Blackburn Propane Vice President of Operations Darron Moore Shares What It’s Like Operating a Small Family Company

Describe your current role at your company.

We are a smaller family company, so there are a ton of roles. I can go from being a manager to a delivery driver to a service tech some days. Some days I’m even the janitor. It just depends on what’s going on.

How did you get your start in the propane industry?

I was born into it, but I wasn’t fully committed to the business in my younger years. My grandpa passed years ago, and that event made me really step up and decide I better get in this full time. His passing was [a necessary reminder] that it was time I needed to come along and keep the family tradition going.

Name some of your greatest personal successes.

My greatest personal success would have to be my kids. I have a son who is 17 and a daughter who is 12. They’re both in the business. My daughter claims she’s going to run this company, and she tells her brother that he will be working for her one day.

My son has said as soon as he turns 18, he wants to get his commercial driver’s license. I told him that’s a great idea!

What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received?

I’ve received so much guidance through so many people in the propane industry. I’m a part of the National Propane Gas Association’s benchmarking group. I’ve gotten so much good advice through talking with all these other dealers from all over the country, but I couldn’t pinpoint one single thing.

However, my grandpa always told me, “If the worst thing you ever get in trouble for is singing too loudly in church, you’re going to be alright.” I haven’t gotten in trouble for that yet, so I guess I’m doing OK!

If you could change something in the industry, what would you change?

What I would like to change is the way that the government views the propane industry. They have such a negative outlook on it. Of course, they want to electrify everything, but propane is such a clean, great energy source. I wish the government could get behind it to say, “You know what? We have the greatest product out here.”

How would you spend an unexpected day off?

If it’s in the summertime, I’m probably going to sneak out to the lake and cruise around on the boat. Hopefully, I would get to pull my kids on the skis and do some wakeboarding. We have a lake about 10 miles from us that we spend a lot of time on.

Which historical figure would you most like to meet?

I would like to sit and talk with Jesus. I don’t want to meet him today or anytime close in the future because of the “death reason.” Don’t get me wrong — I talk with him every day, but I would like to sit down face-to-face. I have a lot of things I would like to ask about the stories in the Bible.

What’s a skill you would like to improve on?

Organization. My desk starts to get a little piled up because I have so many projects I’m working on. I wish I could keep it more organized. Everybody that comes in my office says, “Wow, you’ve got a lot of stuff going on!” I do, but it’s probably not as bad as it looks. I can always find everything I need, but it does pile up on me.

Do you have any pets?

We have a lot of pets around the house. Of course, the two kids and my wife have their pets. I have one dog that I claim as my own — her name is Luna. She didn’t start off being my dog, but I consider her mine now. My wife has a little dachshund; she’s not my dog, but I have to claim she is to keep my wife happy. You know how that goes — I have to say that I really, really love her. My daughter started raising dachshunds a few years back, so we have several around our house. If you count horses as pets, we have several of them as well!