PERC Names Recipients for 2017 Propane Leadership Awards

(November 13, 2017) — The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) has named a Pennsylvania equipment dealer and a Louisiana landscape contractor as recipients of its second annual Propane Leadership Award. PERC presented the awards at the GIE+Expo in Louisville, Ky. to R.S. Hollinger & Son Inc. of Mountville, Pa. and Slidell, La.-based Rotolo Consulting Inc. (RCI). Brandt Martin of Rotolo Consulting and Lynn Hollinger of R.S. Hollinger received personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bats.

“We’re excited to announce RCI and R.S. Hollinger & Son. Inc. as the recipients of this year’s Propane Leadership Award,” said Jeremy Wishart, deputy director of business development at PERC. “Both businesses have helped bring awareness of propane mowers into their communities, and share the benefits of the clean fuel with their customers. They did the research on propane and understood the positive impact it could have on their business, both financially and environmentally.”

One of the largest full-service landscaping companies in the Southeast U.S., RCI began using propane commercial mowers in 2011 and changed one-third of its fleet to propane within a year. Now, the company uses nearly 100 propane mowers, as well as almost 100 propane autogas trucks to meet the needs of its growing customer base. Martin said the first mower they tried simply out-performed any of the existing gasoline or diesel mowers.

For R.S. Hollinger, bringing propane equipment to the dealership’s sales floor helped the company get a leg up on its surrounding competition, one of the factors that convinced Ebling’s Service Plus in neighboring Myerstown, Pa. to acquire the company as Hollinger and his brothers prepare for retirement. Hollinger said he sees R.S. Hollinger as an early adopter in a market segment he believes will only grow as demand increases for reduced emissions. Adding the propane equipment to the dealership was an easy process, and partnering with a local propane retailer helped ensure both he and his customers had a good experience with the fuel.

For additional information regarding using propane equipment for landscaping, or how to become an equipment dealer, visit propane.com/ commercial-landscape.