Darrel Edward Reifschneider

Darrel Edward Reifschneider

CEO, Lite Cylinder Company, LLC
1955, Bachelor of Science, Management, CSULB
1953, Associate of Arts, Industrial Engineering, Compton Junior College

Darrel Reifschneider serves at the helm of several thriving businesses, thanks to his leadership skills and manufacturing expertise. In 2002, he founded the Lite Cylinder Company, which manufactures and sells composite propane cylinders for residential and recreational use.

The Discovery Channel featured the company and its revolutionary manufacturing process on the show "How it's Made." Since 2000, as CEO, he has led Harpeth True Value Hardware, a retail store and lumber yard in Franklin, Tenn., as well as partnered with residential home builder Tennessee Valley Homes and All Service Propane.

From his start as engineering manager in 1955 to president and CEO from 1972 to 1999, he worked for Manchester Tank Company, a business founded by his family and, in 1999, the leading pressure vessels manufacturer with seven plants, 1,000 employees and more than $200 million in sales. In addition, Reifschneider is a member of the Tennessee Commerce Bank board of directors, National Fire Protection Association and Tau Kappa Epsilon, a fraternity that he joined while a student at CSULB.

He also sits on the National Propane Gas Association’s Governmental Affairs and Technical Standards Committees. Locally, he is active with the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club.

Among his other interests, Reifschneider counts tennis, hunting, gardening, and running a 150-acre farm. He lives in Franklin with his wife, Joan, and they have two living children and three grandchildren.