Fiedler Group Celebrates 55 Years

January 8th, 2013 by Fiedler Group

Fred Stanton Fiedler was just 23 years old in 1946. Fresh out of the Army Air Corp, he joined Union Oil Company’s Construction and Engineering Department.

Over the next eleven years, Fiedler worked in a department that would complete over 800 service stations — including building Union Oil Service Station #4252, at the corner of Los Feliz and Brunswick, in a record-breaking nine working days.

But in 1956, the petroleum giant reached its refinery capacity, and no additional service stations were commissioned.

As the saying goes, when one door closes, a window opens.

In Fred’s case, the window would become Fred Fiedler & Associates (FF&A) — founded at the encouragement of Union Oil to manage the company’s Western United States construction and engineering projects.

In 1964, FF&A moved to its Third Street offices in downtown Los Angeles, where company headquarters remain to this day — a true brick-and-mortar symbol of the firm’s relentless stability, consistency, and dedication.

At the turn of the 1970s, new service station development came to a virtual halt. And out of this, the industry saw the arrival of air quality initiatives and regulations. Faced with a new challenge, FF&A trail-blazed vapor recovery solutions for underground tanks and similar fuel system projects.

By 1980, customers sought more from a service station than a simple fill-up.

Convenience was the new trend — fill-up your tank, polish your engine with a quick lube and oil, and wash off the dust with a car wash. And again, Fiedler’s team was the industry leader, providing solutions for every need.

In 1982 Patrick O’Neill Fiedler joined the firm and began transforming the company into the computer-aided design and program management era.

The 90s saw the convenience trend evolve with the advent of quick service restaurants (QSRs) and co-branding. Fiedler’s success with these facilities — which combined both food and gasoline — pioneered new opportunities with national restaurant leaders, including the likes of McDonalds, Jack in the Box, and Wienerschnitzel.

Alternative fuels started to appear in the market place, and again, FF&A led the way with methanol and compressed natural gas fueling facilities.

At the turn of the century, FF&A continued to evolve to supports its customers, designing  the first hydrogen fueling facilities in California for BP, Chevron and Shell

In 2004, FF&A rebranded itself Fiedler Group — reflecting the company’s revitalized direction as the multi-dimensional architectural and design engineering firm you know today — adding 7-Eleven and Ralphs/Food 4 Less to the family of clients.

In 2012, Fiedler Group completed perhaps its most significant “firsts” for Clean Energy Fuels — site adapting and permitting the first nationwide Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueling network in the Untied States with 70 sites being opened.

Fiedler Group remains committed to its proud history of innovation — to evolve in an ever-changing environment with new service offerings, new technologies, and a steadfast commitment to serving our clients — a promise kept across the better part of half a century.