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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32 AUGUST 2014 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com The Fuel Oil News New Vendor Awards is pre- sented in three classes, as available each year: Fuels, Fuel Handling and Storage. These companies provide solutions relative to the fuel product (oil, propane, wood pellets, etc.) and include: bulk plants; trucks; truck tanks and truck equipment; hedging solutions; additives; filters; home storage tanks—etc. Business Solutions. These are typically home office and operational solutions. They would include back office software vendors; account- ing and other professional service providers; environmental service providers; business forms and related; and HR solutions. Heating Appliances and Combustion Technologies. These companies provide boilers; burners, furnaces; hot water heat- ers; solar and other alternative solutions; hydronic solutions; warm air solutions; function as supply houses; support HVAC operations and provide burners and com- bustion components. Invariably the companies will represent a wide range of specific solutions in what is a gen- eral category. That makes it difficult to have an "apples to apples" comparison. Therefore, our judges were asked to consider these solutions the same way they would walking by the company's booth on the trade show floor—does that seem interesting, particularly useful or unique? This year's judges: Charles Bursey has been in the oil industry since 1963. He now works for industry manu- facturer F.W. Webb, Warwick, R.I., and serves as a service columnist for this magazine. Charity Lombardi-Simard is president of Lombardi Oil & Gas Company in Newburyport, MASS. The family business was started in 1958 by her father, Frank Lombardi, and was tran- sitioned to Charity as second generation over the past 5 years. Shane Sweet is an energy and management consultant and a partner with the firm of Lake Rudd & Company. He is also a FON columnist. He served the industry as president & CEO of the New England Fuel Institute "NEFI" from 2007 to 2011, and as EVP/director and lobby- ist for the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association "VFDA" from 1993 to 2007. Raymond A. Hart is the president and CEO of Hart Home Comfort, which he founded in 1979. Today, Hart Home Comfort serves residential customers on Long Island from the Queens-Nassau border to the Riverhead town line in Suffolk County. Hart also delivers diesel fuel to commercial customers in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties; operates the New Hyde Park Oil Terminal; and operates Hart Trucking Corp. Hart is a pioneer and leader in the Bioheat® fuel industry introducing to its Long Island customers its EcoBlend product. And now, the companies… T hese awards go out to companies (and their solutions) that are fresh on the trade show circuit. The primary goal of this contest is to iden- tify new or returning companies to the industry trade show space that might be of interest to our readers. The eligibility criteria is being (to the best of our knowledge) first time exhibitors or returning exhibitors after an absence of five years exhibiting at any of the major industry trade shows —AHR, AREE, NEFI or OESP. New Vendor Awards Charles Bursey, Sr. Charity Lombardi-Simard Ray Hart 1. 2. 3. Fuel Oil News New Vendor Awards Our annual look at new and exciting companies in the industry By Keith Reid Shane Sweet