By Martha Carney
Oil Heat Institute of Long Island CEO Kevin Rooney joined PRPLI at its very beginning thanks to his friend Jeff Morosoff, one of PRPLI’s founding members. While not actively involved in the organization, Rooney has continued his membership to support PRPLI because “it’s a good organization which helps and promotes younger people getting into the business.”
He’s never worked in a PR firm nor done just PR for a company, but he explains, “If you have worked for a variety of companies as I have, worked for the federal government, represented an industry and engaged in government affairs and media relations, then you are a PR person.”
OHI is a small, not-for-profit trade association, which has represented the full-service heating oil industry on Long Island since the mid-1950s. “I represent local heating oil companies, which are mostly family owned, terminal operators, trucking companies, and wholesale distributors.”
He handles their legislative and regulatory affairs, lobbying, and running the internal functions of the association, which also includes arranging technical training programs for members. He’s the primary point of contact for both elected officials, regulatory officials, and the media. In other words, he’s “the face of the industry,” and he’s been doing it for more than 33 years.
“It certainly keeps me busy,” he said. “I like the industry, especially the people that I work for, and coming to work each day…well, it’s just fun even though, on many days, it borders on organized chaos.”
There are only two people at the OHI office—Rooney and an assistant. He credits technology with the need for so few employees. “I can now produce financial reports in minutes which used to take days,” he says. “We used to have a very large stationery and postage budget…now everything goes out electronically, and our members have the information they need in their hands instantly. We don’t do special events other than an annual golf outing, and we hold regular industry meetings every month or so. Someone who runs a small association—and most trade associations are very small—wears many hats in the course of a day. You can be preparing financial reports for a board meeting or talking to a congressman, and the next minute you are fixing the copier! As a result, association execs have to develop competencies in a lot of different areas.”
He has also been involved in the Long Island Farm Bureau as a board member, chairs the “Project Warmth” advisory board for the United Way of Long Island, and has served on the board of the Better Business Bureau of Long Island for almost two decades. He teaches one or two nights a week at his alma mater Long Island University Post in the political science department.
Rooney grew up in England and came to the United States in 1969, and became a citizen in 1981. “I truly believe that if you come to this country from someplace else and you intend to stay,” he says, “you have to immerse yourself in American culture, politics, history, and its traditions.” So, in becoming an American, he even went out of his way to lose his English accent, much to the disappointment of his wife, Elaine.
Fortunate to have found a career in an industry that is very busy from October through April, Rooney enjoys the warmer months by gardening, boating and golfing. He plants tons of annuals and perennials and enjoys flowers in his garden from early April to December, and, while not a fisherman, he spends a fair amount of time boating with his wife, children, and seven grandchildren. He relaxes by reading and watching a lot of PBS and BBC America.
