PERC announces staff realignment

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) announced a staff realignment at its February meeting in Dallas.

PERC says the changes are due in part to the retirement of Jim Harris, its longtime CFO and vice president of administration, and the work of a strategic task force that reviewed its objectives.

PERC has promoted Tucker Perkins from chief business development officer to COO. In addition, Dennis Vegas, chief marketing officer, will now oversee all of PERC’s communications functions. The council hired Vegas in 2015 to help launch a new consumer education campaign, now in its second year.

“Tucker will take over a lot of operational activities that our CFO oversaw, including direct reports with our director of budget and finance [Michael Eason] and director of operations [Grace Willis],” PERC President and CEO Roy Willis says. “He’s also maintaining responsibilities for our R&D program that Greg Kerr works on day to day.”

Willis says PERC consolidated its communications functions to better align its business-to-consumer and business-to-business initiatives. Vegas will continue to work closely with Gregg Walker, PERC’s director of communications, and the communications team.

“Even though we are targeting different audiences, the B2C work is focused on the residential homeowner and is closely aligned with our B2B work with construction professionals,” Willis says. “Those need to be in far better sync going forward.

“In addition, the other business audiences, whether landscapers, autogas fleets, school buses or the ag sector, all of those communication initiatives need to reinforce one another and the brand image of propane that we’re trying to portray,” Willis says. “Bringing them under one senior executive on staff is the best way to ensure day-to-day compliance of that goal.”

Also, Theresa Ryan, executive assistant to the president and CEO, is taking on broader responsibilities as director of administration and human resources.

PERC also recently announced the hiring of Paula Wilson as director of industry engagement. Her role is to help further the council’s efforts with the consumer education campaign.

Also at the February meeting, PERC approved the following funding requests:

• $243,000 for 2017 professional and support services, encompassing subject matter experts and staff travel

• $25,000 in rebates for the New England Propane Foundation to help fund a carbon monoxide education and prevention project

In other news, PERC has retained Los Angeles-based Korn/Ferry International to conduct its search for a new president and CEO. Willis, the council’s first and only president and CEO who has led it for nearly 20 years, will retire July 31.

PERC will next meet April 20 at the Omni Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, prior to the National Propane Gas Association’s Southeastern Convention & International Propane Expo.