News
Bottineau Farmers Elevator purchases fuel station
Tyler Ohmann
01/03/2012
With the new year also comes a new change for one Bottineau business.
Bottineau Oil, as of today, is now owned by Bottineau Farmers Elevator (BFE). BFE bought the company on the north side of Bottineau from Rodney Johnson of Johnson Oil in Rolette.
“Everything is going to stay the same (for now),” said Wayne Johnson, general manager of BFE. “Probably the only changes we are going to see are extended hours as we get some more help.”
Rodney approached BFE last fall in hopes of striking a deal with a company he heard was looking to expand.
“Rodney contacted us and asked us if we were interested in purchashing it, and with our farm patrons with bulk fuel and moving our office we thought it was a nice fit,” Wayne said.
“He contacted us in September, and he was in no real big hurry to sell it and we were in no real big hurry to buy it, and with our year end it just worked to do it,” Wayne said of the timing of the deal.
Rodney has owned Bottineau Oil for more than 20 years. He has owned and run Johnson Oil in Rolette since July 1, 1970. He said that he hopes to enjoy some more of his time after more than 40 years in the business.
“My wife and I want to do more traveling and I do a lot of hunting,” Rodney said. “I’m not a fisherman yet, but maybe I’ll make it there. It was just time to start doing it.”
BFE is happy to oblige, as they are expanding in that area of town already with a new office building and potenially a new fertilzer plant just south of where Bottineau Oil is located.
“We’re excited for it, our plans in the future are unknown in the gas and fuel business,” Wayne said. “The board felt that ownership would be good with our equipment we use a lot of fuel, we go through a lot of gas in our pickups and it is just a nice fit.”
“With our customer base and with all the talk of oil field nearing our location, we thought it made sense,” Wayne added.
As to why Rodney reached out to the elevator, he saw what BFE saw--a potentially beneficial fit.
“I’m getting ready to semi-retire and the reason I went to the elevator was I thought it was a good fit,” Rodney said. “We had done a lot business with elevators with oil companies and I heard through the grapevine that they were looking to add to their business, so I just made a phone call.”
Another reason Rodney sold was the amount of work that he believes the business needs to keep up with the evolving nature of the business.
“Honestly, Bottineau Oil needs a lot of work, and I didn’t want to go back into debt to do it,” Rodney said. “The elevator knows what they want to do and they have the capabilities.”
He also feared the business, if sold to another company on public auction, would be changed or closed.
“If I would have sold it to one of the other companies maybe they would have just closed it,” Rodney said. “I wanted to keep it going and keep the competition in the community.”
Wayne said that immediate plans for what will now be known as an extension of Bottineau Farmer’s Elevator are hour changes. The station will now be open until 6 p.m., and also a full day on Saturday, once the employee resources are gathered.
Current employees, Bryan Hamnes, Lowell Berg and Oliver Nelson will also stay on through the ownership shuffle.
What the future holds for the station is uncertain, but Wayne said that BFE has some ideas.
“In the future our plans are to improve it with new pumps and a new building,” Wayne said. “When that will happen we don’t know. For the old patrons of Bottineau Oil, we will continue business as it is right now.”
The year 2012 might mean the end of the world for some, but it is just a new beginning for Bottineau Oil.