Our Company – Pello Taxi Petri Uusitalo
I am Petri Uusitalo, entrepreneur of Pello Taxi, and I’ve been driving professionally since I got a driver’s license. My father was a truck driver, and I became acquainted with automobiles at a young age. I studied in high school for 3 years but left before my studies completed; I couldn’t resist being behind the wheel.
In 1995, I was able to apply for a taxi license, and I did. That when I became a full-time taxi driver and established my own company.
At the moment, we have five taxi vehicles: three 1 + 8 passenger multipurpose vans and two 1 + 4 passenger cars. Our company has 8 drivers. We offer normal taxi services and civil transportation services, for example, transporting people for KELA (Social Insurance Institution of Finland) and students.
Becoming an entrepreneur is really the only way to employ yourself here. Being an entrepreneur in Lapland requires versatility. You must be able to work in many areas. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. You can’t simply rely on providing one service. That’s something I’ve learned well.
I’ve always lived in Pello, on the border between Finnish and Swedish Lapland, and I probably couldn’t live elsewhere. Peace and proximity to nature are the assets here. Another company of ours, Naamisuvanto Salmon Fishing, began operations at the same time as my taxi business. Naamisuvanto has evolved over the years into a full-service salmon fishing tourism operator. In addition to our own family, we employ four fishing guides.