INDUSTRY LEADER PROFILE The Call of Service
A profile of NAOHSM’s vice president BY STEPHEN BENNETT
Al Breda (left), Sippin Energy Products’ service manager, with technician Gary Balogh. Photo by David Quong I
F THE FUEL OIL INDUSTRY IS AT A CROSSROADS, AS MANY PEOPLE say, then Al Breda can be seen standing at that juncture, embodying its history and at the same time having insight into its future.
Breda doesn’t claim to have a crystal ball, allowing him to see what lies ahead, but in his role as vice president of the National Association of Oil Heating Service Managers (NAOHSM) the thirty-year industry veteran recently had the eye-opening experi- ence of reading close to 100 scholarship applications that include essays from young hopefuls about what attracts them to the fuel oil industry, and how they see themselves figuring into it. “After reading all of these scholarship applications and the essays, I got a great feel for what is important to the younger people coming in,” Breda said. “Many are basing their view of
32 MAY 2011 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com
the industry on alternative energies. A lot of the essays are on bioheat.” Many of the applicants also recognize that “if you attach a solar domestic water system to a modern oil heating system – that‘s the way to go for a greener future,” Breda said. He is the chair of the committee evaluating the applications and choosing the half-dozen winners of scholarships, each worth $5,000. The winners will be announced at the NAOHSM show in Hershey, Pa., May 22-26.
Perhaps some of the winners will one day be service managers, like Breda, who was NAOHSM’s 2010 Service Manager of the Year. Breda started in the fuel oil business in 1979, driving a deliv- ery truck and making service calls for a small company, Hillcrest Fuel, in Ansonia, Conn., operated by distant relatives, and attend- ing technical school. After three years, he moved on to Standard