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FON: What was going on in the organization in 1998? GILLIGAN: It was a very challenging time for PMAA, and the organization was really struggling with its structure. There were many members at the time who thought we should aban- don the federation model and just become a direct membership organization like NACS or SIGMA or any number of other groups. And there was another core component that did not want the structure to change. I think that's one of the main reasons I got the job, because I had run a federation in the housing industry previously made up of 38 state associations. So they wanted to see if the structure could be saved, and it was. We brought five state association executives onto our executive committee—prior to that it was only marketers that were allowed on the committee—and we did a lot of things to strengthen the relationship with the state associations rather than try to dismantle it. FON: A lot was also starting to pop in the industry around that time. What were some of the big things you faced as you started up the new job? GILLIGAN: My first week in the PMAA office was when BP announced its merger with Amoco. Everything went crazy, and the press was calling asking what does PMAA think about this? And I was like holy cow; I have no idea what PMAA thinks. We didn't have a public relations department so I called our attorney Bob Bassman and said Bob, what do I think about this? And he wrote up a one-page memo that I could basically just read off. And what a big deal that was, because shortly afterward it was Exxon and Mobil then Chevron and Texaco—bing, bing, bing. That was a shock to most of the branded marketers, but especially the Amoco ones. Amaoco was a big operation in terms of branded wholesalers and retailers. It was truly a shock to the industry. For my first two or three years I would say that dominated what PMAA was working on with meetings at the FTC, because there was a lot at stake in what the FTC approved or what it required in terms of divestitures and all of that. So there was no easing into the job. That was jumping right into the fire. FON: I came into the industry a year later and the mergers were still top of the news and, of course, at that point in time we also had the actual implementation date for the UST regulations. GILLIGAN: That is when the pressure really started coming down on the operations who had not made the UST improve- ments, and that was a big deal as well. FON: What has been the biggest change in the industry you've seen since you've been here? GILLIGAN: There are two or three things. When I arrived in 1998, the traditional petroleum marketing company was still in what I would call a romantic stage of interest in c-store opera- tions. They were fuel operations getting into convenience stores and they had gotten into that in a serious way in the 1990s. But in the early 2000s I started to see a shift were a lot of these operations were asking how do I get out of convenience stores? The two businesses are just so different in how you operate them, so probably the biggest change was seeing a lot of petroleum marketer companies exit the convenience business and strictly supply fuel. It wasn't that they weren't as interested in the convenience store business; it was just that they didn't feel their business model could handle it. In the convenience store business unless you get bigger you can't hardly survive—get bigger or get out— and a lot of petroleum marketing companies have focused on building their fuel business and supplying fuel the convenience stores but not actually in the direct operation stores. There are exceptions like Bill Englefield in Ohio and Jay Ricker who has really grown his convenience store operation and loves that busi- ness. But there have been quite a few of them that have decided to ease back. The other big thing is consolidation. Once the majors con- solidated and got out of retail operations it was only natural that petroleum marketers would follow suit and consolidate. So you are seeing some of these big operations merge like CST Brands and Lehigh Gas Partners and The Pantry and Couche- Tard—nationally and regionally. SC Fuels just bought out www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | JUNE 2015 21 BUSINESS OPERATIONS Philly Nozzle Also available with: Sight Glass Swivel Inlet 1-1/4" or 1-1/2" NPT Outlet Ball Valve Operation - lever turns left or right Anti Drip Valve on outlet Made in Philadelphia, PA USA Tested 100% Deighan Equipment A Division of Crystal Metal Products Inc. 2700 E. Castor Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19134 215.423.2500 • 877.254.1987 • Fax 215.739.0979 www.phillynozzle.com