COMPANIES TO WATCH Independence Propane Pennsylvanian takes propane experiences and forms own company BY KEVIN YANIK | MANAGING EDITOR kyanik@northcoastmedia.net uburban Propane. Heritage Pro-pane. AmeriGas. Few people less than 40 years old, if any, have worked for three MLPs like Mark Delehanty has. Dele-hanty, 37, also has five years’ experience with family-owned Trexler-Haines. Now, he’s onto his next endeavor, hav-ing founded his own propane company, Independence Propane, in June 2012 in Green Lane, Pa. “It’s an exciting time,” Delehanty says. “Compared to what I’ve done in the past, there were exciting times then and there were times that were very stressful and disheartening. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned from all those jobs and tried to apply it to what I’m doing now.” Delehanty started Independence Propane with the help of family and friends who invested in his business. Delehanty’s wife, Cindy, is another contributor who helps with finances and paperwork. But Delehanty is very much a one-man act setting tanks, delivering fuel and attracting new customers anytime he can. “The biggest challenge is getting people to know who we are,” Delehanty says. “What I’ve found is if I get a phone call, nine times out of 10 I get the cus-tomer. It’s rare that we lose a sale we’ve been given a shot to get. The real chal-lenge is getting the phone to ring.” Heating, ventilation and air-condi-tioning (HVAC) companies have been helpful providing Delehanty customer leads. “I’ve got several HVAC companies 60 | LPGas October 2013 S that refer their work to me for pro-pane,” he says. “There is a lot of fuel oil-to-gas conversions taking place in our area.” Fourteen months after launching Independence Propane, Delehanty’s customer base is up to 180. His goal over the next 12 months is to double that number and up his annual gallons sold to 250,000. Delehanty sees the propane autogas and mower markets as opportunities to increase his gallons, but he’s also intent on installing more tanks before making a bigger investment in other propane markets. “If we’re going to go into the fuel for the commercial mowing business, that means I’m not doing tanks; not doing deliveries; not doing billing. That means I have to go out and do sales and marketing. That’s time, and a lot of it. “I’ve got to get over the hurdle of transitioning from being the every-thing guy. We’ve got to get bigger so we can hire some people, as opposed to setting tanks and doing deliveries.” OWNER: One of Mark Delehanty’s goals is to double his gallon sales by this time next year. LOCATION: Green Lane, Pa. FOUNDED: 2012 EMPLOYEES: 2 PROPANE SALES: 130,000 gallons ONLINE: www.ipropane.net Besides family and friends, another partner that helped Independence Propane launch is wholesaler AMERI-green Energy. “They’ve evolved a philosophy of helping the propane retailer,” Dele-hanty says. “Their marketing depart-ment is not only for them, but they allow their customers to utilize their marketing department. They helped me out with [my] website. They also have a rewards program where my customers can go for coupons and other things.” LPG www. LPGas magazine.com
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