A Resource for Members

Have a question about state regulations in Hawaii? Or maybe you want to stake your company's claim to a booth at the Convention this fall. Either way, Bob Young is your man at PEI.

His official title is Industry Liaison and Exhibits Coordinator, but Bob Young is the renaissance man at PEI's headquarters. With duties ranging from assigning booth space at Convention to organizing the 10-Groups that get members talking, if you know PEI, chances are you know Bob.

As Industry Liaison, Bob Young makes sure that things work.

Bob has a history of lending his talents to nonprofit organizations. He earned his first paycheck creating camp programs for the Boy Scouts when he was 13 years old, and he hasn't looked back. Before joining PEI in 1989, Bob worked first for the YMCA and then for the U.S. Jaycees, an organization devoted to teaching young people leadership skills. His time with the Jaycees was especially rewarding. “I got involved because the Jaycees in Pennsylvania were running a camp for kids with mental handicaps called Camp Joy,” he says. “I enjoyed that work.” In 1985, he was recruited to work at Jaycees' Tulsa headquarters, where he managed a nationwide drive to raise funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. “The first year we raised half a million dollars,” he says. “It was absolutely great, and a tremendous experience.”

Bob brought his experience to PEI three years later, but he knew little about the petroleum industry. “I didn't get into the petroleum industry because of the petroleum equipment part of it,” he says. “I was hired to do two things: One was to manage the insurance programs for the members. At the same time, part of my responsibilities was writing safety articles.” He had experience with safety issues from a prior job in construction, but the rules and regulations governing petroleum were uncharted territory.

Today, along with Executive Vice President Robert Renkes, Bob handles many of the technical questions that members pose to PEI. If someone asks a question he and Renkes can't answer between them, he tracks down the information. “I'm dealing with an interesting question right now out of our Recommended Practices,” he says. “Two members have called to ask, 'Why are you recommending a particular size wire to ground a tank?' I have to be able to answer that.”

He doesn't mind the effort—his favorite part of working at PEI is expecting the unexpected. “There's something new for me every day,” says Bob. “There's always a new question, or a new resource that I have to investigate.”

Where resources don't exist, he helps create them—one of his responsibilities is managing the development of PEI's Recommended Practices manuals. Five have been released so far, and four more are in the works. “Being involved in the actual development of these documents—from a blank piece of paper to a document that is used all over the world for installing, servicing or maintaining equipment—makes this an exciting field to work in,” he says.

A Helpful Attitude
Of the many hats Bob wears at PEI, the most important one reads, “How can I help you?” A self-proclaimed stickler for good customer service, he rates inattentive clerks and surly salespeople high on his list of pet peeves. “I see it way too much, and that's probably why I work so hard to give great customer service,” he says. “Customer service is an attitude—you have to get up in the morning with the attitude that you're going to give great customer service.” Members can expect to be well-treated with PEI, and Bob adds that non-members will receive the same attention. “I give somebody who's not a member the same service I give somebody who is a member, because that non-member might be a potential member,” he explains.

Bob, his wife Nancy, and Jazzy can be found on many weekends enjoying his favorite hobby—RVing in the great outdoors.

Bob encourages members to get in touch by phone or e-mail, but face-to-face contact is what he values most. Meeting members is both a duty and a pleasure for him. “I'm comfortable with all the members, but I really enjoy getting to know the middle management, the guys who are down in the trenches doing the work,” he says.

In his free time, Bob can be found RVing at nearby campsites with his wife, Nancy, and their dog, Jazzy. “We spend a lot of weekends camping,” he says. “We have a lot of time around the campfire, we play games and we do a lot of reading. That's when we really recharge our batteries.” He also sings bass in a barbershop quartet at his church, and as church treasurer he is responsible for an annual budget of around $250,000. “If I could choose something to do for the rest of my life, I would sing in a gospel quartet—I don't care what part I sing—and I would run a camp for kids,” Bob says. He and Nancy have two children, Kari and Rob, who have moved on to successful careers: Kari is an accountant for a company in Tulsa, and Rob is a pilot for ExpressJet in Newark, New Jersey.

Looking to the future, Bob predicts the biggest challenge for the petroleum industry will be keeping pace with changes in technology. He thinks PEI can help members stay current in a fast-paced world. “Our staff is a forward-thinking staff—we're looking to the future,” he says. “We're seeing how we can keep up with everything so that when our members come to us, we have the answers and the resources they need.”

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The PEI Journal • Third Quarter 2007 • Volume 1, No. 3 • Contents are Copyright © Data Key Communications, Inc.
All rights reserved. • Nothing may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission of the publisher.