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November 1, 2018

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

• Paid Sick Leave: Are You in Compliance?; A/B Operator Training Reciprocity; Amazon Go Stores: Coming to a City Near You; Young Professionals Turkey Drive: Ready for Donations!; Election Day: November 6th

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001
- Bergen County: Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

• Cashier-Less Sam's Club Store Paves The Way For The Future Of Shopping
• Three Insights on Checkout-free Retail
• Altria Pulls Certain E-Vapor Products, Flavors
• Op-ed: Governor Mustn’t Rob Transportation Trust Fund To Fix NJ Transit Operations

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!

??????• Emissions Inspector Training Class, THURSDAY December 6th
??????• Entire Emission Repair Technician Program: October 8, 10, 15, 24, 29, 31, November 5, 7, 19, 26, December 3
??????• Emission Repair Technician Program RECERTIFICATION: November 7, 19, 26, December 3

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD
• The Amato Agency: Garage Insurance and Workers Compensation!
• ATS Environmental: Confidence in your Tank & Compliance Testing
• Bellomo Fuel: Exceptional Service, Aggressive Petroleum Marketing
• CBIZ Insurance: Our Business is Growing Yours!
• Gill Energy: Getting you There!
• Lending Capital: "Commercial Loans Made Easy" Program
• Salomone Brothers: Tank Testing and Environmental Compliance
• TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On Your Energy Bills

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
• Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

PAID SICK LEAVE: ARE YOU IN COMPLIANCE?
A/B OPERATOR TRAINING RECIPROCITY
AMAZON GO STORES: COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TURKEY DRIVE - READY FOR DONATIONS!
ELECTION DAY NOVEMBER 6TH

This week I am in Vegas attending SEMA, AAPEX and SSDA conferences, but news does not slow down! There are some important items and reminders for this week that we need to be sure you all are aware of.

The most important thing every single one of you need to know is that the new paid sick leave law took effect on Monday October 29, 2018. This covers every single employee at every single business. You should know the basic idea: every employee earns one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours they work, capped at 40 hours per “benefit year”. But it’s a much longer and more complicated law than that, so make sure that you at least review the memo NJGCA has prepared at www.njgca.org/PSL. Between myself and the staff here, we have attended numerous meetings and seminars about this law

One common thread is that the employers most likely to be tripped up are not those who never provided any paid leave beforehand, but those who already provided some form of leave and are assuming that they are in compliance with the law. This may be the case for some of your employees, like managers. It’s not just about the amount of paid leave that is provided, but all the circumstances surrounding how it can be used. Do you require that if an employee used paid leave without advance notice for two days in a row, they must provide a doctor’s note? Well then you are not in compliance with the law, which says you can only ask for proof after three consecutive days. Do you require 10 days advance notice for foreseeable uses of leave? Well then you are not in compliance, as you cannot require more than seven days of notice.

Do you have an official Employee Handbook? If you do, make sure it is up to date in light of the new law. If you don’t, then now more than ever you need to develop one. There are several protections built into the law for employers, but they are only valid if the employees are given advance notice. For example, it would be very disruptive if an employee only wanted to take off for the last two hours of their eight hour shift. You are allowed to require that if an employee uses their PSL, they must use it for the entire shift. BUT this is only legal if you have given the employee advance notice of this policy.

For right now, you of course need to be tracking the number of hours each employee is working. You also must give each of them a new form before November 29^th, post this form in the workplace with the other notifications, and give it to every new employee going forward.

There is one very important part of this form that YOU must fill out, and don’t fill it in until you’ve given it some thought. I mentioned that every employee must be allowed to earn up to 40 hours of PSL every “benefit year,” and any PSL not used must be carried forward. Each employer is allowed to decide when a “benefit year” is defined, and it must be listed on this form. You are allowed to define a year however you want, but if at any point going forward you decide to change how a year is defined you will need to get separate approval from the Department of Labor, which may deny the request.

Confused? Uncertain? Then in addition to checking out the materials on our webpage, make sure to tune in to the webinar we are hosting on November 7th. You can register HERE. It is the first in a series of webinars on employment laws, and will be dedicated entirely to this topic.

For A/B Operators, a clarification on last week’s notice for those of you who took the Class A/B Operator training and test in Pennsylvania. If you took the Class A/B through/via PA, you are only permitted to use it if you had already submitted your training documents to NJDEP and it was received before the October 13th compliance date. New Jersey will not accept reciprocity in Pennsylvania as they did not meet the same standards as New Jersey training. NJDEP will accept reciprocity in seven other states/territories: Colorado, Connecticut, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and West Virginia. For more information, please continue to check our UST webpage for resources as we continue to post updates here.

I’m sure you all noticed the new section of our OTR outlining disruptions that we will soon need to adapt to. This particular topic is of great interest to me, as these new developments will determine the future of our small businesses. As I have said before, it is NJGCA’s responsibility to make sure our members are well informed of these upcoming disruptions, as they are not going away, they are only just beginning to grow. One of the largest disruptors of them all, Amazon, recently announced plans to open 3,000 new AmazonGo cashierless stores within the next few years after having successful openings in Seattle and Chicago. The stores will carry fresh prepared foods and limited grocery items and will feature meal on the run options. Customers use an app on their phone to enter the store, then simply grab their items and walk out. Other major companies are following suit, with Sam’s Club just announcing this week that they too will shortly be opening a cashierless store. Cashierless stores have not reached New Jersey yet, but it is only a matter of time before we start to see these kinds of shops open up in our towns.

NJGCA’s Young Professionals Turkey Drive collection begins TODAY! The Young Professionals will be collecting turkey, turkey breast, and monetary donations November 1 - 9 and delivering donations to Fulfill NJ, a food bank serving Monmouth and Ocean counties. I was thrilled with the level of interest and generosity of our members during our Hurricane Florence and hope you will contribute. You can drop off donations at our offices in Wall, or at the following locations:

Environmental Alliance
515 Plainfield Ave Suite 202, Edison, NJ 08817
*Call and ask to speak with Daniela Pava before dropping off donations

Bellomo Fuels
2300 E Edgar Rd, Linden, NJ 07036

If you are unable to donate a turkey but want to contribute, you can also make a monetary donation by calling our offices. I hope you all will get an early start on your holiday spirit and contribute to this wonderful cause lead by our Young Professionals.

Don't forget! This upcoming Tuesday November 6th is Election Day! It is a very important election as there are multiple competitive races across the state, more so than usual. The polls are open between 7 AM and 7 PM. You all should have received our latest edition of the OTR, which is our voter guide. Be sure to read up on the candidates. The outcome of the election this year will most certainly have an effect on your small business, make sure to turn out to the polls on Tuesday to make your voice heard!

That's all for this week-

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!
All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!
THURSDAY, December 6th, 2048 -- 7 AM to 3 PM

Want one of your technicians to become a NJ Emissions Inspector? We can help! Our one-day class will provide all the information for becoming a NJ Emissions Inspector, and the State will administer the written test the very same day at our offices! We are offering the class Thursday, December 6th from 7:00am to 3:00pm.
Cost is $275 for members.
Click HERE for registration form

Want to become an emission repair technician/facility?
Entire Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP) Training Classes
Sections 1-7
October 8, 10, 15, 24, 29, 31 [TBD],
November 5
Sections 8, 9, 10 (RECERTIFICATION)
November 7, 19, 26
December 3
1 PM to 9 PM

Stop turning away work!!
The New Jersey Inspection Program requires vehicles that fail emissions inspection to go to a Licensed Certified Emission Repair Facility and have a Licensed Emission Repair Technician perform the repairs! When the new Emissions Inspection program begins, a list of Certified Emission Repair Facilities will be given to the vehicle owners who fail the New Jersey Emission Inspection. If you want your business name on the list – make sure you have a Certified Licensed Emission Repair Technician and you are licensed as a Emission Repair Facility! Those signing up for the FULL training course will attend sections 1-10. Recertification classes start November 7.
Full ETEP class fees for members are $2,195 and non-members are &2,395
Recertification fees for members are $729 and non-members are $879.
Click HERE for registration form.

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 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!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

FOR SALE:

Business For Sale: Monmouth County gas station and repair shop in business since 2001 is for sale. Owner is relocating out of state and is interested in selling business and equipment. Owner is open to limited financing. Business has a strong 10 year lease. The building has two repair bays and the gas pumps are leased to a large independent tenant. Repair shop business currently employs a Manager and two full-time Technicians. For inquiries and more info, please call Mark at 908-670-7798.

FOR SALE:

Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale in Bergen County!

Business established in 1980. Fully equipped repair shop with 5 lifts including an alignment rack with a 2-year-old Hunter Hawkeye alignment machine. New Hunter tire machine & wheel balancer. AAA approved and very busy.

Towing business also available which includes 3 Freightliner/JerrDan flatbeds (2015, 2016 & 2017), a 2012 Dodge crew cab wrecker with a Jerrdan Quick Pick & dual cable winch & 2 service trucks (a 2012 GMC 2500 utility truck with a plow & a 2014 Ford transit battery/service vehicle).

Pumping over 1,000,000 gallons per year. 100x300 lot with plenty of parking. Excellent location!!! Call Jim @ 201-851-3084.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

10/30/18
Cashier-Less Sam's Club Store Paves The Way For The Future Of Shopping
The future of retail is about making customers’ lives easier and better. The modern customer experience is fast and seamless. And there’s a retail race on to get there first. Forget check-out lines. The future of retail shopping is here. Think of it as the ultimate self check-out experience. Instead of waiting for someone to ring up your grocery items, customers can now simply pick out what they need, scan an app and walk out of the store. Amazon started it first with its cashier-less Amazon Go store, but now Sam’s Club (owned by Walmart) is following suit with its Sam’s Club Now store, which will open in Dallas next month.

10/30/18
Three Insights on Checkout-free Retail
It’s easy to see why everyone is talking about checkout-free retail. Lines can be incredibly frustrating—especially at convenience stores. If you’ve visited an Amazon Go location, then you know how great it feels to “just walk out” when you’re ready to leave. But Amazon is far from the only company developing this technology. Zippin recently made headlines for testing a similar system at its San Francisco concept store. Zippin relies on a smaller number of cameras and, unlike Amazon, has announced intentions to scale its system to other retailers—opening the possibility of retrofitting stores once the technology is available. Read their biggest takeaways.

10/26/18
Altria Pulls Certain E-Vapor Products, Flavors
Yesterday, Altria, a leading manufacturer of e-vapor products, announced it will pull two pod-based products and all but three varieties of “cig-a-like” products off the market. The announcement came in a written response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) letter sent to Altria and four other manufacturers of e-vapor products in September. The FDA letter expressed concerns over the reported increase in the use of e-vapor products by young people and urged the manufacturers to pledge preventative action. The Altria response, signed by Howard A. Willard III, chairman and CEO of Altria, noted that the company will remove from the market MarkTen Elite and Apex by MarkTen pod-based products “until we receive a market order from FDA or the youth issue is otherwise addressed.”

10/25/18
Op-ed: Governor Mustn’t Rob Transportation Trust Fund To Fix NJ Transit Operations
The crisis at NJ Transit is not Gov. Murphy’s creation but it is now his responsibility to fix. In what could well become the defining policy issue of his administration, the governor now owns the outcome of the audit he commissioned and recently released. There is no doubt Gov. Murphy’s predecessors dramatically underfunded the rail system. The problems were evident as early as in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy but now it is safe to say the system has moved from beleaguered to failing. It’s become a political problem and New Jersey residents are growing increasingly angry.

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 require 12 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 732-256-9646 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.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATION: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

To truly understand the importance of supporting our allies, consider our successes in Trenton:

We defeated BELOW COST SELLING
We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law!
We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly
We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram
We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes
...and MUCH MORE!!

In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature!

If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies.

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
NJGCA PAC
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past.

We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call.

Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.