The mission of building propane partnerships

Propane retailers traveled from California, Arizona and Nebraska. They journeyed from the Midwest, the Northeast and the South. They came from all over to attend the LP Gas Growth Summit.

These forward-thinking company leaders arrived at Reunion Resort, southwest of Orlando, Florida, with growth prospects in mind. They sought creative new ways to grow their businesses across markets; increase company efficiencies through software and technology; and secure some of the equipment and fine-tune the processes used on a day-to-day basis in the propane industry.

We’re proud to promote the annual LP Gas Growth Summit, now in its fourth year, because we feel there’s nothing like it in the propane industry. We provide retail propane company decision-makers and key propane industry vendors, our partners, with a venue and a format to meet one-on-one over two-and-a-half days.

Propane retailers provide us with the needed intel in the weeks and months leading up to the LP Gas Growth Summit. What markets are important to them (for example, autogas, generators, tankless water heaters)? What new company projects have they planned (maybe a new bulk storage facility, an autogas dispensing station, a new way to capture non-heat gallons, new technology)? What type of equipment and services interest them (maybe trucks, tanks, regulators or a leasing plan)? What industry vendors would they like to meet?

Retailers tell us and we take it from there, collecting the information and working to secure industry partners that have the answers and the solutions for attendees.

On-site on the first day, retailers receive a quick-hitting overview of the vendor partners and their offerings through, what we call, Boardroom Presentations. They serve as a logical first step ahead of the one-on-one meetings, which we organize for all attendees. That way, retailers and partners can get right into the meat of their discussions when it’s their time to meet.

But it’s not just a set of meetings over two-and-a-half days. We bring in guest speakers (Dale Delay of Cost Management Solutions and Randy Thompson of ThompsonGas this year) and we enjoy networking opportunities (like cocktails, golf and a barbecue). Let’s just say the cornhole boards got a pretty good workout this year, too. And laughs – lots of laughs.

It’s a perfect mix of business meetings, educational events and networking opportunities.

When the event ends and attendees and partners go their separate ways, I know we at LP Gas magazine feel as if we grew closer to a segment of the industry. We hope others at the Summit feel the same way because we’ve made it our mission, through this event, to build propane industry partnerships.