When Congress announced the founding of the Congressional Propane Caucus on May 21, the caucus included 10 founding members: co-chair, Rep. Robert E. Latta (R-Ohio); co-chair, Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.); Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.); Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.); Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.); Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.); Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-Iowa); Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.); Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.); and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). Soon after Propane Days, the Caucus announced that 12 additional members of Congress had signed on as of June 18: Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.); Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.); Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Ct.); Rep. Garrett Graves (R-La.); Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.); Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.); Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.); Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.); Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.); Rep. Steve...

Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) addressed the Propane Days crowd during the morning program on June 9. As a member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, he shared insights into the role of propane in the country’s energy portfolio. He noted the supply concerns he heard from constituents during the 2013-2014 winter and the industry’s positive response to that situation. Since that time, he and his staff have worked closely with NPGA to address how to solve current policy shortcomings. NPGA chairman Charlie Ory presented Latta with a resolution from the NPGA board of directors recognizing his accomplishments on behalf of the propane industry. Daryl F. McClendon received the Distinguished Service Award, NPGA’s highest honor for an industry member. It has only been awarded 40...

The propane industry’s annual trip to Washington, D.C. for Propane Days is usually productive, and this year was no exception. After meetings between groups of propane marketers and their representatives in Congress, several Congress members signed on to the Congressional Propane Caucus. The caucus, which Congress formed in May to keep members informed about issues and news in the propane industry, more than doubled in size to 22 members immediately following Propane Days. Propane marketers reported that members of Congress and their staff members were receptive to the various issues the propane group raised. Joe Buschur of McMahan’s Bottle Gas (Dayton, Ohio) was part of a group from Ohio that met with a staff member for Ohio Congressman Steve Stivers at 3:30 p.m. on June...

Bosselman Tank and Trailer (BT&T), a division of Bosselman Energy Companies, completed expansion of an additional building in Grand Island, Neb. The new building gives BT&T an additional 25,000 square feet, of which 20,000 square feet will be for shop and manufacturing space and 5,000 square feet will be for office and display area. BT&T offers a full suite of sales and services to the petroleum and agriculture tank and trailer industry and is the only full service tank trailer shop between Des Moines and Denver. “This expansion was much needed to keep with the demand in our industry,” said Fred Bosselman, CEO of Bosselman Energy Companies. The expansion created eight jobs, added 8 additional bays with hoists and cranes to assist with lifting, a...

As a result of the Propane Days, the industry's annual gathering in Washington, D.C., the newly-formed Congressional Propane Caucus (CPC) doubled in size to now include 20 members of Congress. Ten additional members of Congress joined the (CPC) as a result of Propane Days, bringing the total number of members to 20. Robert Latta (R-OH) and Timothy Walz (D-MN), announced the creation of the Congressional Propane Caucus (CPC) last month and sent a letter to every member of Congress inviting them to join. The Caucus was formed to provide a bipartisan forum to engage members of Congress, their staffs, and the public on issues of importance to propane consumers and the propane industry. CPC founding members included five members of each party: • Co-chair, Rep....

The propane industry is an optimistic one, with 25% of marketers expecting their business to grow more than 10% in the next two years, according to the final data that the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) shared with BPN from a PERC marketers survey. The council plans to release complete results from the survey sometime this month. PERC president and CEO Roy Willis provided some preliminary results of the survey at its Atlanta meeting in April, and PERC director of communications Gregg Walker expanded on some of those results in a phone interview with BPN soon after that meeting. Walker noted that the propane industry has been through a great deal of change since PERC last conducted a marketer survey in 2010, including a...

This Missouri propane marketer learned the importance of having a back-up power system after a devastating ice storm in 2007, and sales and installation of the units has provided a foot in the door to promote propane use in all-electric homes. With five generations of the Garrett family in the propane business, Lee Garrett and wife Monica, owners of Dallas County Propane in Buffalo, Mo., never foresaw that one day their business would include selling, installing, and servicing standby propane generators. But after a devastating ice storm ravaged southern Missouri in January 2007, Garrett’s business changed overnight. Miles of ice-laden trees and power lines snapped like twigs under the weight of the freezing rain. The winter storm swept across several states including a large part...

Teams of propane marketers learned in a workshop that a successful online strategy involves Web design and multiple platforms including search engines and social media. At the April 2015 NPGA Southeastern Convention and International Propane Expo, a topical and well-attended educational session dealt with formulating an Internet marketing plan. The workshop was titled, “Hacked! How to Build a Winning Web Strategy Without Getting Hacked.” Energy industry Web consultant Ben Gutkin of Warm Thoughts Communications (Clifton, N.J.) conducted the three-hour workshop patterned after the hit Food Network show “Chopped.” Selected participants divided into competing teams in three areas: website design and development, search engine marketing, and social media. The scenario for the workshop was that the various teams represented a 10-MMgal. propane company in the Atlanta...

Staying current with fast-changing trends in the appliance industry is a must when a propane marketer goes into the appliance or hearth business. One current trend is that people are willing to spend more money for quality rather than buying a “big-box store” appliance that they will have to replace in a few years. Those higher-quality items might include linear-burning fireplaces, or fireplaces that burn decorative colored glass beads. Brian Brooks, who runs an appliance store for Brooks Gas (Marshfield, Mo.), said rather than going to a big-box store and buying the cheapest appliance available there, people are more often deciding to go to a specialty hearth retailer, such as Brooks Gas’ appliance store named Top of the Ozarks Hearth and Grill, to buy higher-quality...