Going back to when a fuel pump contained an actual pump, Harbour Petroleum was selling fuel in Florida. Harbour Petroleum Corporation of Brevard, Inc. was formed in 1984 in Melbourne, FL when Sam Gornto, who was an executive with another petroleum distributorship and had earned his certificate as a CPA, with two partners purchased the assets of an Exxon distributorship. Supplied with previous jobber experience, strong financial understanding and his commitment to providing quality service at a competitive price, Harbour Petroleum has grown to be a dominant player in Florida's fuel supply industry.
Working side by side with Sam from the early years of Harbour Petroleum have been Barbara Smith and Patti Wanken, both of whom have been instrumental in Harbour's successes. Mark Gornto, Sam's son and also a CPA, joined Harbour in 2002 and is acting Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Along with Mark's experience in public accounting, he brings additional energy and vision and is committed to the level of service for which Harbour Petroleum is known.
Since its inception, Harbour Petroleum has had two key business activities. First, it sells branded and unbranded fuel through term supply agreements with independent convenience stores and gas stations. Second, it leases its own sites to operators who earn a commission for selling Harbour's fuel through the site. The operators reap the benefits of the convenience store operation or auto repair business they manage on the site. Although this "commission" arrangement has recently become very popular in Florida, Harbour Petroleum has been operating sites through commission dealers for over 20 years.
Currently, Harbour Petroleum has franchise agreements to distribute gas for Chevron, Mobil, Citgo, Exxon, Mystik, and Pure in Florida.