NEW HOPE, Pa. -- Gerry Ramm, former chairman of the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA), has been selected to serve as the new president of Spirit Petroleum. Ramm, of Soap Lake, Wash., will take the helm as Vera Haskins retires in December.
Ramm has been in the petroleum marketing business since 1976, when he began working for Inland Oil Co., and has served on several boards, committees and associations. His service to his state association and to PMAA spans nearly four decades.
He has worked in every aspect of the business at Inland Oil and bought the company in 1982. Shortly after that, he became involved in the Western Petroleum Marketers Association (WPMA) for the state of Washington. Joining the PMAA board as the Washington delegate, he became the chair of two committees. He left the PMAA board in 2000 to serve on the WPMA executive committee and became that organization’s president in 2002. Continuing his service with PMAA, he worked through various offices to become PMAA chairman in 2010.
In 2008, Ramm sold Inland Oil. After his retirement in 2011, he continued to serve the petroleum marketing industry. He completed his term as PMAA chairman and took on the leadership of the small-business political-action committee (PAC), raising funds to lobby for legislation that would improve the industry.
During his service with PMAA, Ramm was instrumental in the creation of Spirit Petroleum.
He praised the foundation that Vera Haskins has built for Spirit. “Through her dedicated leadership, she has taken the company from a mere concept to a high-profile brand with a great financial footing,” he said. “Taking the lead from her, I will continue to build relationships with our licensees while we explore new ideas to continue to strengthen the brand.”
Ramm also plans to strengthen the ties between PMAA and Spirit, and to work toward making the Spirit brand more competitive with major distributors.
New Hope, Pa.-based Spirit is a nationally recognized petroleum brand managed by marketers and owned by PMAA, which is a nonprofit organization.
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