In the 1980s, David Pemberton Sr. was
working as legal counsel to a floundering
Suburban Co. He knew it would be next to impossible to save, but he also knew he
had the opportunity, know-how and drive
to attempt the seemingly impossible feat.
“All anyone needs is an opportunity,” he
says.
In 1988, he and his partner became 50 percent principals in what is now Suburban
Natural Gas Co., and he set out to work a miracle. He immediately sold two subsidiaries,
sold a valueless pipeline and asked a company vice president for financial support. He
then tried to gain a foothold against his com-
petitors. He didn’t
have the resources to
offer incentives to
commercial or residential builders, so he
used his legal experience to fight to
have incentives disallowed, stalling them
for two years, which
allowed the company
to win exclusive operating areas and gain a
foothold to prove that
it could deliver.
In 2000, Pemberton
bought out his partner and made SNG a family business by bringing in his son as a salesperson. The two created a strategy, and the
elder Pemberton credits SNG’s success to his
son’s selling abilities and people skills. SNG’s
customers have increased 300 percent since
the Pembertons acquired it. Also, last year
the gas company completed a new pipeline
to prepare for growth and meet demand; it
did what should have been a three-year job in
just a year, which positions the Pembertons
to continue growing a now-thriving company.
HOW TO REACH: Suburban Natural Gas Co., (740) 548-2450 or
www.sngco.com
