- Gate Petroleum
Infobox_Company
company_name = Gate Petroleum, Inc.
company_
company_type = Private
foundation = 1960
location =Jacksonville, Florida , USA
key_people =Herb Peyton , CEO & Chairman
industry = Retail (Convenience stores)Precast concrete
Petroleum Industry Hospitality Industry
Real Estate Development
products =
revenue = $1.3 billion (2007)) [http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?page=3&aID=49568 Florida Trend Magazine: September 1, 2008-Fla. Companies With Promise/Other Fla. Success Stories] ]
employees = 3,500 (2007)
slogan = "Swing to Gate"
homepage = [http://www.gatepetro.com/ www.gatepetro.com] |Gate Petroleum is a privately held diversified corporation headquartered in
Jacksonville, Florida . In FY 2007, the company employed approximately 3,500 people with sales of $1.28 billion and ranked #340 on theForbes list of America's Largest Private Companies. [ [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/21/biz_privates07_Americas-Largest-Private-Companies_Company_6.html Forbes Magazine: November 8, 2007-America's Largest Private Companies by Shlomo Reifman] ]History
Herbert Hill Peyton started the company in 1960 with a single gas station. The company grew throughout the ‘60s selling gas in the southeast.In 1972, due the oil crisis, the company began to diversify and added convenience items to their service station shelves.
In the early 1980s, Peyton transformed the company from being primarily a petroleum retailer to a diversified conglomerate. He bought the Florida real estate holdings of
Stockton, Whatley, Davin & Co. , which was then owned byPhillips Petroleum Company . The purchase included more than convert|50000|acre|km2 of land in northeast Florida, including the land which now comprisesGuana River State Park inSt. Johns County, Florida , four miles (6 km) of oceanfront real estate, the Deerwood Club, the Ponte Vedra Beach Resorts and vast commercial properties near Interstate 95 in what became one of the fastest growing areas of Florida.Epping Forest, former estate of
Alfred I. du Pont , was acquired from Raymond Knight Mason, at the time, Chairman of the Charter Company, in 1984.In the late 1980s and 1990s, Gate added to its growing network of service stations, the Blount Island Maritime facility, several precast concrete manufacturing plants located throughout the southeastern United States, the
Riverplace Tower in downtown Jacksonville, additional premier private clubs and other operations. [ [http://www.rtlaw.com/ClientRelationships.aspx "Gate Petroleum Company"] , Rogers Towers, retrievedNovember 19 ,2007 ]Service stations and convenience goods are still the core business of the company. Jacksonville's current mayor John Peyton is the son of company founder Herb Peyton and is on leave from Gate while serving as mayor. In Jacksonville, Gate is Northeast Florida's 16th-largest private sector employer.
Divisions
Building Materials
The Gate Construction Materials division consists of two companies. "Gate Precast" manufactures architectural precast at facilities in Sarasota & Kissimmee, Florida; Monroeville, Alabama; Oxford, North Carolina; Ashland City, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Winchester, Kentucky and until it closed due to lack of market demand, Little Rock, Arkansas. "Gate Concrete Products" manufactures structural precast and hollow core concrete fabrication at facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and Pearland, Texas.
Gate Precast is one of the largest and most diversified producers of architectural and structural precast/prestressed concrete in their delivery area. The company has a solid reputation for completing large, complex and fast-track projects on schedule and within budget. Their staff of estimators and engineers work with clients in the design stage to reduce building costs (sometimes significantly) and minimize construction problems, while providing custom-designed colors, shapes, and textures.
Gates operates throughout the eastern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. [ [http://concreteproducts.com/mag/concrete_gate_precast/ Concrete Products.com: Apr 1, 2006-Gate Precast] ]
Resorts and Clubs
The company owns and operates four private clubs in the Jacksonville area:
*"Epping Forest Yacht Club", originally the St. Johns riverfront estate of industrialistAlfred I. du Pont .
*"The River Club", a members-only dining establishment located in the top 2 floors of the 37-storyModis Building .
*"Ponte Vedra Inn & Club", recipient of the covetedFive Diamond Award , AAA's highest hospitality honor. There are only 6 Five Diamond resorts in Florida, and 30 Five Diamond resorts in the United States.
*"The Lodge & Club", anAmerican Automobile Association Four Diamond resort at Ponte Vedra Beach was acquired in late 1996. [ [http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/1996/12/02/daily4.html Jacksonville Business Journal: December 4, 1996-Lodge and Bath Club sold to Gate Petroleum subsidiary] ]Real Estate Development
"GL National" (Gate Lands) is the commercial real estate division of Gate. Epping Forest, the 58 acre former estate of
Alfred I. du Pont , was developed into the Epping Forest Yacht Club and the Epping Forestgated community , comprised of 90 - $1 million homes and 80+ condominiums.Other real estate projects have included Deerwood Park, a convert|1000|acre|km2|sing=on office park on the south side of Jacksonville and the adjacent Southpoint Office Park, the Shops at Ponte Vedra, the Shops at Bartram Walk,Riverplace Tower (28 stories currently bearing the Wachovia name) and the convert|5400|acre|km2|sing=on Cummer Trust Property in northern St. Johns County. Kendall Town at Regency was Gate's most recent endeavor."Gate Maritime Properties" (GMP) handles waterfront industrial land, primarily at Blount Island. In 1986, the
United States Marine Corps established the Biennial Maintenance Command (BMC) at Blount Island, Jacksonville, Florida on 262 acres leased from GMP for $11M per year. The lease between GMP and the Marine Corps was due to end in 2004, and in 2000, the Corp stated their intentions to purchase the property when the lease expired. The Marine Corps budget included $115.7 million for the acquisition, but extended negotiations did not result in an agreement. Gate contended that the land was worth between $160M and $200M, so in August 2004, the Marine Corps seized 1,100 acres on Blount Island (Gate's entire Blount Island holdings) byeminent domain and paid $101M (later increased to $106M). When land is seized by eminent domain for uses that benefit the public, the government is required to pay landowners "just compensation", so Gate asked for a jury to decide the land's value. On November 14, 2005, a jury determined that the government should pay $160M for the parcel. [ [http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/111605/bus_20309669.shtml Florida Times-Union: November 16, 2005-Marines to pay $160M for Blount property] ]"Ponte Vedra Club Realty" is a full service real estate company in business since 1937.
"Gate Title Company" offers title insurance and closing services in north Florida. Their first office opened in December 2006 at Ponte Vedra with a staff of 4. [ [http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2007/02/12/daily34.html Jacksonville Business Journal: February 16, 2007-Gate Petroleum diversifies] ]
Gate Marketing
"Gate Retail Stores" encompass 225 gas and convenience stores in 6 states. The retail management is split into two divisions. The southern division in Jacksonville encompasses Gate stores in Florida, and the northern division, managed from Charlotte, NC controls the stores in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky.
"Gate Fleet Service" is a fleet management tool to provide control of purchases and increased driver accountability. The Universal Card is affiliated with Voyager, accepted at 200,000+ locations. The Gate Private Label Card is accepted at all Gate stores.
"Gate Fuel Service", as a distributor and jobber, operates 19 tank trailers and 12 tankwagons (dedicated to the Jacksonville service) and serves hundreds of customers with gasoline and diesel throughout Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky, and Louisiana. In addition, Gate supplies the gas for convenience stores owned by its parent.
The company typically handles 300 million gallons of product annually — 80 million gallons of which are for wholesale accounts. In addition, a small amount of fuel oil is provided for residential accounts over about a three-month period each year. Gate also handles diesel and gasoline under Exxon, BP, Citgo, and Marathon brands. Some product is transported by common carriers in addition to Gate tank trailers. GFS limits its bulk tank storage to 20,000 gallons for high- and low-sulfur diesel and kerosene, preferring to maintain low storage inventory as part of its operation plan. Gate also prefers to load gasoline at terminals and transport it from there to customers rather than handling the product at company facilities, which eliminates the need for underground storage tanks and their accompanying environmental requirements. The company also entered the lubricants business a few years ago, "Gate Lubricants".
Although the petroleum service is typical — gasoline, diesel, kerosene — several of Gate's customers are not. One reason for the diversity is the Jacksonville area, which has a nearby US Navy base (
Naval Station Mayport ), a commercial port (Jacksonville Port Authority ), an annualPGA Tour tournament, and aNASCAR facility (Daytona). As part of its fuel service, "Gate Marine" delivers fuel directly to ships in the port, including diesel for tug boats that move US Navy ships in the nearby harbor. Gate hauls special fuel for racing vehicles at theDaytona International Speedway and supplies diesel for generators used at theThe Players Championship at Ponte Vedra Beach. More typical for a petroleum distributor is the night service for trucking companies that keeps their storage tanks filled with diesel. Similar services are provided for automobile dealers to supply gasoline for vehicles on the sales lots. [ [http://bulktransporter.com/mag/transportation_new_equipment_part/ Bulk Transporter: Oct 1, 2003-New equipment part of Gate Fuel Service efforts to drive service, efficiency] ]Gate Sponsored Events
Gate sponsors numerous civic activities and charitable events in the Jacksonville area. The most well known is the
Gate River Run , the 15K US National championship race that attracts more than 15,000 runners each year—the largest 15K in the USA. Another big event is the "Gate Open", a charity golf tournament for the area’s best amateur and professional golfers.Gate Foundation
On September 23, 2008, the Gate Corporation announced the establishment of the GATE Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Gate companies. The
501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt entity was established “to support efforts and services that nurture and protect the well-being of family and community,” according to its’ mission statement. Hill Peyton, son of company founderHerb Peyton , was named President and Chairman of the GATE Foundation.The foundation’s first major gift was $100,000 to
Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Northeast Florida. BBBS was selected byForbes Magazine as one of its top ten charities, rated a 4-star charity byCharity Navigator , received an “A+” from theAmerican Institute of Philanthropy , and met theBetter Business Bureau ’s Wise Giving Alliance's Standards for Charity Accountability.
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