NICEVILLE — When Clarence Edison Fikes founded Fikes Wholesale Inc. in 1952, he did so with a commitment to give back to his community.
C.E. Fikes was deeply affected by the support and inspiration that he received as a young man in his tight-knit Texas community, and it is with this premise in mind that the Fikes Companies continue to value corporate citizenship.
Carrying on that tradition, CEFCO Convenience Stores, one of the Fikes Companies, donated $25,000 to the Northwest Florida State College Foundation on May 21 to establish a C.E. Fikes Endowed Scholarship, one of nine individual C.E. Fikes Endowed Scholarships supported by the Fikes Companies in the communities that Fikes/CEFCO serve.
CEFCO has opened a new convenience store at 1600 John Sims Parkway E. in Niceville and will next open a store in Crestview on State Road 85, north of U.S. Highway 90.
The Fikes donation to Northwest Florida State College will be used to provide scholarship support for full-time students, with first preference given to a student employed by the Fikes Companies or their affiliates.
Fikes Wholesale Inc. was founded as a single Texaco service station in C.E. Fikes' hometown of Cameron, Texas, where he would also later turn his attention to the wholesale fuel business.
In 1979, retail fuel and grocery became the focus when he opened the first CEFCO Convenience Store.
Today, CEFCO is the 30th largest convenience store chain in the United States. The Fikes Companies consist of Fikes Wholesale, CEFCO Convenience Stores, Cord Financial Services, Group Petroleum Services and J.F. Air Traffic.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fikes Companies fuel student success with $25,000 Northwest Florida State College scholarship