JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – On September 25, Missouri Gas Energy, Laclede Gas, Alagasco, MobileGas, and Willmut Gas will officially be changing their brand to Spire Inc. The St. Louis based Laclede Group, which acquired these companies, changed its name in late April 2016 to Spire.
Next week, the company will be unveiling an “official launch,” which Tim Goodman, Vice-President of Operations announces customers will, “see new signage, vehicles, uniforms, a new company website, and customer portal to serve customers.”
“This follows for more than 18 months worth of work and preparation,” Goodman said. “A little over a year ago, our corporate parent became Spire and on the 25, next Monday, the remaining utilities and businesses will also become Spire across all of our territories in Missouri, Alabama, and Mississippi ” he said.
The Laclede Group purchased Missouri Gas Energy in September 2013 in a $975 million deal. Following the deal, the company announced that it was “the largest natural gas distribution company in Missouri,” with company President Steve Lindsey saying, “We are hitting the ground running. As our companies come together, we are applying best practices and systems to ensure the highest service levels possible. Part of our initial focus will be to increase investments in the gas distribution system in western Missouri through our pipeline replacement program. At the same time, we will fully implement our new state-of-the-art customer care technology to better serve all of our customers.”
Laclede Gas has a long history in Missouri. In 1857, the Laclede Gas Light Company was established by the Missouri Legislature to ensure St. Louis street lights were lit – a quarter of a century before Edison would invent a light. The company was named after Pierre Laclede, the man who founded St. Louis, and has been operating out of the city for more than 150 years. In April 2016, the company became Spire because, “We needed a name to better reflect the company we are becoming,” said CEO Suzanne Sitherwood.
In recent years, the company has been undergoing changes to their brand. Notably in 2014, the company changed its headquarters within St. Louis to the 700 Market building downtown, which allows Spire to centralize the company’s employees into “a more open, collaborative environment,” according to Goodman. The company also has a marketing campaign which is centered around its impact on the local community, loyal workplace atmosphere, and use of “clean” natural gas.
Spire provides service to Missouri, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Alabama and has over 1.7 million customers. The company has become the 5th largest publicly traded natural gas utility in the nation and has an enterprise value around $5 billion.
Michael Layer is a reporter for the Missouri Times and the Missouri Times Magazine. He joined the Missouri Times in August 2017 after graduating from Goucher College the previous May. To contact Michael, email michael@themissouritimes.com or follow him on Twitter @_MichaelLayer
