Hightowers is now laying the groundwork to increase its business at GM Canada, and with Ford, Chrysler, and Honda. The preparation involves getting its products tested and approved, and pursuing relationships at the buying level and senior procurement level so that auto manufacturers know Hightowers has the capacity to get the job done.
GM is only one of a myriad of household names to which Hightowers Petroleum distributes fuel. In 2012, the company grossed $303 million in revenues, making it No. 10 on the BE industrial/service companies list, by annually selling an excess of 100 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel to companies such as Duke Energy, Sam’s Club, Delta Air Lines, FedEx, and Kroger grocery stores. Hightower says his company does approximately $100 million with Kroger annually. Due to the success of its partnership with Kroger, the retail food chain has quadrupled its expenditures with Hightowers during the past five years.
“Hightowers has proven to be a strong business partner and has continued to assist Kroger in maintaining its competitive edge by providing a high-quality product at a competitive price,†says Denise Thomas, director of corporate supplier diversity at The Kroger Co.
These additions to the company’s roster of blue-chip clients since 2000 have propelled Hightowers to experience extraordinary growth from $10,869 in net income in 2006 to $1 million in 2012.
“Once you start getting those kinds of companies, I think it causes other entities to say, ‘If they are doing that well with Duke, we can give them a shot with our business,’†says Gary Visher, Hightowers’ chief financial officer and a former banker.
Because of the CEO’s keen business acumen, and the company’s remarkable sales growth and commitment to the highest level of performance, Black Enterprise has selected Hightowers Petroleum Co. as the 2013 be Industrial/Service Company of the Year.
Credit On Empty
Purchasing his father’s janitorial business in 1981 and then selling it two years later, Hightower, who attended Wright State University, also powered his entrepreneurial ambitions by building businesses in construction, industrial materials, and the fuel industry. Although his construction company took off immediately, years went by before Hightowers Petroleum broke even, a luxury he was able to indulge in since it wasn’t his only source of income. He was a quick study, discovering that fuel is a commodity producing razor-thin margins while at the same time requiring a heavy outlay in capital.
“I had business sense and an ability to articulate it at a very young age,†says Hightower, who had been selling contracts through his father’s janitorial service firm from the age of 18. He used that competitive advantage to help gain his first wholesale fuel contract through a set-aside program that allowed Hightowers an opportunity to enter what was a closed market.
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