Someone called up a few weeks back and said “Michael, what would happen to our group if something happened to you.” I thought that was a fair question and deserving of a straight answer. Hmmm… let’s say I was walking down the street and was hit by a very big, very fast moving propane truck owned by a competitor. Then the driver accidentally backed up and ran over me again. After the driver stopped doing cartwheels down the street, he calls his boss to tell him he got me this time, then he calls 911. I’m pronounced dead at the scene and immediately our competitors raise the price of their propane back to where it was in the pre Co-op days.
Upon word of my death, Ben Neri, President of GalwayCo-op.com would start handling all the things I currently do in the Co-op like; make sure our road signs are replaced after our competitors rip them down, write checks to very deserving charities, take telephone calls from competitors acting like they’re potential Co-op members, call competitors while disguising my voice to see what new tricks they’ve invented, sell propane tanks, listen to people complain about all the bad things their old propane company did to them, place a lot of advertisements in many news papers, look for more oil distributors to partner with in areas we need coverage where people are being gouged, evaluate the possibility of reselling energy to our group through National Grid, work closely with Ferrellgas and Charlton Oil to develop better market penetration, and a whole lot more.
My days are very busy and sometimes long. Ben knows what this Co-op is all about and knows what’s involved and where I want it to go. So the short answer to the question is, the heavy lifting is done and today the majority of our new members come from existing members. And what many thought couldn’t be done, got done. It’s only going to get bigger. It’s only going to get better and every member in time will be able to look back and say I was one of the first members of the Galway Co-op.
