Liz McKinley, the founder and CEO of Pinnacle Petroleum Inc., says the company’s revenue will surpass half a billion dollars this year, continuing its strong growth after the pandemic. “Demand is robust,” she told the Business Journal on April 21. Pinnacle, one of five companies that received a Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award last June at the Irvine Marriott, is a national provider of competitively priced petroleum products and services based in Huntington Beach. “We keep pushing and are projecting a 20% growth path this year,” McKinley said. That growth continues a trend for the company, which saw sales of $488 million in 2022, up from $360 million the year prior, after the difficulties caused by COVID-19 in 2020. McKinley, one of OC’s top female executives who also won a Business Journal Women in Business Award in 2020, said her firm has about 250 customers throughout the U.S. as of last month, including Fortune 100 accounts as well as cities and counties across 17 states. McKinley launched the business in 1995 and it currently counts 25 employees. She put herself through college at Oklahoma State University (OSU) and started out working for the giant Koch Industries Inc. conglomerate. Since her first job at an Oklahoma Dairy Queen at age 14, McKinley always had a goal of becoming a top-level executive. She reached a new milestone this year, with OSU adding Pinnacle Petroleum to its “Cowboy 100 List” that recognizes the business and leadership achievements throughout OSU’s alumni base while raising funds for student programs. It honors “Cowboy-led or Cowboyowned businesses,” named after the school’s mascot. McKinley’s daughter, Maddie, is a key part of the Pinnacle Petroleum business, running the Fleet Card Division, where she specializes in the development and implementation of fuel card programs for the company, which services customers in all 50 states. “We are a channel partner with U.S. Bank and provide fuel cards to fleets for retails sales,” McKinley said.