www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | OCTOBER 2016 41
M
ike Hodge is a staunch supporter of technical education.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Hodge's stepfa-
ther owned a small oil company, and that's where
young Hodge received his initiation into the trade, helping his
stepfather, and then going on to attend a vocational-technical
school in Howard County, Maryland.
Mike Hodge of
Griffith Energy Services
OESP
SERVICE MANAGER
of the Year
"In those days they called it 'plumbing
and heating,' and it included oil," Hodge
recalled. The vocational-technical school
where Hodge learned the trade no longer
exists. But he credits that institution with
teaching him the fundamentals. "The
vo-tech school actually got me a job at
Griffith Energy, where I am now," Hodge
said. "That's how I got started as an oil
burner mechanic."
Other than military service, Hodge
has worked for Griffith Energy Services,
which is headquartered in Columbia,
Md., for all but five of the forty-five years
or so he's been in the trade. In the late
1990s, he left Griffith and started his own
HVAC company.
" A n d t h e n t h e p r e s i d e n t " — o f
Griffith—"called me up and made me an
offer I couldn't refuse," Hodge recounted.
"So I came back here in 2001 and I've been
here ever since."
As a service manager for Griffith,
Hodge is based in Frederick, in western
Maryland. He oversees thirty of the com-
pany's 100 technicians. "We cover from
Westminster, Maryland, all the way out to
the panhandle of West Virginia," Hodge
said of himself and those he manages. "I'm
fortunate to have some excellent people
"I'm fortunate to have some excellent
people here. They make me look good."
—Mike Hodge
