1st Choice Energy Services opens to the public
Looking to expand its petroleum goods distributorship
1st Choice Energy Services wants to be the first choice of trucking and excavating businesses, coal mines and farms in the region.
The company has been operating in Harrisburg for about a year and a half. But on Tuesday, officials cut the ribbon marking the grand opening of its 8,000-square-foot building on West Bauman Lane.
When the building was purchased in the summer of 2015, it really was nothing more than a shell or frame of what it is today, said Jay Slater, company sales representative.
"We've done complete insulation of the building and siding inside the building," Slater said, pointing out the parts of the renovation. "Overhead heaters were installed, the inside offices were completely renovated, a new bathroom was put in and a great new fence all the way around the complex, as well as having the yard stoned."
"The concrete floors are original," he said.
1st Choice Energy Services, the marketing brand for Agland Co-op that is an 80-year-old Ohio company, came to Harrisburg in January 2015 following Murray Energy, also based in Ohio. The company services the fuel and oil needs of Murray's coal mines in the region.
As a petroleum goods distributor, 1st Choice is looking to expand its sales footprint in southern Illinois by servicing "any business that burns fuel," Slater said.
Eric Leindecker, 1st Choice Energy Service's sales manager, said the grand opening was also an opportunity to feed people and give them a chance to get to know the company. A buffet lunch was served, and the long table in the middle of the renovated building was complete with pieces of pie and cake desserts running down its centerline.
"We just wanted to let people know we are in town," Leindecker said.
The company is proud to be in Harrisburg, he said. Local contractors renovated the building and the company has created four local jobs.
"We are looking to grow the business, Leindecker said, and grow it from its newly remodeled location.