LPG Spotlight: Suburban Propane

As Suburban Propane prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2028, it has achieved a variety of milestones over the last 100 years.

Forty-two states served. More than 700 locations across the United States. Roughly 1.1 million customers.

A publicly traded master limited partnership on the New York Stock Exchange since 1996, Suburban Propane has become a distributor of various energy products and services, too. Its offerings are wide-ranging, from fuel oil and propane to renewable natural gas and renewable propane. It’s also a marketer of natural gas and electricity, and an investor in low-carbon fuel alternatives.

Yet, the company had humble beginnings. Founded by Mark Anton to sell propane and home installation equipment to his neighbors in West Orange, New Jersey, Suburban Propane has never lost sight of its modest roots. This is evident by its involvement in initiatives that serve its customers’ communities across the country.

“The company has been a proud corporate sponsor of the American Red Cross since 2012, supporting them through financial contributions, employee volunteering and event sponsorships,” says Nandini Sankara, vice president, marketing and brand strategy. “Suburban Propane employees are often side by side with Red Cross first responders when natural disasters occur as well.”

In 2017, Suburban Propane also launched the SuburbanCares brand pillar, leading to more employee volunteerism. The brand pillar expanded considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Suburban Propane employees provided meals to frontline health care workers.

SuburbanCares has assisted women, children and veterans through various initiatives, such as offering care packages to deployed troops, funds for food pantries, school supplies for underserved children and supplies for foster children.

“These combined efforts ultimately reflect Suburban Propane’s commitment to community and corporate citizenship,” Sankara stresses.

Each community initiative is spearheaded by the company’s marketing team – and supported by regional leadership and employees throughout the United States. Without local employees, Suburban Propane wouldn’t be able to influence so many lives, since the local employees help the company determine which community members need the most assistance, via their relationships with them. From there, Suburban Propane will form partnerships with local organizations based on availability, urgency and volunteers’ schedules.

Suburban Propane has participated in SuburbanCares events in 13 states this year, with more scheduled for a variety of organizations, including children’s groups, food banks and pantries, nonprofits and veterans’ organizations.

While assisting thousands of people, Suburban Propane has noticed two key benefits within its “four walls”: employee hiring and retention.

“SuburbanCares events boost employee morale because they offer employees chances to be out in their communities, meet familiar faces and make a difference,” Sankara says. “Suburban Propane is extremely proud of its employee volunteers – and the ways they’ve helped children, veterans and the less fortunate.”

Company profile: Suburban Propane

Year founded // 1928
Headquarters // Whippany, New Jersey
Founder // Mark Anton
Number of Bobtails // 1,105
Annual gallon sales // 378.3 million gallons of retail propane in fiscal year 2024
Total number of employees // About 3,000
Online // suburbanpropane.com

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