Women In Propane: Friends, Family, Traditions, and Propane All Interwoven

It was the Fourth of July, and for the 38th year Carole Start was hosting a bash complete with food and live music for friends, family, and employees. Several people, among them employees, have come early to help set up. For Carole, president of All American Propane in Yakima, Wash., family, friends, traditions, career — and propane — are all interwoven.

“I love the propane business. I think it’s wonderful. That’s why I don’t ever want to retire,” said Carole, who started All American Propane with her husband, Dick, 25 years ago. After his death last year, she became president. Now in her 70s, Carole was basically born into the propane industry. Her father was in the industry in Canada. It was through him she met her second husband, Dick Start, who also was in the propane business. “Propane brought us together,” she laughs.

Carole is a proclaimed “people person” who loves spending time with her customers and employees at All American Propane. “I have people skills. I’ve met a lot of people in my lifetime,” she said. Her people skills were developed at an early age. Born in Calgary, she and her family were constantly moving because her stepfather was in the U.S. military. “I was in 18 different schools by the time I was 18.”

Her career wasn’t always in the propane industry. She married, had two children (two stepchildren came later), and worked at Boeing for seven years, but not for consecutive years. But the propane industry kept drawing her back.

When she and Dick married in 1980, he was top salesman for Cal Gas (now AmeriGas). The couple eventually decided to start their own propane company, Burro Gas, in Vancouver, Wash. They operated it for more than three years before the company was purchased by Northern Energy. In 1993, they established All American Propane Co. in Yakima. “When we started, I did everything. I was the gas jockey pumping the gas, the secretary, treasurer, and also fixed the meals. Dick was the president,” Carole said.

At the time they had about 50 customers. Today the company has close to 5000, many of whom Carole knows by name. The company has 26 employees, including Carole’s brother; stepson; and a granddaughter, a gas jockey, who is one of Carole’s 11 grandchildren. All American Propane serves a large regional area of central, eastern, and southern Washington. It supplies domestic, commercial, agricultural, and wholesale propane, and all forms of technical service and supplies.

In 2009, the Starts expanded the business to include a satellite plant and showroom located in Othello, Wash. Both propane distribution plants include a fully staffed service department, and grilling, mechanical, and agricultural parts.

To assure an adequate supply of propane for its growing customer base, another facility in Bruce, Wash. was built in 2010. It has the capability to store more than a half-million gallons of clean alternative fuel. This allows All American Propane to deliver large quantities of fuel needed for the region’s agricultural, wholesale, commercial, and domestic propane demands. The couple also launched a trucking division, STI Start Trucking Co.

“Customer service is our motto. It’s going to be a lost art. Companies just don’t want to do it anymore, or the employees don’t want to do it anymore,” Carole said, adding the company still has its phones answered 24/7. In addition, many clients have managers’ direct phone numbers. In the winter and spring months, it’s not unusual for customers to call in the middle of the night. In addition to being accessible to customers, safety and training are another important element of the company’s customer service.

“A large percentage of clients are agricultural — orchard owners with apples, cherries, and other types of fruits, plus those with malt and hops fields. When they harvest, their trucks run on propane. A lot of people here, they try to be on propane because it saves money,” she said. “We work really hard at safety. It’s important,” Carole added. “We have classes and run classes for our clients. We have all the latest dispensers. We pride ourselves on that.”

Like many propane company owners, giving back to the community is integral to Carole. She and her employees help raise money for local causes such as the Seattle Children’s Hospital, the fire department, and Camp Prime Time, a camp for children with life-threatening diseases and their parents.

One of her latest and dearest causes is help to raise money for the Dick Start Scholarship, established for employees and their children last year by the Pacific Propane Gas Association (PPGA). “We help raise money for the scholarship with a golf tournament and silent auctions,” she said.

Carole’s long-term plans? “Just to stay in business, and keep our equipment up-to-date,” she said. “I love to go to work. I love to go there and meet people. I try to keep up daily; 90% of the time I go into the office.”

—Karen Massman VanAsdale