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WOME N I N TH E INDU S TRY purchased the company on January 2, 1962, and on May 15, 1962, my father had a fatal heart attack," Korrow recounted. Of her mother Korrow said, "She hadn't expected to be very involved." Instead she ran the company for years after her husband Robert's death, before deciding to sell it. That was in 1974. "My husband and I came back to help her sell the business and—it bit me," Korrow said. The sale never happened. Korrow has worked in the family business ever since, initially alongside her mother, who retired for health reasons in 1982. The company has changed with the industry. When Korrow's parents acquired what was McGrattan Fuel Co. it dealt primarily in anthracite coal, and supplied fuel oil to a minority of custom- ers. Today, as Gillespie Fuels & Propane, with satellite offices in Waitsfield, Vt., and Randolph, Vt., the company delivers heating fuels and provides 24-hour service, employing 30 people, includ- ing 20 technicians and drivers. Korrow served as president of the Vermont Oil Heat Industry from 1993-97, making her one of the first women to lead a state fuel oil association. During her tenure, the organization merged with the state's propane dealers' association to become the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association (VFDA). Korrow is currently secretary and a board member. A number of issues demand the attention of the association at the moment, Korrow said, includ- ing the status of the state's fuel assistance program, which this year is supplying 9.6 million gallons to fuel dealers to help 22,000 households in Vermont. The Vermont dealers' association also has been participating in discussions on the updating of a 25-year-old state law to make it easier for propane customers to change suppliers, Korrow said. That work is expected to be finalized with the legislature adopting changes by the end of this year, she said. Separately, state legislation adopted this year sets a timeline for the introduction of biodiesel blended with low-sulfur fuel oil. The low-sulfur fuel oil is to be introduced in 2014; blending it with biodiesel will be triggered if and when neighboring states pass similar legislation, Korrow said. A significant business challenge for her company is price fluctuations, Korrow said. On the plus side, supply seems to be adequate, she said. Conservation is something dealers are now promoting, she observed, and adjusting to that principle is an ongoing process. Her company has grown over the years, Korrow said, in part because it diversified into propane and also because of its emphasis on service. "I grew up here," she added, and that is in her favor. "Vermonters like to know who they're doing business with," Korrow said. CARLA L. ROMITA Senior Vice President Castle Oil Corporation Harrison, N.Y. As one of the family in an industry with many family busi- nesses, and as a woman in an industry made up mostly of men, Carla L. Romita knows what it is to be part of a majority and part of a minority. Romita also enjoys leadership. She is a senior vice president of Castle Oil Corp. in Harrison, N.Y., founded by her grandfather, Mauro Romita Sr., in 1928, and now headed by her father and two uncles; and she is the current chairperson of the Empire State Petroleum Association, having served previously as the association's president. Castle Oil is a medium-sized company, Romita said, with a fleet of approximately 100 vehicles, including fuel oil delivery trucks and service vans, and approximately 200 employees. The company's two fuel oil terminals hold more than 40 mil- lion gallons, and the company also has a biofuel tank in New York harbor. When asked whether it is important for women to be in the fuel oil industry, Romita said, "It's important for women to be in every industry where they want to be." Being in the family didn't guarantee Romita a free pass into the family business, she said. "Our generation was expected to get an education and come back with useful experience," she said. Romita received a B.A. and M.A. in German Language and Literature from New York University before earning a law degree from the New York University School of Law. Her foreign language skills are not much called upon in the fuel oil industry, she said, but her legal training and experience are. She practiced corporate law—real estate and utility finance—for five years before joining the family enterprise in 1996. Legal training is "indispensable" when it comes to scrutinizing contracts and legislation, Romita said. "That external experience, from either other industries or academia, makes for more robust management," Romita said. It helps a person understand what it's like to be part of a large organization, how that organization functions, and what it means to work for somebody, she said. "And you learn best practices and skills," she added. "If you only ever had one job, you don't ask, 'Why do we do it that way? What if we try this?'" Family-owned businesses are the backbone of local econo- mies, Romita said, often providing employment for people from two or three generations of other local families. Supporting such companies is a priority, in her view, and she wanted to have a leadership role in ESPA in part to help family-owned fuel oil businesses deal with trends such as industry contraction— acquisition of smaller companies by larger companies. The current lending environment and market conditions are making it harder and harder for smaller companies to succeed, said Romita, who also serves or has served other associations, includ- ing the New York Oil Heating Association, the Independent Fuel Terminal Operators Association, the Associated Builders and Owners of Greater New York (ABO) and the Westchester County Association. l FON www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | DECEMBER 2011 17