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Safe Riders Up For Sale

October 06, 2009

By Kim Wilhelm (WICHITA, Kan.)

A Wichita business that gives intoxicated drivers a ride home is up for sale.  Safe Riders, Inc. owner Sarah Selmon hopes to find another buyer.  Selmon says she's selling for family reasons.   When she and her husband started the business seven years ago, they didn't have any children.  Now, they have three kids under the age of four and say the long nights and weekend hours are tough to do.  She says the decision is not financial.  She says the company is solid and has never had trouble paying bills. 

Safe Riders gives about a thousand rides a month.  One of the company's largest clients is Wichita State University.  The Student Government Association pays for the service for any WSU student who needs a ride home.  SGA President Zach Gearhart says it's been well worth it.

"We think of it as a safety net for the students," said Gearhart.  "It's been a great program for us and we hope a new owner will continue our contract."

WSU makes up nearly half of Safe Riders business. 

"I have friends who have used the Safe Riders program and it's saved them countless times," said WSU sophomore Rebekah Seals.  "I think it would be sad if the company was no longer."

"It saves a lot of lives and saves a lot of money," said WSU sophomore Cornell McNeal. 

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Selmon hopes Safe Riders has also changed peoples habits after drinking.  She thinks the agreement with WSU has helped.

"If you learn a better way in college - how easy it is to call for a safe ride home - you will likely make that choice after you graduate when you have a job and a family and a lot more on the line," said Selmon.  "You're not going to return to drinking and driving."

Selmon hopes to sell the company by the end of the year.  She and her husband were the first two employees but the company has grown to nearly 20 employees.  Currently, the business operates only at night and on the weekends.  Selmon says someone willing to run a day and nighttime operation could increase business and continue the success.

"This might be the right time for someone who can reinvest new energy a little more money, new excitement for what has been established which is a foundation we're really proud of," said Selmon. 

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