Left: Crowley acquired Taku Oil
Sales in September.
Core Value: Customer Satisfaction
Family Tradition
Crowley Expands into Southeast Alaska, Retaining the
Personal Touch of Two Family Companies
Not long after Crowley got its start in
Alaska in 1953 – by barging railcars filled
with wood chips from Ketchikan into
Prince Rupert, Canada – two families in
the same Southeast Alaska region would
launch a pair of fuel delivery companies.
Over the next six decades, Crowley would
grow to become a dominant fuel supplier
and freight carrier in the 49th state, thriving
in the brutal weather and isolation to
serve more than 280 remote communities
splashed across the vast land.
Itself family and employee-owned,
Crowley's Alaska operation cultivated
a customer base that included energy
companies on the North Slope, frontier
villages in Western Alaska and roadside
towns in the Interior.
Yet the state's panhandle remained out of
reach for Crowley's petroleum distribution
group. In that maritime region, emerald
islands tickle the edges of western
Canada and commercial fishermen share
the water with cruise ships and yachts.
And there, over the decades, Taku Oil
story continued on page 14
Over 60 years, Crowley
would grow to become
a dominant fuel supplier
and freight carrier in
the 49th state, thriving
in the brutal weather
and isolation to serve
more than 280 remote
communities splashed
across the vast land.
Connections
Winter 2013
13
