September 8, 2023 • 19 mins
Morgan K. O’Brien is Hope Gas’s and Hearthstone’s Chief Executive Officer. He is a native Pittsburgher who was raised by a blue-collar Irish-Catholic family to value all people and all forms of work. His work ethic and value of other people helped him rise to become CEO at Duquesne Light Company the electric provider for Western Pennsylvania. He later moved over to become the CEO at Peoples Gas serving Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.
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(00:00):
When you look at the evolution oftech, one thing is clear. Developers
created the fundamentals behind the most criticaltechnologies we use today, and developers will
continue to redefine what's possible in thefuture. That's why mango dB celebrates developers,
their innovations, their strategic insights,and their ability to problem solve like
no other. To learn more aboutwhy developers are critical to building successful applications
(00:24):
and business strategies, visit mongo dBdot com slash iHeart and welcome man.
This is the CEOs You Should Knowpodcast. I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell,
let's say hello to Margat O'Brien,CEO of Hope Gas. Thank you
(00:44):
for joining me. Yeah, I'mexcited to be here and really appreciate you
spend the time today. So tellus everything we need to know about your
company. So, I mean,hopefully the people listening to this know what
Hope Gas is. It's a gashutility that's been in West Virginia. We're
coming up on our one hundred twentyfifth birthday anniversary, so it's been part
(01:04):
of the roots of the state fora very long time, and you know,
we're we're excited. Myself and myteam, you know, to have
okay, a voice in one ofthe chapters of a long history of you
know, i'll say, a veryembedded company and the roots of West Virginia.
Yeah, the core of the companyhas been around for a long long
(01:25):
time. But just for my ownedification, tell us about the transition from
Dominion to Hope Gas even so,you know, I as say, we're
coming up on our one hundred andtwenty fifth anniversary, and during those one
hundred and twenty five the company haslots of different owners and most recently the
company was owned by Dominion Resources.Dominion Resource, you know, for folks
(01:48):
who don't follow the energy space,is one of the largest energy companies in
the United States. It's headquartered inRichmond, Virginia. It owns and I
would say not every state, butin many state it owns energy companies.
And so Hope was a small pieceof a really big entity, you know.
As part of that, you know, we i'll call it the the
(02:10):
Ulico Hearstone team that came in tobuy Hope. We saw West Virginia as
sort of a really gem for thefuture. We were obviously focused on energy,
focused on growing the business, andwe saw West Virginia having all those
potentials, and we felt like,you know, as an owner, you
(02:32):
know, Dominion was focused on alot of things, but West Virginia wasn't
one of their priorities. And sowhen we acquired the company, the first
thing we said was Dominion had actuallychanged the name of the company for a
short while, so it was doingbusiness as Dominion Energy West Virginia. So
customers, bills, the people whoanswered the phone, our trucks, the
(02:55):
employees uniforms all set Dominion Energy WestVirginia. And the first thing we did
is we said we're bringing back thename Hope right, one hundred and twenty
five year old company. People knowit. It's got a great brand here.
But more importantly to that, youknow, let's say, just sort
of along with the name change,was that we were committed to creating a
headquarters of a company here in WestVirginia. So I'm sitting today here in
(03:21):
Morgantown, West Virginia, and I'llsay the two pieces of that which are
really important is when we bought thecompany from Dominion, all of administration,
all of the support, customer service, a lot of that was done out
of Richmond, Virginia, So we'rebringing all those jobs into West Virginia.
For us, it's a great opportunity. The jobs are coming here, but
(03:44):
the people aren't, so we're inthe midst of hiring people to fill those
roles here in West Virginia. Andyou know, and for me, it's
it's what feels good about this istaking a deep rooted, long history company
like Hope Gas and hopefully putting itsroots even deeper here in West Virginia,
you know, with the headquarters andthe people helping the customers, like the
(04:06):
call center all being here in WestVirginia. You know, we're excited about,
you know, say, just reallytaking the West Virginia brand and hopefully
you know, building on it andgrowing with it. So ultimately this this
sounds like all good things for thecustomers. Yeah, I mean, you
know, like we're you know,we believe that. You know, this
(04:30):
is a business that's been around onehundred and twenty five years. The my
investors plan on it being around anotherone hundred and twenty five years. And
how you do that, right,as you make your company more valuable to
the people you serve, So havingthe people who answer the phone calls,
right so something as simple as that, Right, a customer has an issue,
they call the company. Historically they'retalking to somebody out of state,
(04:55):
and that person's answering phone calls fromlots of other companies as well. We
fast forward to today and here andHope and you know, you have somebody
sitting here in West Virginia. Theironly job is to help you, the
customer, solve your problem. Andyou know, more than likely they'll know
the town that you're in. Theyyou know, they may even know people
(05:15):
that you know, and there's there'sa you know, a connection there that
you know, provides better service forus and hopefully for the customer that's more
valuable to them. Do people understandthat with this change that there's going to
be opportunities and advantages to all ofthis. Is this something that you focused
on as CEO? Yeah, youknow, part of our messages that we're
(05:38):
we believe. First of all,just I'll say, are bringing Hope to
West Virginia. And the first youknow, September one was our one year
anniversary, so we're you know,we're hitting the ground running here. We've
we've hired over one hundred people hereand for the second part, of this
year, actually the fourth quarter,we expect to hire another hundred people here
(06:00):
in West Virginia. So two hundredjobs basically in the first year, all
good, family sustaining jobs, anda lot of them are in Morgantown,
but actually a good part of themare scattered throughout the state of West Virginia
where we have operations throughout the state. So in the last year, is
what is the one thing you're mostproud of? You know, I'd say
(06:21):
that, you know, we camehere telling a story that we could make
a difference here in West Virginia.So I made a lot of promises,
right and you know, so dayone, I met with the governor,
I met with public service commissioners,I met with people in the community,
we met with you, met withcustomers, and said, we're going to
do something here that I think isspecial and it's going to have an impact
(06:44):
here in West Virginia. And I'dsay, you know, only a year
into it, we feel like we'vemade meaningful impacts and those opportunities that we
were hoping to deliver on I thinkare greater that we can have even more
of an impact going forward. SoI'm proud of that. You know,
the team that we're building here andthe team that we have here have embraced
the idea that we can have ameaningful part in the future of West Virginia
(07:09):
and to make it a brighter futurethan it would otherwise be, and that
we can play a meaningful part there. And we've we've done it like we
we've played that part for this firsttwelve months. And so that gives hopefully
everybody the realism that what this crazyguy said to us on day one is
true. And now we're watching itand it builds, right, the enthusiasm
(07:30):
for it and the ideas just buildfrom success. And so I'd say with
that question, that's what we're mostproud of. So what is your next
focus? What is the crazy guy'sfocus over the next year, so maybe
one year, five years, tenyears, What are some of your goals?
Oh, you know, the partthat get I get frustrated within the
energy space is it's it's become verypolitical on a national level. So there's
(07:55):
there's you listen to presidential debates,you listen to there are people that some
energy is bad, other energy isgood. The reality is, you know,
we live in a country that isrich with natural resources, and we've
had wars in my lifetime over thosenatural resources when bad people had control of
(08:16):
those natural resources. And so we'reliving in a day where you know,
we've survived the pandemic. We learneda lot of things coming out of that
that you know, this country hadlet manufacturing go overseas and a lot of
stuff we're being made in China andthe countries that we don't consider necessarily our
best friends, and the idea ofbringing a lot of that manufacturing back to
(08:41):
this country has I think resonated withthe average person how important that is.
And so for us in the energyspace, we know that as a manufacturer
and as people who make things,energy is a really important ingredient to that.
And so being in a state likeWest Virginia that's rich and energy,
(09:01):
it's a competitive advantage for West Virginiawhen we're trying to attract i'll call it
manufacturers, advanced manufacturers to build facilitiesin this country. And you know,
we had hope want to help seemore manufacturing, more advanced manufacturing come here
to the state, and for usto be the people at the table to
say we're going to have plentiful energy, it's going to be affordable, it's
(09:24):
going to be environmentally responsible. Allthe things that you need, we're going
to deliver that for you. Andby the way, there's forty nine other
states in this country that aren't asrich in those resources as we are,
and we think we're in a uniquesituation to really, i'll say, change
the future of the state, youknow, and for a small utility to
(09:46):
sit there and say bold things thatwe're going to change the future of the
state. We're going to impact what'shappening in this country, maybe change the
way people think about energy and howimportant it is. All those things,
you know, makes I think feelbigger than we are. And every day
when you get up and your purposefor why you come to work, hopefully
it gets bigger and more meaningful aswell. You talked about a lot of
(10:09):
challenges. What is your biggest challenges? What is your biggest challenge and what
do you think you where would youlike to go with that? How do
you think you're going to tackle thatchallenge? I think, you know,
just because because we're staring at theenergy space, there's this belief that,
you know, fossil fuels are badand renewable energy is good. And the
sooner we get away from fossil fuelover to renewable, that's the world's going
(10:33):
to be a better place, right, And the reality of it is,
it's not the truth. Right.We in order to make car batteries,
we need fossil fuels to make thosecar batteries in order to make the iPhones
and all the plastics that all comesfrom liquids out of the natural gas industry,
right, And so we are thefeedstock and the support of almost everything
(10:58):
that people use. And so howhave those political discussions that says this is
bad and this is good when peoplereally don't understand how it all fits together.
That's that's a challenge. And ouranswer to the challenge is that we
are as a company focused on bothour residential families people that live in their
(11:18):
houses to become really valuable for themand for businesses in particular, particularly trying
to attract business here in West Virginia, is to be an important part to
them for their business where they can'timagine a world without us. I mean,
our vision for Hope guests at somepoint is for every customer to wake
(11:39):
up in the morning and say,I can't imagine my world without hope guests.
That's that's our ultimate goal here inthe meantime, coming up with solutions,
helping people solve their energy issues,whether it's a sophisticated business or just
the average person trying to pay theirbills, all ends of the spectrum if
we are i'll say, innovative andthoughtful and how energy can be used,
(12:03):
and also empathetic and you know,making sure that we have safety nets for
people that need it, sort ofall ends of that spectrum. Like ultimately,
that's that's where we need to getand we achieve that. I think
that's when people say that's a valuablecompany. That's somebody I can't imagine what
the state would be like without it. Tell us tell us your background.
(12:24):
You know, I've been in theutility space a really long time. I
was born up in Pittsburgh. Iran the electric company up there for a
number of years. I went overto the natural gas business, and you
know, I've just been a utilityguy my parents. My father is an
Irish immigrant, eighth grade education.His dream was to see as kids go
(12:46):
to school like a lot of immigrants, And you know, I've always been
brought up that my job, myopportunity to do what I do is a
gift and it's not something I'm entitledto, and so I bring that I'll
call it the work ethic and theidea that you know, these are gifts
that were given, not entitlements,and to treat it like a gift.
(13:09):
So, is this crazy utility guyreally want to make a difference in the
community. Is that something that thatis that is part of your soul?
Is that part of your person?Yeah, it's it's it's who we are,
and it's who the people that workhere are too, So it's it's
it's a it's a combining of likesouls as you describe it. And you
know, the future and how howwe are seen in the company and the
(13:33):
impact we have in the communities thatwe serve is really important to us,
and and and and it's not loston us that you know, everybody has
their challenges in life, so wewant to always be empathetic and help people
solve their problems because as a communityand as an important part of it,
(13:54):
you know, that's that's a reallyimportant part. We can't just talk about
growth and jobs and economic development andopportunities. We also have to make sure
that you know, we're taking careof the people that that truly need taking
care of. So tell us aboutthe company's community involvement. What are some
organizations that you're affiliated with, Soyou know, we're we're one year into
(14:16):
it, right so just I alwaystell people remember that, right, So
we we've you know, I'll justtalk to you about a project that I
got invited to recently. You know, Lewis County is a high school that
is a single high school that servesan entire county here in West Virginia.
And one of our employees is involveddown at the high school and he brought
(14:37):
a group of us down there andsaid, you know, this is a
single high school for a whole countyand look at the facilities they have,
which embarrassing is maybe one way,or challenging is another way to describe them.
And you know, so we're we'reworking with organizing a group of people
that say, you know, ifwe believe that we want to see a
(15:00):
better future than our past, andwe want to help achieve a great future,
you know, making sure at anearly age that kids feel good about
who they are and where they liveand their opportunities and a big part of
that is the support of the infrastructure. So things like football fields and baseball
fields and basketball you know, arenasare all all important aspects to that.
(15:22):
And so we're we're actually working bringinga number of people together, some resources
together, and the community to tryto address and improve I'll say, the
opportunities that kids perceive. You know, it's not just you know that we
say we have a good education systemand they'll be jobs here, but that
you know, they come to schooland that they're on the football team,
(15:43):
they feel proud of the field thatthey're in and the stadium that they're playing
in front of. And it's everykid, right, every kid deserves that.
And the disparity between facilities is particularlyat a high school level, is
pretty pretty dramatic. And so werewe see a community that i'll say is
maybe been left behind or people justhaven't prioritized, and we feel like that's
(16:07):
a part we can play. Sowe're we're actually calling on some of the
businesses that we do work with,businesses that we actually some of our customers,
to say, hey, which youpartner with us on something that will
make a difference to the future andmake kids feel good about who they are.
And where they live, and thenpaint that picture of the hope of
(16:29):
what we want the state to bein the future. And what other charities
are you involved with? You knowwhere you can check the box, you
know, with all of the UnitedWays and I'll call it the food shelters.
And you know, our employees giveevery weekends to supporting those those organizations.
You know, I describe a utilityworker as a you know, basically
(16:49):
a public servant, you know,like a policeman and a fireman. You
know, when on a really coldday in West Virginia, you know,
when your gas isn't for whatever reason, getting to your house, these guys
are out in the cold, youknow, battling those whether to make sure
their neighbors are warm. And that'sjust who they are. And so when
you take that as yours as you'reyou know, you're in your soul,
(17:11):
as you said earlier, and thentalk about how do you help the homeless,
how do you help people who needfood and securities, all those challenges
that families have. They right,it's just intuitive for them to volunteer and
not only with their their moneys,but also their talents well. Speaking of
supporting the community and this looks likeit's going to be a great time.
(17:33):
Tell us a little bit about theWest Virginia pregame tailgate parties. Yeah,
you know, so we uh,you know, a big part of our
story is that we we want tohelp the future of West Virginia. And
so if you think of that,right, what better way for us,
especially initially here, than to developa relationship with the University of West Virginia
and then taking that down even furtherthan the students, right. And one
(17:57):
of the things that we're pointed tous is that there really isn't call it
a central tailgate for students for footballgames. And my first day here,
I learned very quickly that college footballis incredibly important here in West Virginia.
I've said, it's it's right belowreligion, right and maybe even above it,
(18:18):
depending on who you are. Sowe had this idea that we could
host here at our headquarters here inMorgantown in the parking lot tailgate for the
students throughout the season, two hoursbefore the game in front of our building.
We're going to have entertainment, We'regoing to have you know, food,
refreshments. It'll be a nice securearea all the amenities of Porta John's
(18:45):
and making sure everybody's safe there.But you know, it's our way of
connecting with the students and as yousaid, you know, also supporting them
to enjoy themselves but also feel goodabout, hopefully the future of the state
here in West Virginia. Margan O'Brien, CEO of Hope Gas and a CEO
You Should Know. Margan, thankyou so much. I appreciate having this
(19:07):
time. Thank you. This hasbeen the CEO You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's commitment to the communities
we serve. I'm Johnny Hartwell,thank you so much for listening. Hope
Gas is giving back. We invitefans to join us at a tailgate party
before every home West Virginia football gameto enjoy free food, free beer,
(19:32):
and giveaways. I'm Brent and Bresser, station operator for Hope Gas. We
have proudly served West Virginia customers forone hundred and twenty five years. Join
us at our headquarters on Chestnut RidgeRoad, Morgartown for our tailgate party starting
two hours before kickoff on September sixteenth. Hope Gas is proud to be investing
in the future of America's families,and we're growing joined the team. Learn
more at Hope Gas Jobs dot com.
When you look at the evolution oftech, one thing is clear. Developers
created the fundamentals behind the most criticaltechnologies we use today, and developers will
continue to redefine what's possible in thefuture. That's why mango dB celebrates developers,
their innovations, their strategic insights,and their ability to problem solve like
no other. To learn more aboutwhy developers are critical to building successful applications
(00:24):
and business strategies, visit mongo dBdot com slash iHeart and welcome man.
This is the CEOs You Should Knowpodcast. I'm your host, Johnny Hartwell,
let's say hello to Margat O'Brien,CEO of Hope Gas. Thank you
(00:44):
for joining me. Yeah, I'mexcited to be here and really appreciate you
spend the time today. So tellus everything we need to know about your
company. So, I mean,hopefully the people listening to this know what
Hope Gas is. It's a gashutility that's been in West Virginia. We're
coming up on our one hundred twentyfifth birthday anniversary, so it's been part
(01:04):
of the roots of the state fora very long time, and you know,
we're we're excited. Myself and myteam, you know, to have
okay, a voice in one ofthe chapters of a long history of you
know, i'll say, a veryembedded company and the roots of West Virginia.
Yeah, the core of the companyhas been around for a long long
(01:25):
time. But just for my ownedification, tell us about the transition from
Dominion to Hope Gas even so,you know, I as say, we're
coming up on our one hundred andtwenty fifth anniversary, and during those one
hundred and twenty five the company haslots of different owners and most recently the
company was owned by Dominion Resources.Dominion Resource, you know, for folks
(01:48):
who don't follow the energy space,is one of the largest energy companies in
the United States. It's headquartered inRichmond, Virginia. It owns and I
would say not every state, butin many state it owns energy companies.
And so Hope was a small pieceof a really big entity, you know.
As part of that, you know, we i'll call it the the
(02:10):
Ulico Hearstone team that came in tobuy Hope. We saw West Virginia as
sort of a really gem for thefuture. We were obviously focused on energy,
focused on growing the business, andwe saw West Virginia having all those
potentials, and we felt like,you know, as an owner, you
(02:32):
know, Dominion was focused on alot of things, but West Virginia wasn't
one of their priorities. And sowhen we acquired the company, the first
thing we said was Dominion had actuallychanged the name of the company for a
short while, so it was doingbusiness as Dominion Energy West Virginia. So
customers, bills, the people whoanswered the phone, our trucks, the
(02:55):
employees uniforms all set Dominion Energy WestVirginia. And the first thing we did
is we said we're bringing back thename Hope right, one hundred and twenty
five year old company. People knowit. It's got a great brand here.
But more importantly to that, youknow, let's say, just sort
of along with the name change,was that we were committed to creating a
headquarters of a company here in WestVirginia. So I'm sitting today here in
(03:21):
Morgantown, West Virginia, and I'llsay the two pieces of that which are
really important is when we bought thecompany from Dominion, all of administration,
all of the support, customer service, a lot of that was done out
of Richmond, Virginia, So we'rebringing all those jobs into West Virginia.
For us, it's a great opportunity. The jobs are coming here, but
(03:44):
the people aren't, so we're inthe midst of hiring people to fill those
roles here in West Virginia. Andyou know, and for me, it's
it's what feels good about this istaking a deep rooted, long history company
like Hope Gas and hopefully putting itsroots even deeper here in West Virginia,
you know, with the headquarters andthe people helping the customers, like the
(04:06):
call center all being here in WestVirginia. You know, we're excited about,
you know, say, just reallytaking the West Virginia brand and hopefully
you know, building on it andgrowing with it. So ultimately this this
sounds like all good things for thecustomers. Yeah, I mean, you
know, like we're you know,we believe that. You know, this
(04:30):
is a business that's been around onehundred and twenty five years. The my
investors plan on it being around anotherone hundred and twenty five years. And
how you do that, right,as you make your company more valuable to
the people you serve, So havingthe people who answer the phone calls,
right so something as simple as that, Right, a customer has an issue,
they call the company. Historically they'retalking to somebody out of state,
(04:55):
and that person's answering phone calls fromlots of other companies as well. We
fast forward to today and here andHope and you know, you have somebody
sitting here in West Virginia. Theironly job is to help you, the
customer, solve your problem. Andyou know, more than likely they'll know
the town that you're in. Theyyou know, they may even know people
(05:15):
that you know, and there's there'sa you know, a connection there that
you know, provides better service forus and hopefully for the customer that's more
valuable to them. Do people understandthat with this change that there's going to
be opportunities and advantages to all ofthis. Is this something that you focused
on as CEO? Yeah, youknow, part of our messages that we're
(05:38):
we believe. First of all,just I'll say, are bringing Hope to
West Virginia. And the first youknow, September one was our one year
anniversary, so we're you know,we're hitting the ground running here. We've
we've hired over one hundred people hereand for the second part, of this
year, actually the fourth quarter,we expect to hire another hundred people here
(06:00):
in West Virginia. So two hundredjobs basically in the first year, all
good, family sustaining jobs, anda lot of them are in Morgantown,
but actually a good part of themare scattered throughout the state of West Virginia
where we have operations throughout the state. So in the last year, is
what is the one thing you're mostproud of? You know, I'd say
(06:21):
that, you know, we camehere telling a story that we could make
a difference here in West Virginia.So I made a lot of promises,
right and you know, so dayone, I met with the governor,
I met with public service commissioners,I met with people in the community,
we met with you, met withcustomers, and said, we're going to
do something here that I think isspecial and it's going to have an impact
(06:44):
here in West Virginia. And I'dsay, you know, only a year
into it, we feel like we'vemade meaningful impacts and those opportunities that we
were hoping to deliver on I thinkare greater that we can have even more
of an impact going forward. SoI'm proud of that. You know,
the team that we're building here andthe team that we have here have embraced
the idea that we can have ameaningful part in the future of West Virginia
(07:09):
and to make it a brighter futurethan it would otherwise be, and that
we can play a meaningful part there. And we've we've done it like we
we've played that part for this firsttwelve months. And so that gives hopefully
everybody the realism that what this crazyguy said to us on day one is
true. And now we're watching itand it builds, right, the enthusiasm
(07:30):
for it and the ideas just buildfrom success. And so I'd say with
that question, that's what we're mostproud of. So what is your next
focus? What is the crazy guy'sfocus over the next year, so maybe
one year, five years, tenyears, What are some of your goals?
Oh, you know, the partthat get I get frustrated within the
energy space is it's it's become verypolitical on a national level. So there's
(07:55):
there's you listen to presidential debates,you listen to there are people that some
energy is bad, other energy isgood. The reality is, you know,
we live in a country that isrich with natural resources, and we've
had wars in my lifetime over thosenatural resources when bad people had control of
(08:16):
those natural resources. And so we'reliving in a day where you know,
we've survived the pandemic. We learneda lot of things coming out of that
that you know, this country hadlet manufacturing go overseas and a lot of
stuff we're being made in China andthe countries that we don't consider necessarily our
best friends, and the idea ofbringing a lot of that manufacturing back to
(08:41):
this country has I think resonated withthe average person how important that is.
And so for us in the energyspace, we know that as a manufacturer
and as people who make things,energy is a really important ingredient to that.
And so being in a state likeWest Virginia that's rich and energy,
(09:01):
it's a competitive advantage for West Virginiawhen we're trying to attract i'll call it
manufacturers, advanced manufacturers to build facilitiesin this country. And you know,
we had hope want to help seemore manufacturing, more advanced manufacturing come here
to the state, and for usto be the people at the table to
say we're going to have plentiful energy, it's going to be affordable, it's
(09:24):
going to be environmentally responsible. Allthe things that you need, we're going
to deliver that for you. Andby the way, there's forty nine other
states in this country that aren't asrich in those resources as we are,
and we think we're in a uniquesituation to really, i'll say, change
the future of the state, youknow, and for a small utility to
(09:46):
sit there and say bold things thatwe're going to change the future of the
state. We're going to impact what'shappening in this country, maybe change the
way people think about energy and howimportant it is. All those things,
you know, makes I think feelbigger than we are. And every day
when you get up and your purposefor why you come to work, hopefully
it gets bigger and more meaningful aswell. You talked about a lot of
(10:09):
challenges. What is your biggest challenges? What is your biggest challenge and what
do you think you where would youlike to go with that? How do
you think you're going to tackle thatchallenge? I think, you know,
just because because we're staring at theenergy space, there's this belief that,
you know, fossil fuels are badand renewable energy is good. And the
sooner we get away from fossil fuelover to renewable, that's the world's going
(10:33):
to be a better place, right, And the reality of it is,
it's not the truth. Right.We in order to make car batteries,
we need fossil fuels to make thosecar batteries in order to make the iPhones
and all the plastics that all comesfrom liquids out of the natural gas industry,
right, And so we are thefeedstock and the support of almost everything
(10:58):
that people use. And so howhave those political discussions that says this is
bad and this is good when peoplereally don't understand how it all fits together.
That's that's a challenge. And ouranswer to the challenge is that we
are as a company focused on bothour residential families people that live in their
(11:18):
houses to become really valuable for themand for businesses in particular, particularly trying
to attract business here in West Virginia, is to be an important part to
them for their business where they can'timagine a world without us. I mean,
our vision for Hope guests at somepoint is for every customer to wake
(11:39):
up in the morning and say,I can't imagine my world without hope guests.
That's that's our ultimate goal here inthe meantime, coming up with solutions,
helping people solve their energy issues,whether it's a sophisticated business or just
the average person trying to pay theirbills, all ends of the spectrum if
we are i'll say, innovative andthoughtful and how energy can be used,
(12:03):
and also empathetic and you know,making sure that we have safety nets for
people that need it, sort ofall ends of that spectrum. Like ultimately,
that's that's where we need to getand we achieve that. I think
that's when people say that's a valuablecompany. That's somebody I can't imagine what
the state would be like without it. Tell us tell us your background.
(12:24):
You know, I've been in theutility space a really long time. I
was born up in Pittsburgh. Iran the electric company up there for a
number of years. I went overto the natural gas business, and you
know, I've just been a utilityguy my parents. My father is an
Irish immigrant, eighth grade education.His dream was to see as kids go
(12:46):
to school like a lot of immigrants, And you know, I've always been
brought up that my job, myopportunity to do what I do is a
gift and it's not something I'm entitledto, and so I bring that I'll
call it the work ethic and theidea that you know, these are gifts
that were given, not entitlements,and to treat it like a gift.
(13:09):
So, is this crazy utility guyreally want to make a difference in the
community. Is that something that thatis that is part of your soul?
Is that part of your person?Yeah, it's it's it's who we are,
and it's who the people that workhere are too, So it's it's
it's a it's a combining of likesouls as you describe it. And you
know, the future and how howwe are seen in the company and the
(13:33):
impact we have in the communities thatwe serve is really important to us,
and and and and it's not loston us that you know, everybody has
their challenges in life, so wewant to always be empathetic and help people
solve their problems because as a communityand as an important part of it,
(13:54):
you know, that's that's a reallyimportant part. We can't just talk about
growth and jobs and economic development andopportunities. We also have to make sure
that you know, we're taking careof the people that that truly need taking
care of. So tell us aboutthe company's community involvement. What are some
organizations that you're affiliated with, Soyou know, we're we're one year into
(14:16):
it, right so just I alwaystell people remember that, right, So
we we've you know, I'll justtalk to you about a project that I
got invited to recently. You know, Lewis County is a high school that
is a single high school that servesan entire county here in West Virginia.
And one of our employees is involveddown at the high school and he brought
(14:37):
a group of us down there andsaid, you know, this is a
single high school for a whole countyand look at the facilities they have,
which embarrassing is maybe one way,or challenging is another way to describe them.
And you know, so we're we'reworking with organizing a group of people
that say, you know, ifwe believe that we want to see a
(15:00):
better future than our past, andwe want to help achieve a great future,
you know, making sure at anearly age that kids feel good about
who they are and where they liveand their opportunities and a big part of
that is the support of the infrastructure. So things like football fields and baseball
fields and basketball you know, arenasare all all important aspects to that.
(15:22):
And so we're we're actually working bringinga number of people together, some resources
together, and the community to tryto address and improve I'll say, the
opportunities that kids perceive. You know, it's not just you know that we
say we have a good education systemand they'll be jobs here, but that
you know, they come to schooland that they're on the football team,
(15:43):
they feel proud of the field thatthey're in and the stadium that they're playing
in front of. And it's everykid, right, every kid deserves that.
And the disparity between facilities is particularlyat a high school level, is
pretty pretty dramatic. And so werewe see a community that i'll say is
maybe been left behind or people justhaven't prioritized, and we feel like that's
(16:07):
a part we can play. Sowe're we're actually calling on some of the
businesses that we do work with,businesses that we actually some of our customers,
to say, hey, which youpartner with us on something that will
make a difference to the future andmake kids feel good about who they are.
And where they live, and thenpaint that picture of the hope of
(16:29):
what we want the state to bein the future. And what other charities
are you involved with? You knowwhere you can check the box, you
know, with all of the UnitedWays and I'll call it the food shelters.
And you know, our employees giveevery weekends to supporting those those organizations.
You know, I describe a utilityworker as a you know, basically
(16:49):
a public servant, you know,like a policeman and a fireman. You
know, when on a really coldday in West Virginia, you know,
when your gas isn't for whatever reason, getting to your house, these guys
are out in the cold, youknow, battling those whether to make sure
their neighbors are warm. And that'sjust who they are. And so when
you take that as yours as you'reyou know, you're in your soul,
(17:11):
as you said earlier, and thentalk about how do you help the homeless,
how do you help people who needfood and securities, all those challenges
that families have. They right,it's just intuitive for them to volunteer and
not only with their their moneys,but also their talents well. Speaking of
supporting the community and this looks likeit's going to be a great time.
(17:33):
Tell us a little bit about theWest Virginia pregame tailgate parties. Yeah,
you know, so we uh,you know, a big part of our
story is that we we want tohelp the future of West Virginia. And
so if you think of that,right, what better way for us,
especially initially here, than to developa relationship with the University of West Virginia
and then taking that down even furtherthan the students, right. And one
(17:57):
of the things that we're pointed tous is that there really isn't call it
a central tailgate for students for footballgames. And my first day here,
I learned very quickly that college footballis incredibly important here in West Virginia.
I've said, it's it's right belowreligion, right and maybe even above it,
(18:18):
depending on who you are. Sowe had this idea that we could
host here at our headquarters here inMorgantown in the parking lot tailgate for the
students throughout the season, two hoursbefore the game in front of our building.
We're going to have entertainment, We'regoing to have you know, food,
refreshments. It'll be a nice securearea all the amenities of Porta John's
(18:45):
and making sure everybody's safe there.But you know, it's our way of
connecting with the students and as yousaid, you know, also supporting them
to enjoy themselves but also feel goodabout, hopefully the future of the state
here in West Virginia. Margan O'Brien, CEO of Hope Gas and a CEO
You Should Know. Margan, thankyou so much. I appreciate having this
(19:07):
time. Thank you. This hasbeen the CEO You Should Know podcast showcasing
businesses that are driving our regional economy, part of iHeartMedia's commitment to the communities
we serve. I'm Johnny Hartwell,thank you so much for listening. Hope
Gas is giving back. We invitefans to join us at a tailgate party
before every home West Virginia football gameto enjoy free food, free beer,
(19:32):
and giveaways. I'm Brent and Bresser, station operator for Hope Gas. We
have proudly served West Virginia customers forone hundred and twenty five years. Join
us at our headquarters on Chestnut RidgeRoad, Morgartown for our tailgate party starting
two hours before kickoff on September sixteenth. Hope Gas is proud to be investing
in the future of America's families,and we're growing joined the team. Learn
more at Hope Gas Jobs dot com.
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