PHOTO PROVIDED Roan’s Transfer and Storage, located at 2100 Whitney Road, has been operated by the Roan family for five generations.

Moving is never an easy task, but Roan’s Transfer and Storage, 2100 Whitney Road, offers a number of options for those struggling to get things where they need to be.

The company was started by Frank Levi Roan as a furniture hauler in 1932 and in 1933, the company became authorized with the state utility authority.

In 1949, Frank’s son, Dean became the company’s second owner, and Roan’s became an agent of Mayflower Transit, which later merged with United, with whom they have had a relationship since 1963.

In 1973, Robert Roan took over the company and built the warehouse that is still in use to this day.

Tom Roan assumed the business in 1982, and expanded the business from two trucks and a tractor trailer to seven street vans, two pack trucks and two tractor trailers, as well as the workforce.

In 2025, son, Andrew and his wife, Autumn, became the latest in the family to own the business, with Tom staying on part-time.

“It’s very humbling and heartwarming because he’s worked hard, and we’re proud to be able to take the next step for him,” Autumn said.

At 19-years-old, Andrew got his class B and started driving the straight vans, later receiving his class A, and began driving tractor trailers.

“With Tom being so dedicated to it all of his life, Andrew and his brother spent their summers there, playing in the warehouse and folding pads when the crew came back,” Autumn said.

“He was always grown up around it, and he saw what it could provide for his family, and the pride that his dad took in it. So it was always the direction that he knew he was going to take,” she said.

Autumn joined the company on a part-time basis in 2017 before going full-time last year when her mother-in-law, Lori, partially retired to focus on just being a “nana,” Autumn explained.

Roan’s offers a number of moving and storage options, including packing boxes, loading and unloading trucks, and, on occasion, unpacking.

“Or we do the full kit and caboodle where we come in, we pack it, we load it, we drive it to the new location, unload, put it in the rooms you want,” Autumn said.

The company also offers warehouse storage, equipped with climate control, rodent pest control, security cameras and fire alarms linked right to the fire stations.

“It’s not a self storage unit. You wouldn’t have unlimited access to your items. You would either have to pay for storage or pay for warehouse handling if you wanted to go through it,” Autumn said, explaining that it is more along the lines of a long-term or transitional storage while they move from one area to another.

Additionally, Roan’s has worked with healthcare companies to assist with moving doctors, nurses, etc. to new areas as they get relocated, as well as office equipment and other items when offices get moved.

They have also assisted school districts and other types of business with their moving needs.

One of the aspects of the business Autumn stresses is that they are registered with the state Public Utility Commission, noting that there are many non-registered moving “groups” operating across the state.

“They are not legal movers that are registered with the PUC. If they are not registered their rates aren’t regulated and there is no one to ensure they carry the correct insurances to cover your home and belongings.”

,” she said, also stressing that registration reduces the likelihood of being the victim of a scam.

“People call us and say, ‘I got scammed. I don’t know what to do. They didn’t show up today,’ or even worse, ‘I got scammed last time, and they took all of my belongings and I never saw them again,'” Autumn said.

“So we’ve been trying to do a lot of education for people on what a legal mover is, what you get with a legal mover, and that peace of mind that you get with a legal mover,” she said.

Though she married into a company with a deep local history, Autumn’s family has deep historical ties, as well, as she is the great-granddaughter of Carl Stotz, the founder of Little League Baseball.

“Our families brought two different contributing historical aspects to Williamsport, and Tom’s always telling that story. He’s like, ‘yeah, on this side, we have Little League and on this side we have Roan’s.

“We do try to support Little League in different ways too, now that I can as a small business owner, because it is my family’s pastime,” she said.

“My gram, Karen, does a lot to keep her dad’s legacy alive and continue to give him credit and support Little League and what the original goal and mission of Little League was, so now that I’m in a position with a small business to maybe get a little more recognition for that, I try to support that, as well.

Over the years, Roans has built up a strong reputation not only among its customers, but their employees, as well, including some that have stayed with the company for nearly 30 years.

“We’ve definitely built a very good family culture. What we really pride ourselves on, is that we are a small mom and pop family company and just we don’t have a big turnover. Most of our people that we employ, they started as summer help in maybe high school or something, and then they just liked it there so much, and have just never left,” Autumn said.

So popular is Roan’s that many of their customers come from repeats and referrals.

“The best compliment a small business can have is when you refer us to somebody,” Autumn said.

“My husband being the fifth generation, he’s got 15 years of experience at this point, whether it was part time in the summer or driving for the last 11 years,” she said.

“You have an owner who is out there busting his butt too. He’s not sitting at home, just hanging out and letting somebody else run it. He’s in the trenches with the guys packing, loading the truck or driving the truck,” Autumn said.

“We take pride in the work. We aren’t just here to collect a dollar. We are here to make sure that our name is a name that’s trusted, and we’ve got generations of doing that,” she said.

“We want to be the one that everybody trusts and that everybody wants to go to to help them get to the next chapter, whether that’s into a retirement community because you’re nearing the end of your book, or whether you’re just starting out and you have four kids,” Autumn said, noting that because she and her husband has two little ones, they are always mindful of children at a job site, something several parents have commented on.

For more information on Roan’s Transfer and Storage, check out their website at www.roanmoving.com.