Business Spotlight: Morris Oil Co. Inc.

Owner: Jim D. Morris

Founded: March 1, 1958

Address: 420-B W. Walnut Lawn, Springfield, MO 65807

Phone: (417) 889-1222

Fax: (417) 889-6082

Products/Services: Retail and wholesale petroleum marketer

Employees: 60

Fifty years ago on March 1, 1958, Jim D. Morris says he received the first and only 100 percent loan that Standard Oil ever made. With $4,700 in hand, a 23-year-old Morris started Morris Oil Co. Inc. in the southeast Missouri town of Campbell.

Morris had been driving a gasoline truck since graduating high school in 1952, when the chance came for the youngster to take over the Standard Oil agency in southeast Missouri.

“The guys with suits and ties said they wanted to do this deal for me, but they wanted a cosigner for the loan. I said, ‘What’s that?’ and they laughed out loud,” Morris recalls. “After they explained what a cosigner was, I replied, ‘Now why would anyone want to do that?’ They enjoyed my country talk.”

This self-described country boy has taken Morris Oil from first-year fuel sales of 250,000 gallons to selling 50 million gallons a year, operating and supplying 60 stores and employing more than 100 during the height of his company’s growth in the 1980s and 1990s. During the years, Morris has downsized the company in preparation for his exit from the business, and the company currently has 20 stations and 60 employees.

Last of the jobbers

Morris’ years in the industry offer a unique perspective.

Morris explains that gas prices started going up in the mid-1970s following shortages in 1973. He recalls crude oil was only $3 per barrel 35 years ago and now it hovers above $100.

Revenue breakdowns have changed, too. When Morris started, revenues came from full-service gasoline station sales. In the late 1960s, the convenience store boom started and now revenues are mostly gained through inside-store sales.

Morris says his company is one of the few independent fuel marketers, aka jobbers, left in the area.

Morris Oil sells ConocoPhillips fuel, which Morris says is about 95 percent sold by jobbers. Morris Oil trucks pick up the fuel from ConocoPhillips pipeline facilities in Carthage and Jasper and transport it to underground storage tanks at Morris Oil’s convenience stores or to its bulk plant facility in Branson.

Morris calls the last few years difficult, saying big oil companies are making the largest profits.

“A pump costs more today than how much it cost to start the business,” Morris quips, pointing to his slim 2-cent per gallon profit margin on fuel.

Jerry Carroll, president of Morris Oil since 1986, adds, “We made more profit at $.299 than we do at $3.09 with credit card fees, insurance and other expenses.”

According to Morris, 2007 revenues were at a loss, though he wouldn’t disclose amounts.

More than fuel

Real estate purchases for Morris Oil stations have led Morris into the commercial real estate market.

In 1959, Morris purchased his first farmland around Campbell, and he’s been investing in real estate ever since.

Morris also has been in the hotel business since 1993. At one time, he owned five hotels in Branson and Springfield with 1,200 available guest rooms. He is in the process of selling his properties in Branson because, as he simply claims, “I’m too old.”

He still owns Springfield’s Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, where Morris has invested $1 million in renovations in the past six months, General Manager Missy Handyside says. With 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Handyside appreciates Morris’ hands-on approach and personal interest in the Clarion.

Morris has also been involved in numerous business ventures in the Ozarks, including founding Signature Bank, which grew to nearly $1 billion in assets before being sold to BancorpSouth in 2006.

So what are Morris’ keys to success? Handyside says he’s the best negotiator she’s ever seen, and Carroll points out that he earned everything from the ground up.

In Morris’ own words: “I’m very conservative, and I’m never trying to be anything that I’m not. I was always determined to make it work and not do things for show. My goal is to help kids.”

Morris has contributed millions to organizations such as Boys & Girls Town of Missouri, Discovery Center, Lost & Found, The Arc of the Ozarks, Good Samaritan Boys Ranch, Missouri State University and the Gillioz Theatre.

Morris’ future plans include spending time near his roots in southeast Missouri and traveling. He says Morris Oil has often been attractive to investors, but he wouldn’t recommend the oil business to anybody considering the current market.

For now, Carroll says they’re just working on new challenges such as making the economics of ethanol work.

“I think we’re going to have a heck of a challenge with the ethanol,” Carroll says. “Ethanol is going to end up being so expensive, (independent marketers) are not going to be able to do it.”

Through all the changes, Morris says he’s never personally changed. “I’m the same country boy I always was,” he says.

Ask the Oil Company

Why do gas prices always seem to be 10 cents higher in Branson?

“It’s supply and demand. The people down there pay it,” says Jerry Carroll, president of Morris Oil Co. “In addition, it is more expensive to operate down there. There’s an extra probably 4 cents a gallon for freight, and our labor is a lot more down there than it is (in Springfield).”