September 05, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

NJGCA UPDATES, IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REMINDERS

As summer comes to a close, it's time to get back into the swing of things.  Here at NJGCA we had a busy summer and we have an even busier fall ahead of us. I would like to take a moment to provide you with some important updates, information and reminders.
 
1. Breakfast Meetings:  NJGCA has hosted three successful breakfast meetings thus far, and we have two more scheduled for the upcoming week. These meetings will take place in Andover on Wednesday, September 10th and East Hanover on Tuesday, September 16th. For those of you living or owning a business in Warren, Sussex, Morris or Essex county, you should be receiving specific emails about these meetings. For everyone else, please feel free to join us if you will be in the area or happen to be passing through.  The flyer with all of the information about NJGCA's FREE breakfast meetings can be accessed HERE.
 
2. Natural Gas Vehicle Summit: In late October, I will be attending a Natural Gas Vehicle Summit in Boston. I firmly believe that one day there will be a "last drop of oil" and I strongly feel that it is my responsibility as the Executive Director of this organization to prepare my members for that possibility. NJGCA strives to educate and inform our members and provide them with opportunities to increase their knowledge, skills and abilities to run successful businesses.  This summit will be an event that you can't afford to miss! I will be attending, so please let me know if you are interested in joining me. For more info about the Summit, please click HERE.
 
3. Crime Research Survey: It's been a while since I have brought this project to your attention, but it remains something that NJGCA is strongly focused on.  As I said before, we strive to give members information that will help them run safe and prosperous businesses.  This survey aims to gather information about gas stations that have been victims of crime, so that the research team can analyze what factors contribute to making a station more vulnerable than another. However, in order to make that comparison, we need information from stations that HAVE NOT been victimized as well.  Please take a few moments to fill out our survey and help us gather critical information that we can use to make our industry a safer place.  Click HERE to take the survey.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.  See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Do you have a business for sale?  Are you looking for a new location or opportunity?

• NJGCA regularly assists members looking to sell their business by getting the word out.  Since everyone reading this message is involved in the small business gasoline retail, convenience store, and automotive repair trades, it is an ideal medium to connect with interested buyers and prospects!

NJGCA also helps members sell equipment by placing ads in the Road Warrior!

• If you'd like to list equipment for sale, or have an open position you'd like to make other industry professionals aware of, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066 and let us help you get the word out! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

09/03/2014:
CVS Changes Name And Stops Selling Tobacco Products
As CVS sharpens its focus on customer health, the nation's second-largest drugstore chain will tweak its corporate name and stop the sale of tobacco nearly a month sooner than planned. CVS Caremark said it will now be known as CVS Health, effective immediately. The signs on its roughly 7,700 drugstores won't change, so the tweak may not register with shoppers.  However, those customers will see a big change when they check out. The cigars and cigarettes that used to fill the shelves behind store cash registers have been replaced with nicotine gum and other products that help people kick the tobacco habit. CVS said earlier this year that it would stop selling tobacco products on Oct. 1.

09/03/2014:
Through the years, N.J.’s AMT has become an example of a MEWA done right
Trenton is considering legislation to encourage more employers to join together and provide affordable health coverage to their workers by creating self-insured “multi-employer welfare associations,” or MEWAs.  And as this debate unfolds, the state’s oldest MEWA, the 69-year-old Association Master Trust, shows how a MEWA can succeed in the highly competitive health plan arena, thanks to a wide choice of plans and prices coupled with plenty of customer service to help members navigate the complex world of health care. The key is that AMT strives to control administrative overhead and partners with Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, which provides the doctor and hospital network and medical claims administration. As a result, it has managed to hold member health plan cost increases to low single-digits -- at a time when many employers are struggling with soaring health care bills. AMT is a not-for-profit that operates to benefit its members, so when there’s surplus in excess of what it needs to fund an ample financial reserve, some of that money goes back to the members, thus lowering their cost of health coverage.  Over the past three years, AMT has returned $9.5 million to its members. Founded in 1945 by the New Jersey Fuel Merchants Association, it eventually opened its doors to other associations and in 1978 became the Association Master Trust, reflecting its diverse membership. Today, AMT’s 16 New Jersey associations include the NJ Independent Electrical Contractors Association, the NJ State League of Master Plumbers, the NJ Veterinary Medicine Association and NJGCA!
 
09/03/2014:
Automakers Defy Expectations with August Sales
Easy credit, rising consumer confidence and strong demand for utility vehicles and trucks pushed new vehicle sales upward towards a seasonally adjusted average rate of 17 million units in August, helping the auto industry maintain the momentum it had built up throughout the summer. Chrysler, Ford, Audi, Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota all posted sales gains during August while GM and Volkswagen reported their sales dropped last month despite the strong consumer demand for new cars and trucks. The strong results defied analyst expectations of a small overall increase of just 0.1%. In fact, multiple automakers reported they expected industry-wide August sales to rise 3% overall. The early reports support their assertions. In fact, Ford, Nissan and Toyota were expected to see small declines, but defied conventional wisdom by posting positive results. Only GM and VW hit the expected declines predicted. Chrysler and several others exceeded the positive estimates with their results.

09/01/2014:
California Plastic Bag Ban Would Be First Of Its Kind In The Nation
The California state legislature enacted a ban on plastic grocery bags on Friday near the end of its two-year session, a measure that if signed into law would become the first of its kind in America. A number of cities and counties in California and other U.S. states, including Hawaii's Maui County, have made it illegal for grocery stores to pack purchases in plastic. But at the state level, opposition from plastic bag makers has usually prevailed. The California Senate voted 22-15 for the bill, which must be signed into law by Sept. 30 by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, who has not signaled a position on the measure. A similar measure was introduced last year but it failed by three votes. The fate of this bill was uncertain until the waning hours of the session after falling three votes short in the state's Assembly on Monday. The measure would ban grocery stores from handing out single-use grocery bags with customers' purchases, and provide money to local plastic bag companies to retool to make heavier, multiple-use bags that customers could buy.

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

No classes currently scheduled.  Please check back soon!

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND.  CONTACT DEBBIE at 973-376-0066 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS.  THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions
Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. 

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s  service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs.  Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. 

Contact GREG CANNON at 973-376-0066 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.