Edge’s Gas celebrates 35 years in business
BY JOHN BRICE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Community leaders and local residents gathered at Edge’s Gas in LaFayette to celebrate their 35th anniversary of being in business on Thursday, April 2. Attendees mingled in front of the building entrance where a table with refreshments had been set up. LaFayette Main Street Executive Director DeAnna Hand shared her excitement for celebrating the milestone for Edge’s Gas.
“Today we were just excited and honored to host this celebration for Edge’s Gas of being in business for 35 years in LaFayette,” she said. “They are truly an example of what business can be and success in LaFayette because they pour their heart and soul into serving our community. [They serve] over 600 customers, making sure that they are safe and warm. Everybody loves Edge’s Gas and all that they do for the community. So, today we just wanted to come out and celebrate them. We had biscuits for any community members that were provided by Krave Korner. We just wanted people to meet and greet with Debbie and Bill and their family to tell them congratulations.”
Debbie Edge is co-owner of the business with her husband, Bill, and shared a little about the business and what 35 years means to her.
“We are propane sales and service,” she said. “We fill bottles, we install tanks, water heaters, run the lines and deliver gas for heating, cooking and barbecuing. [We do this] with natural gas that is run by a big company, [so] straight across the board you are going to pay a high service fee. We are local, we are personable. You can call me, if you call, one of us is going to answer the phone if the answer machine don’t get it, and that would only be if we were busy.”
Edge shared on how her family originally came into ownership of the business.
“The company that was selling wanted to sell to another family, and Bill’s father had taken the calls for another gas company, and he said, ‘I think you all would like it,’” she said. “We put a bid in and got the bid. They wouldn’t sell to anybody that had multiple locations. It’s all been a journey servicing our elderly.”
One of the best aspects of being in the gas business, Edge said, is getting the opportunity to support community members in need.
“I had a gentleman that came in November and he said that the Lord had laid something on his heart that morning,” she said. “He wanted to find four people that were needy that really actually couldn’t afford [gas]. He wanted to [pay for] the propane so that they could stay warm during the winter. He said [for me to] pick four. I said ‘let me start praying about it.’ It’s amazing how God revealed the four people that were very needy of it, and they were so appreciative of it. We just put ‘Merry Christmas’ on their ticket.”
Edge said expanding the customer base of Edge’s Gas beyond LaFayette was a highlight of their success in business.
“Word of mouth, that is the best advertising I can do,” she said. “We have picked up a lot of people in Beauregard, Beulah and Lake Martin. A lot of people are getting generators, and they are fueled by propane. We are just so thankful for all of the support, and we love our customers. Come see us, we are always open for new business.”
