LP Gas, March 2014
HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES Dwain Willingham Visionary challenged industry to better itself built business model to support independent retailers ome people loved Dwain Willingham Others probably hated him But Willingham was fine with the disdain because he wasnt interested in gaining a persons admiration Instead he was more interested in challenging people so they could develop individually or achieve growth of some kind His big thing was he wanted to see everybody grow and develop says Tamera Kovacs a 15 year employee of Propane Resources the company Willingham founded in 1991 He wanted to learn more do more see more help more He was never satisfied with the status quo He may have intimidated people in the industry other times he would just challenge them It wasnt something to be offended by It was just who he was Willingham founded Propane Resources which was originally called Willingham Associates as a source to help independent retailers with all things propane with the exception of legal matters and accounting But he developed the vision to start Propane Resources from experience he gained early in his career The early years Willinghams career started in 1969 with Phillips Petroleum a company that gave Willingham a chance to travel the world He spent three years each in England and Belgium doing marketing related to natural gas liquids NGL and petrochemicals He also had assignments in Japan and Panama while at Phillips Petroleum In the late 1970s Willingham returned to the United States with his wife Sue and took a job managing supply and distribution for Williams Energy He spent about seven years with Buckeye Gas following his tenure at Williams and his last years in retail propane were spent with Ferrellgas which purchased Buckeye in 1987 For Willingham something special was brewing on the horizon Dwain was always kind of a square peg in a round hole in the corporate world Sue says He was way too independent and opinionated and he wasnt a political animal at all Considering he didnt have any of those personality traits he didnt do too badly in the corporate world But he always talked about wanting to start his own company Tired of others determining his future Willingham embarked on a journey to form his own business He envisioned building a business that could help BY KEVIN YANIK Managing Editor kyanik@ northcoastmedia net Dwain Willingham built Propane Resources on the basis of helping independent retailers 72 LPGas March 2014 www LPGasmagazine com
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