LPG Spotlight: Stuck Enterprises

Photo by Direct Results

For dozens of Stuck Enterprises employees, Jan. 28, 2022, is a day they’ll never forget.

During the company’s normal business hours, a fire began in the mechanical room of its Bedford Valley Petroleum & Propane location in Everett, Pennsylvania. The fire quickly spread throughout the entire 17,000-sq.-ft. building, which also had a warehouse.

Everyone escaped the fire unharmed. However, the entire structure, along with all of its contents, were destroyed.

“Having only recently acquired the Bedford Valley operations in June 2021, we wanted to ensure our customers knew we were still operational,” says Michael Salansky, controller of Stuck Enterprises.

Salansky

Shortly after the fire, office and warehouse employees, along with every truck used in Everett, were transferred to another Stuck Enterprises-owned facility located 45 minutes away. Bedford Valley Petroleum & Propane also used office space down the street from the fire, enabling it to maintain its local presence.

As a result, the retailer was able to serve its customers without any downtime. Only minimal issues were reported throughout the transition.

According to Salansky, the retailer’s successful response to a dramatic disruption hinged on its use of Cargas’ cloud-based software system and Silverline Solutions’ cloud-based server, rather than an on-site server.

“Cloud-based solutions give more flexibility than a traditional on-site server and provide a sense of security, knowing that our information is stored in the cloud with multiple fall points and backups in place,” Salansky says. “Unfortunately, due to the fire, we did lose some historical, physical files. But since we were in the process of converting files, invoices and customers’ documents to electronic versions, we were able to continue business without any major loss of information.”

Salansky, who was named an LP Gas Rising Leader in 2023, reflects on Stuck Enterprises’ ability to overcome adversity and is positive about its future. After all, it owns two other propane retailers in addition to Bedford Valley Petroleum & Propane: Jacobs Petroleum Products and Oakland Oil & Propane.

“Stuck Enterprises’ goal is twofold. First, we strive to create a great working environment for each of our employees, as evidenced by the ways everyone at the Bedford Valley Petroleum & Propane office and warehouse successfully transitioned to another location,” he says. “And we always focus on meeting our customers’ needs, as reflected by our response to the fire. Few customers knew about it since they never experienced any disruption in service.”

In fact, customers only learned about the fire if they watched the local news or visited the office themselves.

“To continuously meet and exceed our customers’ needs as we did in Everett, we’ll consistently monitor and explore the ways in which technology can enhance their experiences,” Salansky adds. “This will always be a critical goal.”

Company profile: Stuck Enterprises

Year founded // 1976
Founder and owners // Richard, Ellen and Steve Stuck
Headquarters // Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
Trucks // 11 bobtails for propane delivery and 46 fuel/transport trucks
Annual gallon sales // Over 80 million, 4 million of which is propane

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