Distributors’ Show Customer Appreciation In Diverse Celebratory Traditions

INDUSTRIAL PROPANE SERVICE
Industrial Propane Service Inc. (IPS; Byron, Mich.) celebrated its 50th anniversary with an open house at its facility in August. Attendees were treated to a grilled lunch, training sessions, and a mini trade show with vendor display tables. A cash cube full of cash and coupons, an ice cream cart, and a popcorn machine added to the excitement of the open house, which gave industry members a chance to see the company’s latest offerings while celebrating 50 successful years in business.

The company was founded in 1968 by Charles and Helen Vandemark along with their son, Robert Vandemark. The initial focus was on bulk storage plants for retail companies and standby systems for factories. With the gas shortages of the 1970s, the business boomed, especially propane standby systems. Charlie became known as “Propane Charlie” throughout the industry, a man with a gift for crunching the numbers and designing backup systems for natural gas.

IPS later began building and servicing bobtails and in 1983, it became a wholesale distributor for RegO Products, Blackmer Pumps, and LC Meters. In spring 1987, Jeff, Robert and his wife Brenda’s son, joined the company to work with Robert and Charlie installing bulk plants. When the elder Vandemarks retired in 1988, Robert and Brenda took over the company. Their other son, Rob, joined IPS in 1993 working with the wholesale department. Industrial Propane Service was divided into two separate companies in 1996, IPS Equipment Inc. (IPSE) and Industrial Propane Service Inc. (IPS). IPSE is responsible for all wholesale activity and is a full-line distributor for propane equipment and heating and hearth products, while IPS performs plant construction, bobtail sales and service, transport service, and pumping stations.

When Robert and Brenda’s daughter, Kim Godlewski, who had previous experience in wholesale equipment, joined IPSE in 2003, Rob transferred to bobtail sales and service. Robert and Brenda retired in 2008 and Jeff, Rob, and Kim took over IPS and IPSE. IPS Equipment currently has warehouse locations in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Industrial Propane Service continues to build and service propane plants, and offers UL-approved autogas systems.

“The third generation has tried to follow the same business plan as the first,” said Rob Vandemark. “Take care of your employees, offer quality equipment, and take care of the customer the way you would want to be taken care of. Keep searching for the newest and best products to offer. Work with the existing suppliers to help create and improve products beneficial to the propane industry.”

Godlewski notes that with all the new technology available, there is one innovation that has not been adopted: an automated answering system for the phones. “Our father never wanted an automated answering system and we still abide by this today,” she said. “Every phone call during normal business hours is answered by one of our friendly office staff members.” —Pat Thornton

Teeco Products (Irvine, Calif.) recently offered training classes, product demonstrations, knowledge sharing, food, and fun during three days of activities at and near its superstore location in Sacramento, Calif. Teeco is a wholesale distributor and fabricator of gas equipment serving 18 western states from three locations in California, South Dakota, and Washington state.

“Basically our goal for the event was to share knowledge of industry via manufacturers, vendors, and experienced veterans in the LP industry,” said Jay Stephens, vice president and general manager of Teeco. “We also wanted to show our appreciation to all our customers for their loyalty and patronage.”

A total of 107 customers, guests, vendors, and employees attended Teeco’s 2018 Training Days and Open House in September. Customers traveled to the event from as far away as Alaska.

On these training days, Teeco scheduled six classes, each 1 hour, 45 minutes long. This year’s training included Corken pumps; Algas vaporizers; Red Seal meters and dispenser troubleshooting; Rinnai home heaters and tankless water heaters; Quality Steel underground tanks with MESA cathodic protection; and Smith pumps.

During the Open House, 26 vendors displayed new products and shared information, Smart-Hose held a live pull-away demonstration, and Teeco held raffles.

On the final day, 48 golfers enjoyed the golf tournament at Bing Maloney Golf Course in Sacramento.

Teeco has been holding open houses and training in Sacramento every two years; this was its fourth biannual event.

“We do a lot of training throughout the year, and we do this big event every even-numbered year,” Stephens said. “The next generation is hard to bring into this business, and those who are here need training, so we offer that training to keep customers and employees safe. From there, it has grown into a big celebration; we offer big barbecues between the training classes.” —Steve Relyea

Tempaco’s (Orlando, Fla.) open house offered training sessions, vendor booths, show specials, breakfast, lunch, and a golf tournament over two days in early October. The company, a wholesale distributor of propane and natural gas supplies, has corporate headquarters and seven stocking locations in Florida.

Although Hurricane Michael was hammering another part of Florida at the same time, more than 80 customers made it to the trade show and training and around 65 participated in the golf tournament. Jim Gregorich, vice president and general sales manager, said he felt attendance was down 30% to 40% due to the hurricane.

This 2nd Annual Vendor Trade Show & Training Expo was held Wednesday, Oct. 10, at the Tempaco corporate offices and training facility in Orlando. The trade show featured 22 booths with vendors on hand to introduce new products or improvements as well as answer questions. The Rinnai Tour Van was onsite, offering a product showcase and virtual reality experience. A Tempaco “Answer” Table was set up where company employees answered anything from show questions to product questions. The original Tempaco Vendoropoly game was set in play; each attendee received a game card at registration and had to visit with each vendor for a minimum of 10 minutes to be eligible for raffle prizes.

The same day also featured training sessions led by Carl Weeks of Propane Training Services LLC at which attendees could earn continuing education units (CEUs). From 9 a.m. to noon, he offered Propane Emergencies and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Weeks offered Gas Leak Detection and Corrosion Control.

On the following day, the company hosted its 4th Annual Tempaco Charity Classic golf tournament.

This was Tempaco’s second two-day event like this; the first was held in 2016. An event planned for 2017 was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma.

This year’s event was again held in the fall so as not to conflict with local, state, and national shows, events, and meetings. “However, thanks to hurricanes, I am looking at a different time frame,” Gregorich said. —Steve Relyea