Family, giving back are among
hallmarks of McAdams Propane
STORY BY MIKE ELSWICK | PHOTOS BY GINIA HOOPER/SUBMITTED PHOTOS
M
cAdams Propane is a Shelby
County based business which has
already spanned the generations
with plans in place to extend that legacy well into
the future.
Putting families first and giving back to the
communities they serve have become hallmarks
of the growing firm.
Today, the family business is operated by
Billy Bob and Lisa McAdams along with son and
daughter-in-law, Josh and Sharisse McAdams.
But the company’s roots go back decades in
helping fuel, heat and energize the growing
Shelby County and Deep East Texas economy.
Lisa’s grandfather on her mother’s side, drove
a truck for local butane and propane supplier
Bu-Pane when former Center Mayor John D.
Windham’s father-in-law, Mack Bussey owned
the company.
“My dad ended up working for them and my
mother worked in the office for years,” Lisa says
of her parents Weldon and Jimmie Boles.
But the odds of the business continuing within
the family was not a sure bet when Billy Bob took
a well-paying and secure job with Southwestern
Bell and he and his bride, Lisa, moved away from
Center in 1980 with no firm plans to return.
His father, along with several other family
members, worked for Southwestern Bell and had
helped Billy Bob get his foot in the door with
the giant telephone company. Their future was
secure with the telecommunications giant, or so
they thought.
But in 1981, Billy Bob and Lisa were presented
an opportunity to work for Lisa’s father in the
propane business back home in Center and
decided to leave the security of his job with
Southwestern Bell and return to their roots in
Shelby County.
“I was born and raised here in Center, but it
was still a tough decision to leave Southwestern
Bell, which was something I thought I’d do the
rest of my life,” Billy Bob says. “We looked at it
as an opportunity to have our future back home
with our families.”
Looking back, taking that leap of faith has
proven to be a positive move on multiple fronts,
he says. Fast forward to 2020 and McAdams
Propane and related entities not only have
survived but are thriving.
Changing environment
However, like most businesses, the company
has had to make adjustments in a world where
technology and more and more rules and
Business MATTERS | 2020 Spring Edition
regulations have become the status quo.
Billy Bob says the biggest changes in the
business have been in the areas of mounting
regulations and rules and all the requirements
which go along with those. Then, he says, costs
for everything from materials and equipment to
labor, insurance, technology and fuel have all
risen drastically.
Among the upsides of those changes are
increased efficiency and improved customer
service. For instance, years ago when the
company received a call that a customer was out
of gas, crews were scurrying to take care of them,
he says.
“Since we’ve implemented a lot of changes
with technology on the retail side, we just don’t
get many of those ‘out-of-gas’ calls, which are
our biggest concern,” Billy Bob says. McAdams
Propane now has technology in place which lets
the firm know before a customer runs out of fuel.
As for most families, whether in business or
not, the dynamics of different points of view can
come into play.
“But I think we work well together,” Billy Bob
says. “We all have our own boxes, or categories,
areas that we strive, and we all work well
together.”
He serves as president of the firm.
Lisa says her main area of responsibility is
bookkeeping and financial details while Josh
runs the day-to-day operations, he also handles
human resources duties for about 90 employees
and negotiates all the firm’s supply contracts.
Expanding horizons
While Josh is an integral part of the operations
today, like in his parents return to Center and the
family business, it was not a given that he would
eventually become part of McAdams Propane,
Billy Bob says.
“Josh worked for us over summers and
afternoons while he was in school,” he says.
“When he went off to college and then went to
work in Houston for Enterprise Products, we
thought that he probably wouldn’t come back
here.”
But Josh gained valuable experience working
for former Shelbyville area resident Dan Duncan
in Houston which came in handy a couple of
years later when he returned to Center and
McAdams Propane.
Billy Bob says that perspective of adding the
next generation to the firm has helped propel its
growth in a variety of directions.
AT A GLANCE
WHAT:
McAdams Propane
WHO:
Owned By Billy Bob &
Lisa McAdams,
Josh and Sharisse
McAdams
WHERE:
191 US Hwy 96 N
Center, TX 75935
Other locations in
Carthage, Henderson,
Jasper, Marshall,
San Augustine
WHEN:
Monday-Friday
7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday
8 a.m.-12 p.m.
(Oct. thru Feb.)
PHONE:
(800) 293-2907
(936) 598-7444
WEBSITE:
mcadamspropane.com
FACEBOOK:
@mcadamspropane
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