Editor's Note: Read a feature on R.S. Hollinger & Sons in Rural Lifestyle Dealer's summer issue. 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Propane Education & Research Council announced a Pennsylvania dealer and a Louisiana landscape contractor as the recipients of the second annual Propane Leadership Award today at GIE+EXPO. PERC awarded Louisiana-based Rotolo Consulting and R.S. Hollinger & Son in Mountville, Pa., with the honor.

“We’re excited to announce RCI and R.S. Hollinger & Son Inc. as the recipients of this year’s Propane Leadership Award. Both businesses have helped bring awareness of propane mowers into their communities, and share the benefits of the clean fuel with their customers,” said Jeremy Wishart, deputy director of business development for PERC. “They did the research on propane and understood the positive impact it could have on their business, both financially and environmentally.”

Brandt Martin (RCI) and Lynn Hollinger (R.S. Hollinger & Son) each received a personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bat to commemorate the award.

One of the largest full-service landscaping companies in the southeast United States, RCI began using propane commercial mowers in 2011 and changed one-third of its fleet to propane within a year. Now, the company uses nearly 100 propane mowers, as well as close to 100 propane autogas-powered trucks to meet the needs of its growing customer base. Martin said the first propane mower they tried simply outperformed any of their existing gasoline or diesel mowers on operations, maintenance, and dependability, and the company’s success is due in part to its reliable propane mowers.

For R.S. Hollinger, bringing propane equipment to the dealership’s sales floor helped the company get a leg up on its surrounding competition, one of the factors that convinced Ebling’s Service Plus in neighboring Myerstown, Pa., to acquire the company as Hollinger and his brothers plan for retirement. Hollinger said he sees R.S. Hollinger as an early adopter in a market segment he believes will only grow as demand increases for reduced emissions services. Adding the propane equipment to the dealership was an easy process, and partnering with a local propane retailer helps ensure both he and his customers have a great experience with the fuel.

For more information on using propane for landscaping and to find out more on becoming a propane equipment dealer, visit propane.com/commercial-landscape.