Fuel Oil News

Fuel Oil News - March 2017

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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26 MARCH 2017 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com T he family business has long been a staple in the American economy. According to the Small Business Administration, about 90% of all U.S. businesses are family-owned or controlled. Ranging in size from small "mom and pop" shops to Fortune 500 entities, family businesses generate about half of the country's gross national product and half of the total wages paid. Woodford Oil Co. is one such business—with the third generation of the family at the helm. Headquartered in Elkins, W.Va., Woodford Oil Co. is a locally owned, fuels and lubricants marketer and value-added service pro- vider with customers in a six-state region that includes Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as West Virginia. It was 1947 when the company's founder, C. William (Bill) Woodford, started out as a marketer for a small Gulf Oil and Tire distributor in West Virginia. When Bill took control of the business in 1962, the company had grown into a multi-branded petroleum wholesaler, selling Shell, Texaco, Exxon, Marathon, Citgo, Mystik and all products related to the service station business. A bit more than a decade later, Bill's son, C. Curtis (Curt) Woodford, joined the company full-time in 1975 after graduating from college, and has continued to operate and grow the com- pany. Curt remodeled and modernized Woodford Oil's original bulk plant in 1999, installing new tank farms and equipment, a move designed to make Woodford Oil competitive with larger distributors. Todd Woodford, the third generation of Woodfords, joined the company in 2003, and is now chief operating officer, driving Woodford Oil on a path of continuous expansion. Since 2005 the company has acquired myriad petroleum assets. Today, Woodford Oil Company is one of the largest indepen- dent locally owned petroleum marketers in the industry. The company offers a full line of petroleum products and motor fuels to retail service stations and convenience stores, as well as commercial, industrial, mining, and farming industry customers. The company is a "Chevron 1st Source Elite Lubrication Marketer," distributing industrial lubricants, as well as home heating oil, racing fuels, and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). According to Scott Kiser, vice president of Woodford Oil, the company's staff includes fuel technicians, chemical engineers, and lubrication specialists; part of their charge is to help the company's commercial and industrial customers improve their operations. The A FUELS MARKETER LOOKS AHEAD TO ROBUST EXPANSION Woodford Oil: A Family Business Grown Big by Maura Keller PHOTO COURTESY OF WOODFORD OIL CO.

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