CN Brown Company is a family owned business that started in 1948 as a retail and wholesale lumber company in Lovell, ME. The company expanded its business and territory to include petroleum products in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In the early 70’s, management recognized the changing lumber industry and began concentrating its efforts in the convenience store, gasoline, and heating oil business. At about this time, Carlton N. Brown hired Harold D. Jones, a district representative from Phillips Petroleum, to be CN Brown Company’s General Manager/CFO; to lead the company into these new markets. This marked the beginning of a new era for CN Brown Company. The company began a program of purchasing and building new convenience stores, along with its steady expansion of its heating oil business.