Tribe opens propane company

Red Rock, Okla – For many years, low and fixed income Otoe-Missouria community members struggled to pay for the minimum number of gallons required by propane companies who delivered to the remote location around the tribal complex. To answer this need, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe opened PK Propane.

PK Propane is one of several companies that the tribe has started in the last year. Tribal member and PK manager Lester Harragarra explains the thought behind starting the new company.

“Heating during the winter months was always a struggle for many elders living on a fixed income,” Harragarra says. “At the suggestion of Chairman John Shotton, the OMDA (Otoe-Missouria Development Authority) investigated the process to obtain a license from the State of Oklahoma Liquefied Petroleum Gas Administration to transport and dispense propane”

The licensing, sale and transportation of liquefied petroleum is heavily regulated due to its extremely volatile nature. Once the tribe obtained the correct licenses, the search began for qualified employees.

“Currently PK employs four full-time employees, three are tribal members,” Harragarra says. “One Board member is required to hold a State issued license to sell and dispense propane.”

The propane company, which is located west of the tribal cemetery, currently has more than 220 customers and has a service area of 50 miles. The company has one Bobtail propane delivery truck and two driver/installers Deswood Koshiway and Abe “Junior” Dent.

“Most of our customers are in the Red Rock, Ponca City, Perry area,” Harragarra says. “We have been contacted by another tribe about servicing their complex and would like to service some of the other tribes in the area as well.”

Tribal member R.T. Shotton is the site manager. Shotton says that in addition to home delivery, the company can also fill portable tanks up to 100 lbs.

The name PK was selected by Kennetha Greenwood, OMDA, who offers a clever answer to what the name actually means.

“PK doesn’t actually stand for anything in English,” Greenwood says, “but the sound the initials make together sounds like the word for good in Otoe. So to Otoes, PK means good when they hear it, and that’s what we hope for our new business, that it does and brings good things for the tribe.”

To learn more about PK propane visit them online at www.PKpropane.com. To order propane or to ask a question about your propane needs call 580-723-4433