MONROE — A pair of Monroe college students have created their own food delivery service, modeled after national big-name delivery apps but with a completely local focus.

The business, Delivery Drive, was founded by Gavin Jordan and Kendall Paulson, both 23, after Jordan had spent time in the Madison market and wondered why none of the home delivery giant applications were offered in Monroe. Jordan also worked for Eat Street, a similar service for the Madison-area restaurant scene.

“It’s something we always wanted to do, so we made it happen,” said Jordan. “This area really needed something like this.”

So far six area restaurants have signed on to work with the pair and now Delivery Drive is off and running — and it has steadily grown over the time since it was founded in the summer of 2021.  Jordan and Paulson both agreed to postpone college for a time to help get their new venture off the ground.

Each restaurant’s terms of service are different so the way the fees are structured varies, according to Jordan. But generally, restaurants can pay some or all of the delivery cost for Delivery Drive or pass it along to customers, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get delivery here.

But now one of the major delivery services, DoorDash is in town, prompting the boys to step up their game. They say the presence of a competitor actually helps them in some ways as customers and restaurants become accustomed to the idea of local food from favorite eateries being brought right to the diners’ doorstep.

The boys’ contracted with an overseas developer to create the app for Delivery Drive, which is now available for download at both the Apple app store and Google Play store. Creating the app in the United States would have cost thousands of coding costs and Jordan says he thinks their application looks and feels better than the bigger competitors and is easy to use.

One thing they are getting used to is the unpredictable nature of the restaurant business — one day might be busy all day, while the next has few orders. The boys are the primary drivers for the service but if it gets unusually busy, they have backup drivers lined up to fill in where needed.

They’re hoping that more restaurants get on board and feel a tight connection to their hometown.

“We just want to be a sustainable business here in Monroe,” he said. “We’re focused on local restaurants. It’s something, some way that we can give back to the city of Monroe, which we love.”