PERC names Propane Leadership Award recipients

WASHINGTON – The Propane Education & Research Council awarded a Louisiana landscape contractor and a Pennsylvania dealer as recipients of its second annual Propane Leadership Award at GIE+EXPO. PERC awarded Louisiana-based Rotolo Consulting Incorporated (RCI) and Pennsylvania-based R.S. Hollinger & Son with the award.

“We’re excited to announce RCI and R.S. Hollinger & Son Inc. as the recipients of this year’s Propane Leadership Award,” said Jeremy Wishart, deputy director of business development for PERC. “Both businesses have helped bring awareness of propane mowers into their communities, and share the benefits of the clean fuel with their customers. They did the research on propane and understood the positive impact it could have on their business, both financially and environmentally.”

Brandt Martin of RCI and Lynn Hollinger of R.S. Hollinger & Son each received a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat to commemorate the award.

RCI began using propane commercial mowers in 2011 and changed one-third of its fleet to propane within one year. Now, the company uses almost 100 propane mowers, as well as close to 100 propane autogas powered trucks. Martin said the company’s first propane mower it tried had outperformed any of its existing gasoline or diesel mowers on operations, maintenance and dependability.

For R.S. Hollinger, bringing propane equipment to the dealership’s sales floor helped the company stay ahead of competition, which was one of the factors that convinced Ebling’s Service Plus in Myerstown, Pennsylania, to acquire the company as Hollinger and his brothers plan for retirement. Hollinger said he sees the company as an early adopter in a market segment he believes will grow. He said adding the propane equipment to the dealership was an easy process.