Directories

Service Category

Residential Sales

Business Description

Skip started the company in 1996 after being let go from Suburban propane. When we started he had a single truck and mainly subcontracted for Lewiston Bottled gas. After a year or so, we decided that we would purchase propane tanks and have Lewiston Bottled gas deliver the fuel for us. LBG also funded the tank purchase. This was a great relationship and got us started as a delivery and service business. 1999 was a key year for us. Our son Mike got out of the USAF and joined our company in the Spring of 1999. In the fall of 1999, LBG sold to Columbia Propane and our world turned upside down. They called all the notes in for the propane tank purchase, and also sent letters to our 100+ customers saying that we were no longer in business and that they were now Columbia propane customers. At this point in time, I was in the midst of Y2K conversion as a system/software engineer. Skip, Mike and I decided that we really wanted our company to work so I cashed in my retirement savings, bought out all the notes and purchased our 1st propane delivery truck. We also purchased an updated service truck with a liftgate. Things progressed slowly over the next year as the investment in tanks, installation materials and equipment, staff, and software was overwhelming. Also, the need to purchase tanks lead us to some unsavory loan situations. We actually worked with SCORE (part of the SBA) to get insight on how to recover. In 2001, I decided to end my career as a system/software engineer, get my propane license and along with Skip and Mike, make a new beginning. We eliminated most of the existing staff and basically started again. We created a business plan with the help of SCORE, and were able to secure a consolidation loan to help us out from under high interest loans. This was the start of our recovery and set into motion our goals to build a company we are proud of and give back to our community that helped us achieve our success. Since the early 2000’s we have been able to continue steady growth and recognition in the community and industry. We built our bulk propane plant in Gorham in 2009 after 2 years of planning with the Town of Gorham, Bank and SBA backing. We expanded the plant 4 years later with the same help from our bank and SBA. In 2018 we had finally outgrown our home office. I forgot to mention that from 1996 to 2018 we operating our business out of our home in Buxton. We started with a single desk in the basement and some materials, to expanding to the entire basement, 2 x 40 foot trailers for materials, tank storage and numerous vehicles, including employee vehicles, in our backyard. We even renovated our 1st floor to accomodate our staff in the mornings and for company meetings. I must say the town of Buxton and our neighbors are extraordinary and incredibly supportive of our business.. and patient. We built our current office and facilities in Buxton, just off route 202 and moved in December of 2018 where we continue to grow and have room for even further expansion as needed. Our future goals include not only expanding our customer base and awareness of propane as a safe and environmentally friendly fuel source, but to introduce Renewable propane as a standard product offering. We were the 1st in Maine to bring in Renewable Propane for home use and the 2nd in New England. We are hoping, that like biofuel, this product will become increasingly mainstream and an affordable solution which is even more green that standard propane.