Propane People On The Move

Deanna Sherman, current vice president of the Energy Division, Dead River Co. (South Portland, Maine), was promoted to president effective Jan. 1, 2016, when president and CEO Robert Moore retires in July 2016. He has led the company since 2008. Moore joined Dead River Co. in 1995 as general counsel and vice president of administration, later became senior vice president of petroleum. In July, Sherman will take over as CEO. Sherman joined Dead River in 1986, and currently is responsible for leading operations, sales, and marketing.

During the National Propane Gas Association’s fall board meeting, its Women in Propane (WIP) Council named several members as its council officers. Serving one-year terms, beginning Jan. 1, are Kelly Bosak, affirmative action officer at Ferrellgas (Overland Park, Kan.), who will serve as chair of the business council, and Laurie Irish-Jones, CEO of Irish Propane and Irish Carbonic (Buffalo, N.Y.), who was named vice-chair. Tracy Kirkman, part owner of Ehrhart Energy (Trumansburg, N.Y.), will continue in her role as treasurer.

The council’s current chair, Cindy Platz-Belmont of Delta Liquid Energy (Paso Robles, Calif.), will take on the post of immediate past chair in 2016, and founding chair Nancy Coop of Ferrellgas will remain on the executive board. Women in Propane (WIP) will also undergo several leadership transitions in the coming months. Brilynn Johnson, AmeriGas Propane (Valley Forge, Pa.), will become chair of the programs & events committee, and Jackie Hopkins, Sheldon Gas Co. (Suisun City, Calif.), will join her as committee vice-chair. Aubree Barbosa, Ferrell North America, will chair the membership committee, and Loren Fenton, also of Ferrell North America, will serve as its vice-chair. Hayley Karicofe, AmeriGas Propane, will continue as chair of the marketing committee.

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) announced several personnel changes on the council and its working groups. Casey Cramton of Dead River Co. (South Portland, Maine) was appointed to the council by the National Propane Gas Association to replace John Simcox, who recently stepped down. Darren Engle of Blue Star Gas (Garberville, Calif.) has stepped down as chair of the research and technology development working group. The council appointed David Reynolds of Blossman Gas (Ocean Springs, Miss.) as chair of the working group and Kenton Sonnenburg of CHS (Rochester, Minn.) as vice chair.
Newly appointed to the safety and training working group were Mark Anderson of Dead River Co. (South Portland, Maine), and John Barnett of U-Haul International (Phoenix). Mike Gioffre of Paraco South (Matthews, S.C.), Joe Trefethen of Palmer Gas (Atkinson, N.H.), and Kevin Cobb of Suburban Propane (Eagle, Idaho) were appointed to the market outreach and training working group.

Bob Page, former regional sales manager, Rocky Mountain region, for Teeco Products (Irvine, Calif.), passed away Oct. 5. He was 72. Mr. Page spent 47 years as a propane specialist, during which time he worked on the Alaskan Pipeline and became known for his expertise in extinguishing propane fires. Mr. Page will be missed by his industry colleagues.

NEOgás (Spring, Texas) appointed R. Paul Grady as the company’s new CEO, effective Oct. 1. Grady retired earlier this year as COO for AmeriGas (Valley Forge, Pa.). Previously, he held senior executive positions at Titan Propane and Heritage Propane, serving as president of Heritage when it was acquired by AmeriGas.

Todd Soiefer has been appointed CFO of Bridger Logistics (Dallas), an integrated crude oil midstream company. He will continue to serve as senior vice president of strategic development for Bridger’s parent company, Ferrellgas Partners LP (Overland Park, Kan.).

Marshall (Mackie) S. McCrea, formerly president and COO of Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP; Dallas), has been promoted to group COO and chief commercial officer for Energy Transfer Equity (ETE). Long-time ETE board member, Matthew S. Ramsey, was appointed president and COO of ETP.

Federated Co-ops Inc. (Princeton, Minn.) named Mike McMahon as CEO, effective Oct. 1. He is taking over following the retirement of general manager Tim Kavanaugh, who has been with Federated for 33 years. McMahon was previously an executive with Minnesota-based Schwan’s Home Services.

David Uchiyama has been named vice president of sales and marketing at Hawaii Gas (Honolulu). He will be responsible for leading commercial and residential sales and marketing for the company’s 70,000 synthetic natural gas and propane customers in Hawaii.

Tim Wiley has joined Rinnai America Corp. (Peachtree City, Ga.). as vice president of sales. He will be responsible for expanding market penetration in the U.S. and Canada.

David W. Breed passed away Sept. 25 at the age of 69. Mr. Breed joined the propane industry in 1978, working for Maingas in Waterville, Me. There he was under the mentorship of Norman L. Bushey, which resulted in safety becoming Mr. Breed’s passion. In 1980 he became the manager of the Brunswick Maingas operation, then in 1998 he became propane operations manager for Downeast Energy. From 1998 until 2008, he was the propane equipment sales manager for Ray Murray Inc., serving the state of Maine. Upon his retirement from Ray Murray, he and his wife began their own consulting and training business, Let’s Talk Propane LLC. Mr. Breed served as president of the former Maine Propane Gas Association, the New England Propane Gas Association, and on the board of directors of the National Propane Gas Association.

The Florida Propane Gas Association (FPGA) has installed its board of directors for the 2015-2016 term. Todd Lawrence of Farmers Cooperative Inc. will serve as president; Greg Blazina, Florida Public Utilities Co., president-elect; Craig Fisher, Gas Equipment Co., vice president; and Sam Hodges, Suburban Propane, secretary/treasurer. Ken DePrinzio, Total Comfort Gas Inc., is immediate past president.
The board of directors, with terms expiring in 2016, include Kevin Bahr, Bahr’s Propane Gas & A/C Inc.; Charlie Brown, Ferrellgas; Henry Howell, Suburban Propane; and Jim Daus, Tri State Distributors. Mack Hacker, Suburban Propane; Patti Mulligan, Mulligan Propane, and Brian Powers, Indiantown Gas, will serve until 2017. Those with terms ending in 2018 include Jim Hamilton, AmeriGas; Don Lynch, AmeriGas; Donnie Moore, CUI; and Robbie Robertson, Therm-O-Tane. Also during the meeting, David Rogers, who retired in August, was honored for his work as FPGA’s executive vice president. He headed the association for more than 30 years. Dale Calhoun is the association’s new executive vice president.

The Florida Young Gassers presented its Florida Young Gasser Achievement Award to Dave (D3) Morgan, sales representative at Tempaco’s Sarasota office. This award recognizes an emerging leader “who demonstrates excellence in leadership, creativity and initiative, and provides valuable service by contributing their time and energy to the propane industry, while also serving as a role model for others personally and professionally. This is the second achievement award to be given.