Our Leadership
David Billingsley
The Master
Although Critical Fuel Services is relatively young, David’s experience in the field dates back to April of 1991 when he started as a field technician for environmental contracting companies. Throughout those years, David traveled throughout the southeastern states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. During this time, David developed his knowledge of fuel systems as they relate to emergency power generation in critical environments including all that’s involved in their implementation, repair, and upkeep. He also established long-term relationships with clients at hospitals, telecommunication facilities, banks, data centers, government buildings, etc. By March of 2016, David saw a need and opportunity for the specialized, but the multi-faceted experience he had developed over the past 25 years.
At the start, David intended for Critical Fuel Services to be a family business. He initially set out to use this opportunity to put himself in a position to be closer to his wife, Kim, and his two sons, Kalebb and Zak. David believes that this company is a way for his family to control their own destiny. As a father and a boss, David wants to create a culture in his business, his legacy, that places the value of the employee and the worker. This company serves as a way for David to continue his life’s work, passing his experience onto his sons, and investing in his family’s future.
Kim Billingsley
The Boss
Kim is the driving force that keeps Critical Fuel functioning. She runs the office while David and her sons, Kalebb and Zak, travel across the Southeast working on the various aspects of fuel systems. Kim is also known to jump in and help in the field when needed. Kim has accumulated years of administrative and accounting experience in various environments like banking, nonprofit organizations, and other private companies. In preparation for her majority ownership of Critical Fuel Services, Kim obtained her Women-Owned Business certification (WBE) in 2019. Kim and David run the business as a team, David makes the bids and pulls the clientele, Kim runs the accounts, the payroll, the human resources, the schedules, and otherwise keeps everything running smoothly.
Kim jumped right into business with David. Together, they navigated the process of launching a business, both of them relying on their experiences to create a successful family business. Kim sees this company as an opportunity for her sons, Kalebb and Zak, to build a legacy of their own, for her husband David to be his own boss, for herself to ensure the stability and success of her family in the future.
Team Members
Zak Billingsley
The Perfectionist
Zak joined Critical Fuel Services in July of 2016, shortly after the company’s inception. Prior to Critical Fuel Services, Zak started his first high school job with a large tire company and spent 8 years working his way up from a technician and into management. Zak valued his time with the tire company, acknowledging that he learned how to be a leader. He briefly joined his dad in David’s final moments at an environmental contracting company. When David approached him to join Critical Fuel Services, Zak immediately agreed, without question, so he could work with his dad.
On the job site, Zak is known as the perfectionist. He consistently aims to complete the job right the first time which he achieves by envisioning the final product, considering all options and avenues, then planning before he even touches a tool. Zak values the person who works his way up through the ranks, having been that man himself, and he hopes to do the same for his company. Zak sees growth for Critical Fuel Services, enough growth for his son to be a part of in the future. He sees Critical Fuel as always remaining a family company, and sometimes there are friends who become family members but nevertheless a family at its core.
Kalebb Billingsley
The Enforcer
Kalebb spent his early working years in hospitality, specifically the food industry working in kitchens and as a bartender. As the years passed, Kalebb compounded the mechanical knowledge that David taught him with his own on-site experience. He spent some time working with Zak at the tire company, but a large chunk of Kalebb’s expertise comes from his time in Houston, Texas working for the off-shore oil and gas industry. In this high-pressure environment, Kalebb explored knowledge of hazardous chemical, soldering, fiberoptic slicing, fluid dynamics, and more. The job brought with it a lot of stress since any number of things could go wrong and result in gruesome injuries. Kalebb joined Critical Fuel Services as a full-time employee in February of 2017 after doing some part-time work for the company for a few months.
From his experience, everyone on the job site recognizes Kalebb as the safety man – he is the one who will make sure that the job site is safe and that everyone makes it home in one piece. He brings a new perspective to the site and while he encourages more creative thinking about the projects, Kalebb also has begun to develop an acute understanding of rules and regulations associated with the field. Kalebb has witnessed the hard work his parents, Kim and David, have put forth over the years. In joining Critical Fuel, Kalebb hopes to achieve success through his own hard work and pass the same lesson on to his own two daughters.
Johnny Delk
The Chosen One
After cultivating skills in the food service industry, Johnny trained as a mechanic and focused his time at a local Hyundai dealership for 7 years. While there, Johnny learned the ins and outs of Hyundai engines, diagnosing engine issues, keeping up proper maintenance, and possibly
repairing automotive systems. During that time, Johnny worked his way to becoming a trainer for the location. Johnny met the Billingsley family through mutual friends and joined Critical Fuel Services in April of 2019.
Johnny was the first employee of Critical Fuel Services who is not related to the family by blood or marriage but has quickly made himself a highly desirable team member. Johnny has very quickly learned the key components on the job, helped with designs, he offers input and solutions, and he is always willing to back it all up with a day of hard work. While at Critical Fuel, Johnny has been able to expand his mechanical skill sets. It has also given him a sense of family, a group of people whom he can rely on both in the field and at home.