The Dunedin-based international air and sea freight company was founded in 1969 as Dunedin Customs Brokers Ltd.
It was "a little bit under the radar" as it was often not until people were looking to import or export something that they discovered the company and the service it provided.
"We're not a call-to-action company. We're there when somebody wants to do something," managing director Mark Willis said.
Although competing against multinational freight forwarders, it was able to "pretty much punch above our weight", with the advantage of being able to offer a local, personalised service, he said.
Mr Willis was 2 when his family moved from Otematata to Mosgiel.
Educated at Taieri High School, he decided he wanted to get into a selling role, or a job that was people-oriented.
He ended up working in a bank for a few years and, as time went on, became involved in some sales projects with the bank.
From there, he moved to what was to become a long career in the freight industry.
When it came to freight forwarding, Mr Willis wanted the company to be "the doctor at the top of the cliff, not the ambulance at the bottom".
The company was competitive, but continuity and the level of service also had to be of a high standard.
The company was only as good as the last shipment brought in for a customer, and repeat business was "huge", he said.
Mr Willis thrived on the challenges that were provided every day, looking at how to get a product to a destination and to meet a deadline.
At times, it could be stressful.
"You are constantly trying to meet deadlines," he said.
But among the seven staff there was "an expertise a lot of our competitors would struggle to match".
Communication was key and there was a lot of brainstorming done in the office, in Timaru St, Dunedin, to ensure customers were given the best options.
Every day was an opportunity to help somebody make their dream come true. Mr Willis particularly enjoyed seeing local companies doing well and being a part of that.
There had been changes in the freight industry over the years, through the advancements in technology - "everything has sped up and, with it, our systems have to" - and increased security against terrorism.
Much care had to be taken ensuring the documentation was correct and the goods could not be tampered with once they were packed.
The work was diverse, ranging from working with the Dunedin Chinese Garden Trust to bring in the containers of rocks for the Chinese Garden, to the sad aspect of repatriation of human remains.
Describing himself as a very parochial Otago person, Mr Willis is past-president of the Otago Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board.
He enjoyed his involvement with the organisation.
While he said it was a tough economic climate, citing two recent announcements - City Forests' plans to mothball the Milburn wood processing plant and KiwiRail seeking expressions of interest for the sale of Hillside Workshops - there were other areas of growth.
"There's positives and negatives. It's that balance," he said.
Dunedin was a positive place and Dunedin people trusted Dunedin people. He wanted to see growth in Dunedin and for the city to prosper and thrive.
"What I like . . . is seeing local people achieve what they want to do, which is part of a bigger picture."
And what DCB International was doing was a good barometer of what the economy was doing in the South. If exports and imports were good, then business should be good.
He had been trying for some years, in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce, to get international freight in and out of Dunedin airport.
They were still "poking away" at the airlines and believed they would get there in the end.
The discussion was continuing and he believed there were opportunities "for Dunedin to go to the world".
