Billy Bob and Lisa McAdams
“Before Josh joined us, we had
implemented some technology, but we
were a long way from where we are today,”
he says. “For propane companies our size,
the level of utilizing technology to the
extent McAdams does is unusual,” Lisa
says.
“We still consider ourselves a mom
and pop operation, because we’re not
like the “major” retail marketers who
are nationwide,” she says. “But normally
regional firms like McAdams have not yet
gone to the level of computer integration
the Shelby County firm has.
“We have a lot of technology on the
trucks, we have tank monitors where we
can monitor tank levels here in the office,”
Lisa says. “Normally that’s not what you
see in a mom and pop operation.”
Josh says while his mother and father
refer to McAdams Propane as a “mom and
pop” business, the business has grown and
expanded to a larger regional presence.
Lisa says adding layers of technology
does not mean the company has outgrown
personalized customer service.
“We can beat the competition on
customer service any day and that’s what
we try to do,” she said. Billy Bob says one of
the aspects he likes about the technology is
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Business MATTERS | 2020 Spring Edition
being able to monitor activity of the firm’s
fleet of trucks with details down to where
the truck is, how long it has been there and
much more.
When Josh joined the family business
in 2008, he brought experience in the
Midstream sector of the energy industry.
“We bring an aspect to this industry that
most don’t. We have vertically integrated
our business to the point we can fill a
20-pound cylinder for your barbeque grill
or a 9,000-gallon transport load,” Josh says.
The family started Midstream
Transportation Company in 2014.
Midstream Transportation currently
services clients in Texas, Arkansas,
Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico &
Mississippi.
Midstream Transportation is committed
to the economical transport of bulk
commodities including Propane, Iso-
Butane, Normal Butane, Y-Grade, Propane
Propylene Mix, Natural Gasoline, Crude
Oil, Petroleum Spirits and any other LPG
mix. They provide bulk transportation
services and continue to provide
reliable, safe transport to companies
in the Southwest. Also, Midstream
Transportation provides commercial flare
services to the gulf coast region.
Giving back
For the company and the family,
reinvesting their time, talents and
resources back into the community have
become a part of the firm’s culture.
“We feel that the county has given to
us by supporting our business and we feel
like we should give back,” Billy Bob says.
Lisa says as the firm has expanded that
philosophy of supporting, the communities
in new areas of service has also grown.
“We support livestock shows, walks,
students and school events and cancer
funds,” she says. “We even had a pink
truck at one time as a show of support for
breast cancer awareness.”
One of the areas of community support
in which Lisa has been a major part of along
with others, is creating an organization
called 50 Women Impact. The premise is
simple.
Instead of hosting car washes, raffles
or bake sales in other to give back and be
philanthropic, each person who joins 50
Women Impact pledges to contribute $100
each quarter of the year. With those funds,
the group meets to decide which deserving
organizations will be the recipient of a
quarterly distribution.
“We now have more than 100 members