Page 4 - july-august 2020

word from the president
s your incoming 2020-2021 APGA
President, I would like to thank the
APGA Board, Executive Director and
AAssociation Members for entrusting
me with the opportunity and honor to serve as
Secretary /Treasurer, Vice President and now as
your new APGA President
Upon completing my education at
Jacksonville State University, I joined the Alabama
Air National Guard After nearly a year of travel
and training, I returned to my hometown of
Gadsden, Alabama Needing a job to hold
me over until I could fulfill my career path I had
prepared for, in September of 1987, thirty-two plus
years ago, I met with and was hired by Armon
Pugh. Armon was managing a branch office in
Gadsden that had recently been purchased
by Ralph Rooney, President of Suburban Gas
Incorporated Ironically, Ralph was also the
President of APGA that same year SGI was a six
branch regional propane operation at that time
I’m not sure anyone outside of a family
owned propane business grows up or goes to
school in preparation for a career in the propane
industry Certainly, I did not And thirty-two years
later, I am proud to say I have served in pretty
much every role associated with the day-to-day
operations of a propane company In fact, one
of my early memories and achievements was
my record breaking day of personally filling 110
propane cylinders (mostly BBQ grill tanks) in a
single day on July 3, 1988. That is definitely an
accomplishment that I would NOT like to repeat!
As many of you “industry veterans”
can attest to, I learned the old school way of
painting tanks, digging trenches, hauling tanks
and delivering propane without any electronic
assistance I realized quickly though, if the
propane industry which I was fully invested and
entrenched in was to survive and thrive, it was
going to have to keep up and modernize with the
ever changing and evolving times, as was I
Within a few years, I went to work for
Suburban Equipment Company and later
became a branch manager for Suburban
Gas In 2005, Suburban Gas was purchased by
4 Alabama Propane Gas Association | July / August 2020
Thompson Gas After serving in several roles for
Thompson Gas, I went to work in November 2018
for Blossman Gas as the Business Development
Manager for Alabama
I love to hunt and fish. In addition, my wife,
Rhonda, and I have purchased an RV and are
trying our luck at traveling in preparation for
retirement RVing is an
art and balancing act in
itself and requires much
planning It is certainly not
as easy as it is spelled I
will just leave it at that
Together, we have three
children and two “All Boy”
grandsons
No two seasons are
ever the same I have uBill Mayou
seen really cold winters
that test human limits as well as machinery
Unfortunately, I have seen more than a fair share
of warm, lean winters that challenge owners
and leadership to find creative ways and new
avenues for revenue streams I liken the propane
industry to the farming industry as much of its
lifeline depends on the biggest mother of them
all Mother Nature!
As I sit here penning this article, I cannot
help but compare the current state of the country
to the way any propane marketer turns on his/
her preferred news source in the wintertime to see
what the current and long term weather forecast
will be Hoping for a favorable forecast and cold
temperatures in the winter, I fear that most of us
today watch the same news sources hoping for
favorable news regarding a variety of troubling
issues Let us pray for some sort of normalcy and
favorable direction in the very near future
Again, I am truly honored to have the
privilege to serve as President of APGA I think
of all who have held this title before me and
I am humbled Please get actively involved
Enroll and attend committee meetings, board
meetings, and district meetings And, certainly let
me know if I can assist you in anyway.■