska. Mr. Iyassu credits her with being the backbone of the business.
He soon left and taught for four years in Michigan, through the Lutheran system, as a high-school mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics teacher. Again somewhat unsatisfied, he made the decision to accept a call from the Lutheran church in Chicago for a position on the South Side. Mr. Iyassu would go on to teach chemistry and physics for 11 years at Luther South High School, on 87th and Kedzie.
During the summer of 1993 a friend of his suggested a venture in the taxi business as a way to bring in more income. Wanting to put his two sons in a good, Lutheran school, the family's current salary was not enough. So Mr. Iyassu acquired his chauffeur's license and drove a taxi in the summer, when his students were on vacation.
Working two jobs, Mr. Iyassu accumulated $8,000 by the end of the summer. “I had never seen that much money,” he said. It was then he decided to purchase medallion 2169 for a total of $42,000, including the car. It is a medallion he still owns today and considers good luck. When the school year commenced, Mr. Iyassu would come to work in his taxi. His students were shocked to see that their teacher was also a cabdriver. From 3:00 p.m., after classes, he would drive till around 8:00 p.m. making $75 a day for usually five days a week. When some asked why he did not involve himself in illegal activity, like selling crack cocaine, his response was, “I'm a Christian. I don't want to do that.” In return he asked if they would be happy if he sold illegal drugs, or just earned a living driving a taxi?
In one year and three months Mr. Iyassu was able to pay off his medallion. As secretary of the Eritrean Community in Chicago, he noticed many members who were taxi drivers did not own their own medallions. He maintains the same position on this issue that he did so long ago, to buy your own medallion. “Why would you be my slave, leasing my cab for 500-600 dollars a week, while you could pay the same amount and own it. So when you retire you have money.” He voiced his opinion to the board and suggested they form an affiliation. Unfamiliar with how this process started, Mr. Iyassu received guidance from the owners of KOAM Taxi Association, who explained to him what he needed to know.
Eventually a misunderstanding between the three members chosen to lead the group would cause them to give up. Mr. Iyassu, however, was determined to pave his own road. With a single medallion, six fellow Eritreans joined the company that soon became Choice Taxi. Mr. Iyassu believes the third year was really the growth year. He said by then, “People were lining up to join Choice.” Under his direction many of these lease drivers became medallion owners.
“Since Choice has started, my goal was to make the drivers own their own medallion. Whoever they are. Anybody who was driving here,” Mr. Iyassu said. Though it was once possible to pay off the costs of a medallion in a year and a half, Mr. Iyassu guesses now it would take at least 10 to 15 years. He can say though, with excitement, that most of the Choice drivers have paid off their medallions, and no single medallion has been repossessed in the history of Choice.
Mr. Iyassu openly expressed his optimism for the future of the taxi industry.
“The city is growing. It's becoming more active. I'm very proud of the city of Chicago, to be honest, the way it's evolving,” he said. “More people are coming to Chicago, the way I see it. So the taxi industry will be always needed.”
Congratulations to Choice! Zack Iyassu is one of the finest people I've met in the industry over the years and is a great advocate for Chicago taxi drivers. I'm proud to know him.
George Lutfallah
Chicago Dispatcher
