The home heating oil industry has a long and proud history, and Fuel Oil News has been there supporting it since 1935. It is an industry that has faced many challenges during that time. In its 77th year, Fuel Oil News is doing more than just holding
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NEWS & T RE ND S GRAY, GRAY & GRAY RELEASES RESULTS OF 20th ANNUAL OILHEAT INDUSTRY SURVEY Gray, Gray & Gray, LLP (Westwood, Mass.), certified public accountants, has released the results of the firm’s 20th annual Oilheat Industry Survey. Responses to the survey were obtained from retail fuel oil dealers from throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. “It was a difficult year to be in the oil heat business,” said Joe Ciccarello, CPA, managing partner at Gray, Gray & Gray. “The industry took a double hit in 2010, with both total gallons and margins lower. This put a lot of pressure on dealers.” Survey respondents reported that gallons of oil sold were down an average of 35 percent last year. In addition, customer lists shrank for 41 percent of the companies reporting. Service departments also suffered, with overall service calls NAOHSM EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES The National Association of Oil Heating Service Managers has several upcoming educational opportunities. Its Penn State delivered Train-the-Trainer Class will be held June 21-23rd, ICPA Training Facility, Cromwell, CT. This is a good program for those of who conduct training for their companies; want to begin training or even those that work in schools. Following that, on July 25-29th Carol Fey will be back but this time up north. She will teach three Basic Electricity Classes and two for trainers - “How to Teach Basic Electricity.” Registration can be processed from the NAOHSM home page (www. naohsm.org ) or by calling: 888-552-0900. GRUNDFOS HAS BEEN NAMED THE RECIPIENT OF AMCHAM DENMARK’S 2011 TRANSATLANTIC BUSINESS AWARD AmCham Denmark’s 2011 Trans Atlantic Business Award has been awarded to Grundfos after being in close competition with TERMA, Danfoss, H.Lundbeck and Santaris Pharma. An independent jury consisting of Jesper Møller (CEO, Toms 10 down significantly, and paid service contracts declining by one- third, according to the Gray, Gray & Gray survey. “Service departments were caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Ciccarello. “Dealers still had the same number of service technicians on the payroll. But because of the economy new installations were down and dealers were unable to shift those service techs to installation as they had in the past.” Ciccarello said paid service contracts were down because new heating oil equipment is more reliable, and because many companies continue to use free service as an incentive to lure new customers. Complete oil heat survey results are available on Gray, Gray & Gray’s website at: www.gggcpas.com, or by calling (781) 407-0300. l FON Group and DI Chairman), Sten Scheibye (Chairman for the Danish Trade Council, Novo Nordisk and Denmark’s Technical University) and Steen Thomsen (Business Management Professor at Copenhagen Business School ’s Department of International Economics) has selected Grundfos for its impressive growth in investment and employment in the U.S., its research in energy and eco-friendly solutions and its significant contributions within in corporate social responsibility. “Grundfos has made significant invest- ments in both Denmark and the U.S., where it has been active since 1973, with production, product development and a growing market share of currently 7 per- cent. The company’s commitment to the U.S. is evidenced by its 1,200 employees and growth rates of 12-14 percent (crisis years excepted). “The company excels in energy and eco- friendly solutions. It has founded a global water technology center in California with the universities of Berkeley, Davis and Fresno and is also working on solar energy (with Purdue University). Its newly established department for global business development in Kansas will develop the global market for small submersible pumps. JUNE 2011 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com “Grundfos is active in corporate social responsibility, sustainability and philan- thropy. It has a policy of employing disabled persons (currently 4 percent of the work- force), regularly donates to U.S. charities and seeks to promote sustainability through its products and production processes,” said Sten Scheibye who presented the award. Accepting the award on behalf of Grundfos was Dennis Wierzbicki, presi- dent of Grundfos Pumps Corporation. “Five years ago Grundfos set an ambi- tious plan to grow in the USA and North American region as a hole. Since then we have invested in research and develop- ment, we have acquired three companies in the U.S. and added a long list of new products to the market. Winning this prize makes us proud, and it highlights both to ourselves, and to the world around us, that we are on the right course and a very solid company in the USA. “Our ambitions are to make Grundfos the leading pump company in North America, and we are well underway with annual double digit growth rates. We will continue to invest in people, partner- ships, technology and sustainability. To Grundfos, sustainability is the prerequisite for the sound growth we all want.”