Women In Propane: Journey Through the Glass Ceiling

Elaine Bittner, senior vice president of strategic development for Chesapeake Utilities Corp. (Dover, Del.), recently received a wonderful thank you note along with a necklace made of broken glass representing the glass ceiling. The gift signifies the incredible accomplishments she has made, particularly for a woman in a male-dominated industry who was told in high school “women don’t make good engineers.”

“That was a transformative moment for me. I thought, ‘I can and I will.’ That started me on a path to make decisions to go and create opportunities.” Bittner passes this message on to others: “Believe in yourself, and have people around you who believe in you.”

After graduating from the University of Maryland, she began her career as a chemical and environmental engineer with Chesapeake Utilities in 1996, successfully managing federal environmental Superfund projects.

“I had my heart set on saving the environment, and I still do, and I was fortunate to have someone [at Chesapeake] who saw something in me.” Thus began a remarkable journey through the company, moving from the environmental roles to the natural gas distribution group, to the pipeline group (where she eventually ran the company’s interstate transmission pipeline subsidiary), to the regulatory side, then unregulated energy, to energy marketing and trading, and eventually to COO for Sharp Energy, the propane side of the company. She was also called upon to identify and develop a team to lead the company’s acquisition of Gatherco in 2015.

“Chesapeake Utilities Corp. is a wonderful company,” Bittner says. “I’ve had many opportunities to grow; many times they felt risky because I would be placed in areas where the challenges were the biggest. I was always willing to learn and take on new challenges.”

Today, as chief strategy officer for all seven of Chesapeake’s business units, she leads the vision, coordination, and execution of strategic planning and business development; new business opportunities; mergers and acquisitions; corporate communications; and the project management office. In addition, she holds leadership roles for several of the company’s business subsidiaries. She is president and COO for Aspire Energy; and COO for Sharp Energy Inc. and Peninsula Energy Services Co. For a decade, she also worked in the pipeline company and served as vice president of Eastern Shore Natural Gas Co.

“When I look back on my career, things I did early on had clear connection points that were put to good use down the road,” explaining these points were building blocks that built on one another.

Her career accomplishments have led to other accolades. In 2016, Bittner was named “Female Executive of the Year” by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. In 2017, she was recognized among the “Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Oil and Gas” by the National Diversity Council, and last year, she was honored as one of Delaware’s extraordinary woman leaders in Delaware Today magazine’s “Women in Business.”

Being open to new opportunities because you never know where they are going to lead, and not to be afraid to challenge the status quo are two of her biggest themes. Another, is giving back.

As the keynote speaker for the Greater Philadelphia Women’s Energy Network annual meeting last year, she quoted First Lady Michelle Obama: “When you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. You reach back, and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.”

One of her main passions now is helping the community and other women. She is involved in several organizations, but primarily with the local United Way, local food banks, and the American Heart Association. In fact, Bittner received the Heart Association’s “Passion and Leadership” award in 2015 for her leadership as chair of the Delaware American Heart Association’s annual Southern Delaware “Go Red for Women” luncheon. Her record-breaking fundraising efforts were nationally recognized by the association. She is also committed to STEM and is looking forward to helping the Heart Association launch a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program. As a board member and first vice president of the Maryland-District of Columbia Utilities Association, she collaborates with other industry leaders to promote and identify enhancements for the energy industry.

“It’s a phenomenal feeling to see people reach and go beyond their potential,” she said. “When other women tell me they want to be like me, I tell them to go further, and be better.”

For some accomplished business women, success may come at a price, but Bittner has figured out the challenges of managing a work/life balance. Her two teenage daughters, Grace and Marcelina (at left), remind her to have fun, she said. “They’re my inspiration to work harder, but also to play harder. Young girls have a tremendous amount of courage. They expect to have careers and opportunities. I’m hopeful and optimistic that our younger female generations, including my daughters, will have even greater opportunities.”

—Karen Massman VanAsdale