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Clipper Petroleum started operations in 1933 as an Amoco Oil Distributor in Gainesville, Georgia under the name W. F. Homeyer Oil Company. Several years later, Mr. Homeyer took an around the world trip in the famed Pan Am Clipper airplane. He was so impressed by that famous airplane that upon returning to Georgia he renamed his small oil company, Clipper Petroleum.
During the mid-1900's, Clipper served service stations, country stores, farms, and industries in North Georgia. Mr. Homeyer incorporated as Clipper Petroleum, Inc. in January of 1958. He retired in 1969, and turned the operation of the business over to his right hand man, Curtis Hudgins. Mr. Hudgins continued to operate the company from the site adjacent to the railroad tracks off of Myrtle Street in Gainesville.
On May 1, 1974, Tom Bower and Robert Braff purchased Clipper Petroleum. Mr. Bower and Mr. Braff had been employed with Amoco Oil Company and saw this as an opportunity to be in business for themselves. Clipper Petroleum was selling approximately 300,000 gallons of petroleum products per month. In 1977, Mr. Bower's son, Tom Bower III, joined the company.
The company started the Circle M Food Shop convenience stores in early 1977. The first store was located in Gainesville off of Green St. Circle. The original store was called Circle Amoco because of the street name, Green Street Circle. In the late 70's, the store became Circle Mart. And, in the 80's, the "art" in Mart was dropped to form the name of Circle M.
The first store built from the ground up was Circle M #4 in Cumming in 1981. Stores have continued to be added over the years to give Circle M excellent market recognition in North Georgia.
In 1994, Mr. Bower and his son bought out Mr. Braff's holdings. Clipper Petroleum continued to grow the Amoco brand (now BP) at its own Circle M stores and at independently operated dealer stores. Mr. Bower and his son were proponents of the major oil brand. In order to maintain the fuels growth they wanted to achieve, Clipper Petroleum became an ExxonMobil Distributor in 2000. Shortly thereafter, Clipper purchased 16 locations from ExxonMobil, immediately expanding Clipper's presence into Metro Atlanta. Over the next few years, Clipper also became Distributors of Shell, CITGO, Chevron, Texaco, and 76 branded fuels.
Clipper Petroleum has had a similar growth focus on the convenience store side. After the purchase of the ExxonMobil sites, some of those locations were retained as Circle M stores. Clipper has added many new-to-industry sites in the last 10 years. In 2009, Clipper significantly increased its footprint in the metro Atlanta market with the purchase of 54 company-operated and dealer-operated stores from bp. Clipper also has added many new-to-industry sites through its wholesale and retail network in the last 10 years
Today, Clipper Petroleum operates 25 Clipper stores, 4 Subways, and 2 Bojangles restaurants in its marketing area. Clipper also distributes fuels to over 280 dealer locations in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, and Florida.
Tom Bower III started working with Clipper Petroleum in 1977, joining his late father Tom II in the business. Throughout his 44 years at Clipper, Tom has worked in various fields including service station attendant, service station manager, convenience store manager, convenience store supervisor, fuel truck driver, and tires/batteries/accessories sales representative. In 2004, Tom became the President of Clipper Petroleum. As President and CEO of Clipper, Tom is responsible for total company operations.
Tom graduated from Roswell High School in 1969. He completed his college undergraduate degree at Wofford College in 1974 where he played football and is a member of the Wofford College Hall of Fame. Tom also earned a J.D. degree at the University of Georgia School of Law in 1977. Tom currently serves on the Georgia Oilmen's Association Board of Directors and the United Community Bank of Gainesville Advisory Board. He is also President of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation. In the past, Tom has been a youth basketball/softball coach, President of the Georgia Oilmen's Association, President of the North Hall Softball Booster Club for 5 years, Member of the Hall County Humane Society Board of Directors, and Member of the Wofford College Terrier Club Board.
Tom and his wife, Maria, have three daughters, Haley, Caroline, and Anna. In his free time, Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and girls, going to Wofford football games, and hanging out with his dogs.
Caroline Filchak has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 2011 and serves as the company's Chief Strategy Officer.
Caroline completed her undergraduate degree at the University of North Georgia in 2011. She also earned her Masters in Business Administration from Mercer University in 2013. Caroline currently serves on the Business Advisory Committee for Project SEARCH, the Business Advisory Committee at North Hall High School. She also serves as a Director on the Clipper Petroleum Foundation and as a Director of Young Executives Organization (YEO) of the National Advisory Group (NAG), a national association of convenience store retailers.
In 2016, Convenience Store News recognized Caroline as one of the "Top Women in Convenience 2016" as a Rising Star. In 2017, Convenience Store Decisions magazine identified Caroline in their "40 Under 40" leaders to watch.
Caroline, her husband Ben, son Thomas, and daughter Hope reside in Gainesville, Georgia. In her free time, she enjoys running, fishing, and spending time with her family and friends.
Haley Bower joined the Clipper Petroleum team on a full-time basis in 2010. She currently serves as the company's Chief Marketing Officer. She originally started with Clipper when she was a teenager working summers filing, answering the phones, working on spreadsheets, selling fleet cards and any other miscellaneous work that was needed to support the management team.
Haley was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia and graduated from North Hall High School in 2005. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 2009 and earned her Masters in Business Administration from Brenau University in 2012.
Haley currently serves as President and Director on the Clipper Petroleum Foundation; Director and Chairwoman of the Legislative Committee on the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS); Director and Vice-President on the Hope For Hall board; Director on the In Our BackYard board.
In 2018, Convenience Store Decisions magazine identified Haley in their "40 Under 40" leaders to watch.
Haley resides in Gainesville with her dogs Irwin and Ringo. She is a member of Grace Episcopal Church. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, volunteering, exercising and spending time with her fiance', sisters, family, and friends.
Ed Hong began working for Clipper Petroleum in 2010. Prior to joining Clipper, Ed worked 15 years with ExxonMobil, holding various operations and marketing positions within their U.S. Fuels Marketing division. After his tenure at ExxonMobil, Ed worked for FleetCor Technologies for 3 years where he initially served as Vice President of Marketing of its Mannatec division and later became the General Manager of Mannatec.
Ed earned a degree in Economics and Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Ed currently serves as a Member of the BP Amoco Marketers Association (BPAMA) Marketing Committtee; Secretary of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation; and a Member of the Board of Stewards at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur. Ed also previously served on the Board of Directors at the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS) for 9 years. As a big advocate of youth sports. Ed has served as a community baseball and fastpitch softball coach at Murphey Candler Park in Brookhaven.
In his spare time, Ed enjoys playing tennis and golf, following his beloved Boston Red Sox, volunteering at his church, and spending time with his wife Carol Anne and two kids Elizabeth and Daniel.
Scott is a Gainesville native and worked as the staff attorney for Judge Andy Fuller prior to joining the Clipper team. He is a member of the Gainesville-Northeastern Bar Association and serves as president of the Young Lawyers Division. He was also a member of the 2018-2019 Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Leadership Hall County program. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, kickball, and spending time on the lake.
Shaukat Gilkar has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 2009 and currently serves as the Director of Retail Operations. As the Director of Retail Operations, Shaukat is responsible for the operation of Clipper's 27 company-operated c-stores.
Shaukat earned his undergraduate degree in Commerce at the University of Kashmir (India) in 1981. He was introduced to the world of convenience stores as an owner/operator of two Sunoco convenience stores in upstate New York. Shaukat moved from being an entrepreneur to the corporate world and worked at BP as a Compliance Consultant and Change Coach.
Shaukat and his wife Rubina reside in Suwanee. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and gardening.
Lynn Cleveland has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 1988. Throughout her 30 years at Clipper, Lynn has worked as an internal auditor, buyer & merchandiser, Director of Retail Operations, Human Resources Manager, and now she works at her current position as Director of Marketing.
Lynn earned a degree from the University of Georgia. She is a Member of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS), National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and an active Member of Chestnut Mountain Church. In the past, Lynn has worked as the PTSO Secretary, a high school girls youth leader, and a youth baseball coach.
Lynn and her husband Mike have two children, Dustin and Cason. In her free time, Lynn enjoys going to the lake, jet skiing and shopping, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Steve Hall joined Clipper Petroleum in 2001, following a 29 year career with Atlanta based petroleum jobber W. H. Ferguson & Sons. As General Manager of Clipper, Steve is responsible for directing the executive team, operations, finance, marketing, and real estate activities.
Steve attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University and has served as past Director of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, Member of the Peachtree Corners Kiwanis Club, and President of the Peachtree Corners Executive Association. Steve is also Treasurer of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation.
Steve and his wife Joy have two children, Katherine and Brad. In his free time, Steve enjoys hunting and spending time at his farm in Elberton, GA.
After completing his undergraduate studies at The University of Alabama and receiving a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Marketing, Bo began his business career in 1979 with a wholesale grocery company. In 1985, as the convenience/petroleum store industry took on a new and different direction, Bo was involved in restructuring the grocery wholesaler’s product lines and operational processes to meet the demands of this new channel of trade.
From the retail convenience grocery wholesale business, Bo went to work in 1994 with a petroleum wholesale jobber in south Alabama. As a marketing sales representative responsible for petroleum wholesale growth through the dealer network, the company experienced double digit growth during his first five years. Developing knowledge of the supplier branded programs was an important part of the growth strategy and results. Flying the BP, Shell, Texaco, Citgo, Conoco and ExxonMobil flags created a great opportunity to learn and understand both the petroleum wholesale distributor business and retail dealer business. Bo continued to develop both operational and management skills in the petroleum business until taking a position with Mansfield Oil in February 2006.
Bo also purchased and operated 3 convenience retail locations from 1995 – 2006. The knowledge he obtained from ownership through operational and management functions has been valuable as he learned from experience the daily challenges facing his customers.
Through Bo’s 35 years in the c-store petroleum business, he appreciates firsthand the business and personal relationships he has established that are and remain critical to success in a highly competitive industry. Bo feels the keys to success lie within these supplier, vendor and customer relationships.
Bo currently lives in Watkinsville, GA. He enjoys playing golf (especially with his youngest daughter Samantha) and spending time at the beach or lake with his family. He and his wife, Susan, have three daughters and they all enjoy spending time together with family and friends.
Tom Bower III started working with Clipper Petroleum in 1977, joining his late father Tom II in the business. Throughout his 44 years at Clipper, Tom has worked in various fields including service station attendant, service station manager, convenience store manager, convenience store supervisor, fuel truck driver, and tires/batteries/accessories sales representative. In 2004, Tom became the President of Clipper Petroleum. As President and CEO of Clipper, Tom is responsible for total company operations.
Tom graduated from Roswell High School in 1969. He completed his college undergraduate degree at Wofford College in 1974 where he played football and is a member of the Wofford College Hall of Fame. Tom also earned a J.D. degree at the University of Georgia School of Law in 1977. Tom currently serves on the Georgia Oilmen's Association Board of Directors and the United Community Bank of Gainesville Advisory Board. He is also President of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation. In the past, Tom has been a youth basketball/softball coach, President of the Georgia Oilmen's Association, President of the North Hall Softball Booster Club for 5 years, Member of the Hall County Humane Society Board of Directors, and Member of the Wofford College Terrier Club Board.
Tom and his wife, Maria, have three daughters, Haley, Caroline, and Anna. In his free time, Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and girls, going to Wofford football games, and hanging out with his dogs.
Caroline Filchak has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 2011 and serves as the company's Chief Strategy Officer.
Caroline completed her undergraduate degree at the University of North Georgia in 2011. She also earned her Masters in Business Administration from Mercer University in 2013. Caroline currently serves on the Business Advisory Committee for Project SEARCH, the Business Advisory Committee at North Hall High School. She also serves as a Director on the Clipper Petroleum Foundation and as a Director of Young Executives Organization (YEO) of the National Advisory Group (NAG), a national association of convenience store retailers.
In 2016, Convenience Store News recognized Caroline as one of the "Top Women in Convenience 2016" as a Rising Star. In 2017, Convenience Store Decisions magazine identified Caroline in their "40 Under 40" leaders to watch.
Caroline, her husband Ben, son Thomas, and daughter Hope reside in Gainesville, Georgia. In her free time, she enjoys running, fishing, and spending time with her family and friends.
Haley Bower joined the Clipper Petroleum team on a full-time basis in 2010. She currently serves as the company's Chief Marketing Officer. She originally started with Clipper when she was a teenager working summers filing, answering the phones, working on spreadsheets, selling fleet cards and any other miscellaneous work that was needed to support the management team.
Haley was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia and graduated from North Hall High School in 2005. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 2009 and earned her Masters in Business Administration from Brenau University in 2012.
Haley currently serves as President and Director on the Clipper Petroleum Foundation; Director and Chairwoman of the Legislative Committee on the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS); Director and Vice-President on the Hope For Hall board; Director on the In Our BackYard board.
In 2018, Convenience Store Decisions magazine identified Haley in their "40 Under 40" leaders to watch.
Haley resides in Gainesville with her dogs Irwin and Ringo. She is a member of Grace Episcopal Church. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, volunteering, exercising and spending time with her fiance', sisters, family, and friends.
Ed Hong began working for Clipper Petroleum in 2010. Prior to joining Clipper, Ed worked 15 years with ExxonMobil, holding various operations and marketing positions within their U.S. Fuels Marketing division. After his tenure at ExxonMobil, Ed worked for FleetCor Technologies for 3 years where he initially served as Vice President of Marketing of its Mannatec division and later became the General Manager of Mannatec.
Ed earned a degree in Economics and Psychology from Vanderbilt University. Ed currently serves as a Member of the BP Amoco Marketers Association (BPAMA) Marketing Committtee; Secretary of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation; and a Member of the Board of Stewards at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Decatur. Ed also previously served on the Board of Directors at the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS) for 9 years. As a big advocate of youth sports. Ed has served as a community baseball and fastpitch softball coach at Murphey Candler Park in Brookhaven.
In his spare time, Ed enjoys playing tennis and golf, following his beloved Boston Red Sox, volunteering at his church, and spending time with his wife Carol Anne and two kids Elizabeth and Daniel.
Scott is a Gainesville native and worked as the staff attorney for Judge Andy Fuller prior to joining the Clipper team. He is a member of the Gainesville-Northeastern Bar Association and serves as president of the Young Lawyers Division. He was also a member of the 2018-2019 Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Leadership Hall County program. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf, kickball, and spending time on the lake.
Shaukat Gilkar has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 2009 and currently serves as the Director of Retail Operations. As the Director of Retail Operations, Shaukat is responsible for the operation of Clipper's 27 company-operated c-stores.
Shaukat earned his undergraduate degree in Commerce at the University of Kashmir (India) in 1981. He was introduced to the world of convenience stores as an owner/operator of two Sunoco convenience stores in upstate New York. Shaukat moved from being an entrepreneur to the corporate world and worked at BP as a Compliance Consultant and Change Coach.
Shaukat and his wife Rubina reside in Suwanee. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and gardening.
Lynn Cleveland has worked for Clipper Petroleum since 1988. Throughout her 30 years at Clipper, Lynn has worked as an internal auditor, buyer & merchandiser, Director of Retail Operations, Human Resources Manager, and now she works at her current position as Director of Marketing.
Lynn earned a degree from the University of Georgia. She is a Member of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores (GACS), National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), and an active Member of Chestnut Mountain Church. In the past, Lynn has worked as the PTSO Secretary, a high school girls youth leader, and a youth baseball coach.
Lynn and her husband Mike have two children, Dustin and Cason. In her free time, Lynn enjoys going to the lake, jet skiing and shopping, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Steve Hall joined Clipper Petroleum in 2001, following a 29 year career with Atlanta based petroleum jobber W. H. Ferguson & Sons. As General Manager of Clipper, Steve is responsible for directing the executive team, operations, finance, marketing, and real estate activities.
Steve attended the University of Georgia and Georgia State University and has served as past Director of the Gwinnett Rotary Club, Member of the Peachtree Corners Kiwanis Club, and President of the Peachtree Corners Executive Association. Steve is also Treasurer of the Clipper Petroleum Foundation.
Steve and his wife Joy have two children, Katherine and Brad. In his free time, Steve enjoys hunting and spending time at his farm in Elberton, GA.
After completing his undergraduate studies at The University of Alabama and receiving a B.S. in Business Administration with a major in Marketing, Bo began his business career in 1979 with a wholesale grocery company. In 1985, as the convenience/petroleum store industry took on a new and different direction, Bo was involved in restructuring the grocery wholesaler’s product lines and operational processes to meet the demands of this new channel of trade.
From the retail convenience grocery wholesale business, Bo went to work in 1994 with a petroleum wholesale jobber in south Alabama. As a marketing sales representative responsible for petroleum wholesale growth through the dealer network, the company experienced double digit growth during his first five years. Developing knowledge of the supplier branded programs was an important part of the growth strategy and results. Flying the BP, Shell, Texaco, Citgo, Conoco and ExxonMobil flags created a great opportunity to learn and understand both the petroleum wholesale distributor business and retail dealer business. Bo continued to develop both operational and management skills in the petroleum business until taking a position with Mansfield Oil in February 2006.
Bo also purchased and operated 3 convenience retail locations from 1995 – 2006. The knowledge he obtained from ownership through operational and management functions has been valuable as he learned from experience the daily challenges facing his customers.
Through Bo’s 35 years in the c-store petroleum business, he appreciates firsthand the business and personal relationships he has established that are and remain critical to success in a highly competitive industry. Bo feels the keys to success lie within these supplier, vendor and customer relationships.
Bo currently lives in Watkinsville, GA. He enjoys playing golf (especially with his youngest daughter Samantha) and spending time at the beach or lake with his family. He and his wife, Susan, have three daughters and they all enjoy spending time together with family and friends.