The roots of Wilson Oil, Inc., dba Wilcox & Flegel Fuel Oil Company, date back to 1925, when the City of Longview was formed. "Smiling" Jack Manning offered the first "Sudden Service" in the heating oil business with a 55-gallon barrel strapped to the back of his truck.
In 1952, Manning Fuel sold to Steve S. Wilcox, Jr., my dad, who was financed by my grandfather, Steve S. Wilcox. The early days were very lean, and seven Chevron heating fuel jobbers were competing with each other. At one time the company had only a driver, an office person, and Dad. Through hard work and summer road-oiling, the company survived and grew. In 1954, Art Flegel joined the company, which led to Wilcox & Flegel Fuel Oil Company and its slogan, "We Make Warm Friends."
In 1964, Wilcox & Flegel purchased Campbell Fuel. In 1974, Wilcox & Flegel merged with Wilson Oil, a Chevron-commissioned agent who distributed gasoline, diesel, and lubricants. The combination kept drivers and trucks busy in both the winter and summer.
In 1977, I, "Little Steve" Wilcox, at the age of 22, came to work in the oil company as Head Yard Man in charge of washing trucks and moving barrels. Over the next few years, we acquired Rainier Heating Oil, Bob McKinney (commissioned agent of St. Helens and Vernonia, Oregon), and Allen Johnson (commissioned agent of Cathlamet, Washington).
In 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted, and Wilcox & Flegel became a 7-days-a-week, 24-hours-per-day, on-call deliverer to the Army Corp of Engineers and their contractors. In 1984, we merged with Golden Pacific Oil, which added Shell retail gas stations and lubricants to our mix. In 1985, we purchased Rofinot Fuel in St. Helens, Oregon, which added Mobil retail gasoline and lubricants to our offering. In 1996, we purchased West Coast Oil's commercial business, which gave us an office and service to the Centralia/Chehalis area. In 1997, we purchased the rest of West Coast Oil's customers, which included about 45 open gas station dealer accounts.
In recent years, Wilcox & Flegel has continued to expand through acquisitions. We purchased Tetz Oil in 2000, Dephia Oil in 2001, Carmichael Oil in 2002, West Star Corporation and Cooper Oil in 2004, Guler Oil in 2005, Garwood Oil in 2006, and most recently, Seaside Service in 2007. We currently own and operate 13 convenience stores with gas, two truck stops with gas and stores, the Indy Way Diner restaurant, 30 cardlocks, 49 properties and 100 vehicles. We market retail gasoline under the brands of Chevron, Texaco, Shell, 76, Valero, Flying K, and US Ethanol, and cardlocks branded CFN and Pacific Pride. We sell ExxonMobil and Chevron branded lubricants. Our delivery area is Seattle to Eugene, and Tillamook to Spokane. Wilson Oil has a customer base of 160 retail stations and sells over 210 million gallons of motor fuels per year.
In October, 2007, we opened the first, all-"green" bio-fuel station in the state of Washington (located at 416 Oregon Way in Longview). There, we sell US Ethanol B5 biodiesel, E10 unleaded, plus, and premium gasoline, and E85 for Flex Fuel Vehicles. Any vehicle on the road powered by motor fuel can purchase the right mix of conventional and renewable bio-fuel at US Ethanol.
We try hard to create a working environment where we can operate like a small, family business, but still offer the services and competitiveness of a larger company. Currently, Wilson Oil has over 350 employees and offers an aggressive pension plan, medical insurance, disability coverage, and a bonus plan for all full-time fuel distribution employees. We can invoice and receive payments electronically, and will continue to grow our e-business services in the future. In 2007, we were recognized by Washington CEO magazine as the 11th largest privately-held company in the state of Washington.
Our mission statement is to "Meet our customers' reasonable expectations, with no surprises and no disappointments." I am proud to work with a group of people who are very good at their jobs and are wonderful people to boot, and I'm excited to say that there are now third-generation Wilcoxes working in the family business, my son Aaron and daughter Jennifer.
I like having an open door policy, and would be happy to answer any question you might have at steve@wilcoxandflegel.com.
Very truly yours,
Steve Wilcox
President of Wilson Oil, Inc.
dba Wilcox & Flegel Fuel Oil Company