A New Generation Leads the Way

The Industry Summit IV at the HEAT Show featured a Next Generation Panel discussing “The Future of Our Industry, FROM the Future of Our Industry.” Moderated by Michael Ferrante, president of the Massachusetts Energy Marketers Association, the panel featured Derek Lamparelli, Vice President at Frank Lamparelli Fuel, Massachusetts; Jacqueline Hart, Vice President at Hart Home Comfort, New York; John F. Bowman, Vice President at F.F. Hitchcock Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, Connecticut; Kyle Price, Vice President, Tevis Energy (Maryland and Pennsylvania) and Mallory Corse, Vice President and Treasurer at Jack F. Corse, Inc., Vermont.

Each of the participants was truly a “next generation leader,” having grown up in the family business, covering a variety of positions and taking on additional responsibilities over the years. They have seen their family businesses face a multitude of threats over the years, and noted the industry’s resilience, customer service, and clean energy options as bulwarks against the current challenges.

While industry leaders may consider Bioheat® fuel the foundation of our future success, many of these panelists are seeing pushback from their long-term staff and customers. For some, there were supply issues for Bioheat fuel at starting levels of B2 or B5 or when they wanted to move up to higher blends. Several mentioned the lack education about Bioheat fuel for customer service reps, technicians and drivers, the “people who answer the customers’ questions,” as Derek Lamparelli put it. These frontline contacts need to be more fluent in Bioheat fuel’s benefits and value proposition, so they can share the message with customers.

That message needs to be more consistent. Jackie Hart noted that while auto dealers in different states share the same brand message about their cars, the liquid fuels industry has multiple messages, channels and campaigns. This disjointed messaging weakens all the conflicting campaigns as well as the dealers they are supposed to be helping. She recommends finding a way to unify the messaging across all associations, focus on our core values, and share “one clear message.”

“The message needs to be that our industry is made up of many family-owned and operated companies with visionary leaders. We have been moving forward with energy conscious technology for years, some initiatives are a lower carbon product, and the development and accelerated use of clean burning biofuels is a story that needs to be shared,” said Hart.

The best way to share the message, all the respondents agreed, was through social media. They also agreed that pictures of boilers and furnaces weren’t going to attract followers, but that our messaging needed to focus on good stories like responding to a customer call at 1 a.m., and on the opportunities social media offers to build relationships with younger homeowners and the next generation of customers.

Looking to the future, the Next Generation Panelists saw a need for associations to do more to reach out to younger industry professionals by tailoring programs, committees and outings to their interests. They were also, as a whole, optimistic about the next year, and the next five years, despite the challenges we face.

“As one of the leaders in the biofuel industry on Long Island, our company doesn’t have supply issues,” Hart said. “We have been burning B100 at our offices and our homes for the past two years. That being said, our family and business is very technologically inclined and forward thinking. We will always adapt our business model around what is best for the families we serve.”

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