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NELLA Oil. Co is a third-generation family business. It
dates back to the former Beacon Oil Company, founded in 1931
by Walter B. Allen. His four grandsons--Tom, Walt, Steve,
and David Dwelle--grew up in the oil industry. In 1979 the
Dwelle brothers formed a partnership with the purchase of
seven gas stations in the greater Sacramento region. They
named the company "NELLA" (Allen spelled backward)
in honor of their grandfather. |
Since then, the Dwelles have sought top quality managers
who help foster a strong, dynamic company culture. The development
of sophisticated financial and management strategies to keep
NELLA viable in a volatile and increasingly competitive industry
have fueled a culture "on the move". |
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Tom Dwelle: Tom received
an Engineering Degree from Denver University. He spent 25
years in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot flying everything
from A-1 Skyraiders in Vietnam to F-15 Eagles. He retired
as a Lt. Colonel in 1982 and joined NELLA. Tom served as General
Manager from 1985-1997, when he turned over the reins to Rick
Teske. Tom still maintains a strong flying interest and owns
a warbird-parts business, as well as, a WWII British Hawker
Sea Fury which he races at the National Championship Air Races
in Reno, Nevada.
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Steve Dwelle:
Steve received his B.S. Degree from San Francisco State College
in 1963, and spent the next 21 years in the U.S. Air Force
prior to joining the NELLA team. Steve's first career highlights
include 198 combat missions in Vietnam in the F-100, two years
as a solo pilot for the "Thunderbirds" jet aerobatic
team, two years in the US Senate as a liaison officer and
several years as commanding officer of a Russian type fighter
squadron in the Air Forces TOP GUN program called “Red
Flag”. Upon retiring in 1984 as a Colonel, Steve began
an active role in NELLA. In his spare time, Steve is an excellent
golfer.
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Walt Dwelle:
Graduating from U.C. Berkeley, Walt earned a degree in Business.
After spending five years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight
Officer in Spain, he worked for Beacon Oil Company for 17
years as a Senior Vice-president of Marketing before leaving
to join NELLA in 1988. Under his direction NELLA was formed
in 1979 as a sister company to Beacon. Walt, who is the managing
General Partner of NELLA, has served on the board of CIOMA,
is past president of Tiger MAC and is also Chairman of the
Bank of Visalia.
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David Dwelle:
David attended Cal Poly (SLO) and immediately started a retail
stereo and speaker manufacturing business with his college
roommate. Sun Stereo grew to 13 stores and his "DWD"
speakers were sold throughout the world. In 1980, David sold
his interest to his partner and became General Manager of
NELLA until Tom took over the reins in 1985. David still maintains
an active interest in NELLA while pursuing several property
development projects in the Auburn area. David is passionately
interested in renewable energy and energy conservation for
a sustainable society. He has positioned NELLA as a leader
in the industry in applying Solar PV electricity to cover
a substantial portion of the convenience store load electric
loads.
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