Johnson & Dix Fuel Corp.

Johnson & Dix Fuel Corp. was founded in 1931 in Springfield, Vermont. It was originally owned and operated by J. L. Johnson along with a partner, Walter Dix, who was with the company only briefly. Major growth in this local fuel oil and gasoline distributorship occurred under the leadership of J.L.'s daughter, Bernice Johnson, through the 1940s and '50s. In 1970, the fuel oil portion of the business was purchased from Bernice Johnson by William J. Breed, whose family had been in the fuel business on the North Shore in Massachusetts since the 1800s. Bernice Johnson later sold the remaining gasoline distributorship portion of her business to Northeast Petroleum, which operated this business under the name of Vermont Gasoline Marketers. In 1981, Johnson & Dix purchased this distributorship from VGM. Johnson & Dix has grown steadily since 1970, and is today one of the largest regional petroleum marketers in New England, selling over 100,000,000 gallons of liquid product yearly, about half of which is gasoline and the other half fuel oil, propane and diesel. The company continues to be owned and operated by the Breed family, with William Breed serving as its Chairman and his daughter, Dale (Penny) Breed, serving as President and CEO. Johnson & Dix now employs well over 250 area residents year-round. In addition to drivers and delivery personnel, over 45 technicians install and service oil heat and propane equipment for J&D customers. The J&D vehicle fleet now numbers over 100, and includes 15 tractor-trailer units, over 40retail delivery trucks, and over 60 fully-equipped service vans. In 1988, J&D relocated its corporate offices to a beautiful new headquarters building on the banks of the Mascoma River in Lebanon, NH. J&D's central accounting, finance, and personnel operations are now housed in this facility, along with the Transport, Gasoline and Convenience Store Divisions. Retail fuel operations are handled out of six regional offices, located in White River Junction, Barre, Manchester and Springfield on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River, and in Newport and Epsom on the New Hampshire side. Seeking to broaden the range of home heating products it could offer it's customers, J&D entered the propane business in the White River Junction area in 1994, and has now expanded these operations to the remainder of our service areas. In addition to the sale and delivery of home heating fuels, Johnson & Dix designs and installs high-quality super-efficient oil and propane heating systems for today's new homes and commercial buildings, as well as for retro-fits for older buildings. J&D is a distributor for major heating equipment brands including Energy Kinetics, ThermoPride and Lennox. Related services such as duct cleaning, tank replacement, and the sale of auxiliary heating components are also a part of J&D's commitment to providing complete heating system services and care. Around-the-clock emergency service, with a 90-minute guarantee, has become a hallmark of the Johnson & Dix commitment to extraordinary customer service. To support this commitment, J&D operates its own 24-hour-a-day customer service and dispatch center, which handles customer calls and coordinates operations and dispatching during periods when the local offices are closed. Johnson & Dix also distributes branded gasoline for Mobil, Texaco and Gulf, supplying over 90 retail gasoline and diesel outlets in New Hampshire and Vermont. For the past 12 years, Johnson & Dix has earned The Pegasus Award from Mobil Oil Corporation as one of the top 15 Mobil distributors nationwide, and was named a Premier Award recipient in Mobil's 1998 Pegasus Circle of Excellence Recognition Program. Moving with the times, J&D has recently begun to operate its own "Mountain Market" convenience stores at selected service station sites. To date, there are nine such locations, with additional openings scheduled in the near future.