Anabi Oil

Family-owned and -operated Anabi Oil Corp. in Upland, Calif., is a case study of hard work paying off in the American dream. After being wounded in the line of duty as a Bronx police officer, company president Sam Anabi and his wife, Rene, moved to California and opened a convenience store in 1989. Over the next two decades, Sam and Rene grew their business from a single store to a multisite operation and fuel wholesaler, with stations and c-stores in Northern and Southern California and an additional 250 locations that receive fuel delivery.

Anabi Oil raised $8.5 million in capital in 2010 from Central Valley Funding and Huntington Capital to help the chain with a major acquisition and venture into the wholesale market, making it one of the largest Shell wholesalers in California.