February 16, 2024
Michael Stivala, President & CEO, Suburban Propane
Rebooting Energy Growth and Innovation
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When you think of propane what comes to mind? Is it a famous cartoon character who sells propane? Or even the propane appliances or grill on your patio or deck? Or is it perhaps the unique propane trucks you may have seen driving around—leaving you to wondering what the heck are those and where are they going?
One companies with thousands of those trucks is Suburban Propane. The company was founded by necessity in 1928 when founder Mark Anton and his wife Adele moved to a suburb that had no gas lines. So Mark ordered the equipment for production and installation of propane, making his wife the first customer. Almost a century later, Suburban Propane is a $1.4 billion company, with 3,300 employees, and 700 locations serving millions of customers around the country. We invited Suburban’s CEO Michael Stivala, to this episode of The Reboot Chronicles to unpack what’s working and what’s next in the sector—including renewable energy startups.
Building A Growth Engine
When you ask a typical tech company how they are growing their business, they often have some new product whether it be software, hardware app, or service that is going to help them grow. Suburban Propane does not have that luxury as their product is propane, and as Michael puts it “There’s not double-digit growth that we’re just gonna go out and get by creating a new form of propane.” So instead of building propane 2.0, Suburban Propane has been looking to grow in “renewable energy production and distribution” through their subsidiary Suburban Renewables. This subsidiary has been investing in start-up companies to help propane get to net zero emissions as well as investing in clean hydrogen fuel companies to fuel their growth engine.
Innovation Through Partnerships
Another part of building the growth engine is partnering with other like-minded companies/individuals to keep the company fueled with ideas. One of those partnerships Michael talks about is working with Japan’s third-largest Hydrogen and Propane Distributor in Japan. This includes trading ideas and sharing the results of their testing. In Japan, they are testing appliance heating applications, while Suburban Propane is testing forklifts and over-the-road engine applications. Also, since Suburban Propane is “not an R&D shop” they are investing and partnering with R&D shops to learn as much as they can, to grow as they move into the future.
Hooking The Next Generation
Although Michael seems to have a pretty comprehensive road map and growth plan, there are of course challenges moving forward. One of those challenges is getting “people to want to be excited about a career in propane?” Although Suburban Propane can boast that over 30% of their employees have been with them for more than 15 years, Michael notes that their turnaround for first-year employees is their highest yet. Moving forward finding a way to bridge that gap, and getting those employees to stick around after the first year is the next big task for Suburban Propane and Michael moving forward.
