Propel Fuels Adds New Leaders

SACRAMENTO -- To help the company reach its planned growth objectives, Propel Fuels added four new members to its senior leadership team.

Propel Fuels, operator of alternative fueling pumps in California, recently received $20 million in private financing to enable the company to expand its network to major markets across California, according to a report by the Sacramento Business Journal.

“With the capital we have raised, our unique customer experience and these key additions to our team, we are making renewable fuels a part of our customers’ everyday experience,” Propel Fuels chief executive officer, Matt Horton, said in a news release cited by the paper. “It is time to grow the business of specialty fuels and ignite an emotional attachment with our customers.”

The new executives include Andy Wynne, chief financial officer; Jim Iacoponi, vice president of operations; Michael Sarwari, director of technology development; and Jim Cannon, vice president of construction and development.

Prior to joining Propel Fuels, Wynne served as CFO and executive vice president of Tully’s Coffee Corp., a specialty coffee retailer with more than 600 branded locations around the globe.

Iacoponi comes to the company from a prior role as vice president of strategy and planning for ARCO, BP and ampm convenience stores. He brings nearly three decades of commercial and retail fuel management experience.

Cannon formerly served as vice president of design, construction and facilities at Jack in the Box, and has overseen development for retail brands including 24 Hour Fitness, Boston Market, Stride Rite and Briazz.

Sarwari holds 15 years of experience in information technology operations for a variety of companies within the Internet, entertainment, education, human resources and real estate industries.

To date, Propel Fuels operates ethanol and biodiesel fuel pumps at five gas stations in Sacramento, Rocklin, Citrus Heights and Elk Grove, and another six biofuel pumps at six stations in Washington state. It plans to install hundreds more pumps in California.