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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Fueling Up

Heritage Petroleum grows its business and expands its footprint

A well-oiled machine since its founding in 2002, Heritage Petroleum has more than doubled its workforce over the last nine years and shows no signs of slowing down.

The company and its three subsidiaries – Heritage Distribution, WOC, and Legacy Propane – operate from 12 main sites and conduct business in 26 states across the East, Midwest, South, and westbound to Colorado.

Officials say their upward momentum is fueled by cultivating relationships and providing the best possible management, products, and services.

Heritage Petroleum has made at least 23 acquisitions over its 23 years. The engine is expected to get even hotter.

“We see a tremendous amount of opportunity and growth on the horizon,” President Aaron Gabe says.

Heritage Petroleum was born with the merger of Gabe’s Oil and another Evansville company, Wannemuehler Oil, both of which date to 1948. The name, Aaron explains, is a nod to the heritage of both family-owned enterprises.

The company supplies commercial fuel and lubricants, as well as fuel cards, diesel exhaust fluid, and equipment. It offers full lines of lubricants from major names in the industry – Shell Rotella, Phillips 66, Kendall Motor Oil, Castrol, and Citgo, to name a few.

Its services include fixed fuel pricing, equipment repair, fuel management, and fuel delivery. Goods can be delivered via pipeline, barge, full truck loads, short truck loads, or packaged trucks.

In addition to the relationship-building philosophy — which has led to many of the acquisitions — Heritage Petroleum officials say their success is keyed by vision and the contributions of Stone Haven Capital LLC, an Evansville-based, family-owned capital investment company formed in 2022.

Executives note the Evansville region’s accessibility to multiple markets within the U.S., and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers are major thoroughfares for petroleum products.

Heritage sells to multiple economic sectors, including construction, agriculture, over-the-road trucking, marine, power generation, and mining. Aaron says the demand for diesel is rising, and all those industries “need a variety of different products to make sure their business runs smooth.”

For just over a year, the headquarters of all this activity has been Heritage Petroleum’s new office in the 500 block of North Seventh Avenue, just off the West Franklin Street corridor. The company had outgrown its prior location two blocks away.

Heritage Petroleum had a total headcount of 106 in 2017, including 63 in Evansville. The current figure is 234 team members, with 140 in Evansville.

“Our team is extremely aggressive and has to deploy,” Aaron says. “That’s why we wanted to have this building, to be able to support all of that future growth.”

The building was originally meant for building carriages, and it had been used most recently for storage. The refreshed space has all the modern amenities workers need, but it also carries a rustic, lodge-like ambiance.

Noticeable throughout are solid timber beams and accents, as well as exposed brick. Each floor has an attractive commons area and fun touches such as a basketball hoop, fostering camaraderie and teamwork.

Historical touches include an old-school wagon and gas pump. Team members enjoy an expansive, ground-floor fitness room and golf simulator.

Aaron represents the third generation of his family’s business, following his grandfather, Keith, his uncle, Loren, and his father, Tom. Conference rooms in the building are named for multiple Gabe family members and others who have passed on.

“The building really is our personality, in a sense,” Aaron says. “It’s respecting the past and the history that came behind this, the hard work, and being able to show it.”

There’s more: 56 apartments are being developed in a section of the building. The $13 million Franklin Street Lofts project, led by Aaron and Chief Operating Officer John Clark, is about a year from completion.

The complex will have units of varying sizes, and company officials point out the close proximity to West Franklin Street’s boutiques, bars, restaurants, and businesses. The Southwest Indiana Regional Economic Development Authority recommended the project receive a $1.35 million Lily Endowment Initiative grant.

Lamar Architecture & Design of Evansville says via Facebook that the design approach “highlights the existing timber and brick construction while bringing in an abundance of natural light with modern windows that reflect the historic openings.”

To Aaron, his family’s heritage means more than just business.

Aaron’s father, Tom, who died in 2020 of leukemia at age 70, was involved in numerous local and world Christian ministries. He helped bring I Am Second, a national company that uses media platforms and storytelling to encourage faith, to the River City. He also was engaged in community organization For Evansville.

Aaron, 41, says his family still invests in multiple ministries in Evansville and beyond, such as e3 Partners, which seeks to plant churches around the world, and Open Eyes, another global evangelism organization.

Biblical beliefs guide Aaron’s leadership of Heritage Petroleum as well, and he says the company continues to fare well — an acquisition that’s expected to become official this year would push the company’s total workforce to nearly 300.

Aaron says Heritage Petroleum and Stone Haven are poised to continue growing, and “I would say we’re just getting started in our business today.”

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