Fikes

When it comes to homegrown industry, Fikes is a true posterchild for business success in Temple, Texas.

For 60-plus years, Temple-based Fikes Wholesale, Inc. has delivered quality gasoline and diesel fuel from Shell, ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, CITGO, Valero and unbranded and commercial accounts to retail stations throughout the Southeastern U.S. In addition, Fikes operates CEFCO Convenience Stores, the 30th-largest company-operated chain in the convenience retailing industry, operating more than 250 stores in Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana and Arkansas. The company employs approximately 1,500 people including more than 1,000 in Texas alone.

Fikes is also the parent company of CORD Financial Services, one of the largest ATM companies in the nation with over 15,000 ATMs nationwide; JF Air Traffic, a charter jet service based at Temple’s Draughon-Miller Airport; Group Petroleum Services, a freight company that delivers fuel to CEFCO Convenience Stores and other retailers; and Fleet Fuel, a proprietary fuel credit card company.

The City of Temple and Bell County have also embraced this project and have worked hand-in-hand with us to make our new home a reality.

-Raymond Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Fikes

Fikes’ success story in Temple saw a significant chapter in 2011 when it completed a new, 19.5-acre headquarters campus, which included a two-story, 42,000-square-foot building. Located at Temple’s Airport Park at Central Pointe, the campus is a major tenant of the city’s prime industrial parks.

Fikes officials noted that the opportunities afforded by the location and the infrastructure of Temple’s Airport Park are in sync with Fikes’ growth plans.

Part of a growing corporate cluster that is projected to add 4% more employees than the national average between 2017 and 2022, companies like Fikes benefit from Temple’s prime location and talented workforce. Located 45 minutes north of Texas’ capital, Temple is at the crossroads of I-35 and the planned I-14 slated to run from El Paso, Texas, to Georgia. Another perk? A growing workforce in a community of 450,000-plus skilled workers and educated professionals.