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Show A NEW HIGHWAY stop will cater to truckers, tourists and locals. It will also Valley Petroleum Mighweny sftop tfo open during June in Espies A new highway stopping spot opens in mid-June on Highway 40 in Naples. Valley Petroleum Company is now in the final steps of remodeling the old Acme Tool Co. building in order to provide pro-vide "a first class operation from the day we open," according to owner Jack Gilstrap. Not only will truckers have all the services they will need for a stop along the road, but tourists and local people will also find Valley Petroleum a welcome addition to the area, said manager Jack Nowak. Nowak has lived liv-ed in the Ashley Valley for 15 years. He was hired by Valley Petroleum in conjunction with their plan to use local people to staff the new facility, and in the building stages. Valley Petroleum has used 44 subcontractors sub-contractors on the project, all of whom are local businesses. Elizabeth Elder, along with her husband William Elder, was hired to oversee the building, staffing, staf-fing, training, and functioning of the facility. She said they did not even look for contractors outside the area. They need the support of the local people to be a success, therefore it only seems logical they do all they can to promote other businesses in the area. To date 21 people have been hired to run the cafe, truck filling station, self-service self-service gas station, and convenience store. All 21 are local people. They plan to hire a few more local people as the store gets underway. Mrs. Elder said they want to help the unemployment unemploy-ment in the area in their own small way. be a fully integrated truck stop, supplying supply-ing fuel and lubricants for all needs. Gilstrap said Valley Petroleum is a totally integrated oil company. They will be under the Exxon name and will provide delivery to all petroleum products pro-ducts to oilfields, trucking companies and all other applications. They will also carry Union 76 lubricants, selling in bulk, by the drum, and by the case. They are also currently negotiating with a mechanic to occupy space in the rear of their building to provide minor diesel and car repairs. They plan to have four permanent delivery trucks stationed in Vernal and will grow to meet whatever demand de-mand comes along. The facility has a storage capability of 72,000 gallons of fuel, and will bring fuel from Grand Junction, Salt Lake City, and Roosevelt. The automobile gas pumps will be totally self-serve, and will be competitive with any dealer in town. Nowak emphasizes this is going to go far beyond simply a truck stop. Although all those services will be provided, pro-vided, no one will need to be embarrassed embar-rassed to bring their children into any part of the cafe, store, or video game room. The cafe will have a seating capacity capaci-ty of 44 people. There will be a counter, and they will serve fast foods as well as full meals. Sandwiches will be made fresh and served either hot or cold. They will also have fried and barbecued chicken, as well as the regular fast foods. Gilstrap said this is a facility he will be proud of, and will rank high with any similar operation. Valley Petroleum is based in Glen-wood Glen-wood Springs, Colo. They have been in business for over 30 years and have outlets throughout the western slope of Colorado. Gilstrap said they had no long range plan for the facility, it just worked out this way. "I just like Vernal," Ver-nal," Gilstrap said. There is not a facility between Salt Lake City and Grand Junction that really caters to the truckers. This facility will have ample parking space, even for truckers to leave their rigs overnight. Arrangements have been made with nearly every motel in town to pick up truckers and return them to their trucks, because there are just very few places in Vernal to park large trucks, Mrs. Elder said. She said they realize there are probably adequate motels in the area, and they really didn't want to be in that business anyway. They made arrangements with exisiting motels. Since they will be open 24 hours a day, it minimizes the possibility possibili-ty of theft from the trucks. Mrs. Elder said truckers are welcome to also use their parking if they plan to use the sleepers on their trucks also. Since they are independently owned, they are not limited to what they can do. Gilstrap said they are committed to providing good service and not just products. The local management will have authority to correct a problem right on the spot. They will also be providing pro-viding services not now available in the immediate area, such as the Corn-check Corn-check Service for truckers. Gilstrap said Valley Petroleum plans to add to the community, not take away from it. Besides local contractors con-tractors and local employees, they also intend to use a local bank. |