Ride YourWay

The mission behind Ride YourWay, a family-owned medical transportation business based in Grand Rapids, is personal for founder Thomas Sikkema. As a teenager, he faced a life-threatening brain cancer diagnosis. In navigating daily trips to cancer treatments with his brother Bradyn, the Sikkemas recognized a need in the marketplace and were inspired to improve the medical transportation experience.

Founded in 2018, Ride YourWay specializes in assisted transportation for medical treatments, therapy and hospital discharges, as well as non-medical outings like family gatherings and grocery trips. The company is the first and only Michigan company to achieve national accreditation from the Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Commission.

To meet the demand for its services, Ride YourWay continues to add to its fleet of vehicles and drivers, who are each certified in CPR and complete various training courses. In seeking out small businesses resources, the company learned about the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and its Collateral Support program from DJ Colantone of Mercantile Bank.

“As a Commercial Banker, I am always looking for different and unique lending opportunities to be able to service the needs of clients and potential prospects,” said Colantone. “There are a lot of different programs out there that I have used, but in working with the MEDC I can confidently say that the efficiency and streamlined process with the team makes it one of the easier programs to work with.”

Since 2023, the MEDC has worked with Mercantile Bank to provide $395,612 in collateral support on four loans totaling $798,400, allowing Ride YourWay to finance new vehicles to add to their non-emergency transport fleet and grow from 11 employees to 55; the company hopes to add up to 62 more within the next two years.

“The Mercantile Bank team has consistently taken the time to understand our needs as a growing small business, and they’ve done a fantastic job educating us on available tools and connecting us with the right resources,” said Zach Meadows, vice president and director of data analytics for Ride YourWay. “Their support is a big reason we were able to access the MEDC program at a pivotal time in our growth.”

With offices in Grand Rapids and Lansing, Ride YourWay plans to expand across Michigan to Metro Detroit, Ann Arbor and the Saginaw/Bay City region, as well as scale its specialized service lines, including behavioral health transportation and stretcher-alternative solutions. Establishing regional hubs will support faster response times and create jobs, and as the company grows, Ride YourWay’s mission to expand access to high-quality medical transportation will provide greater community impact for residents throughout the state.

“Ride YourWay’s growth shows why the MEDC’s Collateral Support program is so important for Michigan small businesses,” said Meadows. “As demand for non-emergency medical transportation continues to rise across hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and behavioral health providers, our ability to add vehicles and expand into new regions became critical. Like many growing companies, our biggest barrier wasn’t opportunity; it was capital expenditures and the cost of growth. The MEDC Collateral Support program, in partnership with Mercantile Bank, allowed us to overcome that barrier and scale our fleet when the demand for reliable medical transportation was increasing. Because of this support, we’ve expanded across Michigan, added specialized vehicles, created jobs and increased access to reliable healthcare transportation in communities that urgently need it. Our success is a direct example of how MEDC’s collateral program empowers small businesses to grow and meet statewide needs.”