Ray s Heating and Cooling, 83 Johnson St, Bridgeport, CT 06604, US

No, it s not that Santa. In 1940, Stephen J. Santa started a truck and gasoline route, thus beginning Santa Fuel. Joined by his sons in the early 1950 s, his business, now known as Santa Holding Company, grew and flourished. A decade later, the four-brother partnership bought its first water-side 2.1 million gallon fuel storage terminal in Bridgeport, Conn. In 1983, the company purchased Buckley Energy. The company then extended its wholesale marketing reach to Rhode Island, Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts. In 1999, Santa opened Inland Fuel Terminals; its first unattended, gasoline/diesel fueling station in Connecticut. Santa has also expanded its heating equipment options to include boilers, furnaces, water heaters, humidifiers, fuel storage tanks, electronic air cleaners and central air conditioning systems. Its diverse customer base includes entities from churches and fuel dealers in downtown Boston and homeowners in Fairfield County, Mass., to hospitals in Vermont and commercial fleets in Connecticut. Its offices are in Bridgeport.