7 Reasons You Should Pursue Propane Association Membership

It starts with membership.

Joining your state propane association may seem like a simple business decision, but membership opens the door to opportunities that can strengthen your company, develop your employees, connect you to the industry and give you a voice in decisions affecting your business.

The propane sector consists of local businesses built on statewide relationships. Regulations can vary from one state to another. Legislators shaping energy policy answer to different constituents, and every state has its own regulatory structure.

Yet across the country, the value of association membership is remarkably similar overall.

1. Information & Education Lead the Way

One of the greatest benefits of association membership is having a direct connection to what’s happening in the propane industry. State associations help members stay informed about regulatory changes, legislation, safety issues, training opportunities and emerging challenges that could impact their business. Staying informed helps marketers and suppliers make better decisions, while education and training help build safer, stronger and more professional teams.

Every state propane association shares some version of the same mission: supporting the propane industry while promoting propane as a safe, reliable and efficient energy source. How that mission is accomplished may look different from state to state because the needs of members — and the regulatory environments in which they operate — are different.

That’s exactly why the state association matters so much.

2. Regulatory Support: Local Knowledge Matters

Regulatory compliance is one area where differences between states become especially clear. Every state has its own agencies, codes, regulatory relationships and processes. Your state association understands that landscape and can help members stay informed as requirements change or questions arise.

No matter the state, every association is built around the same idea: You shouldn’t have to navigate industry regulations alone. Whether that means helping you make sense of a new rule, standing up for propane’s perspective when regulations are being written or offering the training you need to feel confident and compliant, your association has your back. Often, that looks like a webinar or hands-on training session, tailored to what’s happening in your state, so you’re never left guessing.

3. Advocacy: A Voice You Can’t Build Alone

The same is true at the statehouse. Individual propane businesses rarely have the time or resources to maintain ongoing relationships with lawmakers, monitor every piece of legislation and regulatory proposal, and show up every time an issue affecting propane is debated. Collectively, an association can.

State associations give the industry an organized, unified voice at the state capitol — bringing members together for lobby day so legislators hear directly from the people this industry actually affects. On the national level, the National Propane Gas Association carries that same voice to Washington, with Propane Days bringing members from across the country together each year to advocate for propane on Capitol Hill.

Two levels, one message: When propane shows up in a legislative conversation, someone from this industry is in the room. There is power in that collective voice.

When an elected official or regulator hears from an association representing companies, employees and customers across an entire state, the industry has a presence that would be difficult for any one business to create alone.

Membership helps make that representation possible.

4. Marketers & Suppliers: We Need Each Other

When people picture a propane association member, they may first think of a marketer delivering propane to homes, farms and businesses.

But suppliers are an equally important part of the association community. The companies manufacturing and selling tanks, gauges, valves, trucks, equipment, appliances, technology and countless other products are part of the same propane ecosystem.

Association membership brings those groups together.

For marketers, that means access to the people developing and supplying the equipment they use every day. For suppliers, it means direct relationships with the companies and people using their products in the field.

And when marketers and suppliers sit together at association events, serve on committees and tackle industry challenges together, the entire industry gets stronger.

5. Bringing Industry Resources Home

State associations also help connect members with resources available through the broader propane industry, including the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC).

PERC resources support programs such as training, education, research, consumer awareness and market development. At the state level, those resources can help create opportunities that directly benefit propane professionals and the communities they serve.

The programs and priorities may differ from state to state, but the goal is the same: putting propane industry resources to work at the state and local level.

6. Events: Where Education Meets Opportunity

Association events bring all these benefits together. Conventions, training programs, webinars, board meetings, legislative days, golf outings, tailgates and other gatherings create opportunities to learn about the industry and stay current on the issues affecting your business.

But something else happens when propane people get together …

7. Propane Association Networking

Don’t discount networking. The word can sound like business jargon — something you’re supposed to do because you might find a new customer, meet a supplier or uncover a business opportunity. In the propane industry, networking can become something much bigger.

You meet someone at an association event. The next time you see each other, you sit together at dinner. Soon, you’re calling each other with industry questions, comparing notes about challenges and celebrating successes.

Eventually, you know their spouse. You know their kids. You know what’s happening in their life outside of propane. Before you know it, that industry connection has become a friend — the kind of friend who visits your home. The kind who answers the phone when you need help. And, yes, the kind who would probably donate a kidney if you needed one.

We Know, Because It Happened to Us (Well, Not the Kidney Part)

Our friendship is one of those association stories. We came together because of propane. Through association work, industry events, meetings, phone calls, shared challenges and plenty of laughs, we became more than colleagues. We became friends.

That’s a membership benefit you’ll never see printed on an application or listed in a dues renewal notice. Yet ask people who have been active in the propane industry for decades what they value most, and chances are that somewhere in their answer, you’ll hear about the people they’ve met along
the way.

Membership Opens the Door

The value of association membership can be measured in education, advocacy, regulatory information, industry resources, professional development
and business connections. Those benefits alone make a compelling case for membership.

But joining is only the beginning. Membership opens the door. You have to walk through it.

Attend the meeting. Sign up for the training. Go to the convention. Join a committee. Participate in a legislative day. Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know. Sit at a different table. Ask a question. Make the phone call.

The more you participate, the more valuable your membership becomes — not only to you and your company, but to the entire propane industry. If you’re a propane marketer or supplier wondering whether association membership is worth the investment, ask yourself a few questions:

Who is watching the regulatory and legislative issues affecting your business? Who is helping train and educate your workforce? Who is representing propane when policymakers are making decisions about energy? Who can you call when you encounter an industry challenge you’ve never faced before?

And perhaps one more: Who haven’t you met yet?

Because somewhere at your next association event could be a future customer, a trusted business resource, a mentor — or one of the best friends you’ll ever have. 

For further resources on professional development in the propane industry, take a look at BPN’s Workforce Development section.