February 14, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

RESEARCH PROJECT ON GAS STATIONS AND CRIME
DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS REPAIR SHOP STING OPERATION
AGING TIRE LEGISLATION IN WASHINGTON DC

In August, following a slew of gas station robberies and other violent crimes, NJGCA was approached about conducting a research project to investigate crime in our industry and how to create a safer environment. The project aims to identify how different variables (such as degree of lighting, types of security, accessibility to major roadways, nearby business establishments, and the surrounding area of the station) come together to make a station more or less vulnerable to crime. The research will be conducted by John Jay College Professor of Criminology and former Police Officer Jon Shane, and his team of research assistants. Once the project is complete, NJGCA and the industry will have better information and knowledge that can be used to reduce economic losses due to crime, reduce personal injury and harm associated with crime and violence, improve working conditions and quality of life, and enhance the relationship between gasoline station owners, employees and the police.

This project will require participation from stations that have been victims of crime, as well as that haven't been victimized so we can make comparisons. For those who have been victims of crime, we are interested in violent crime (assault, robbery, homicide) and property crime (theft, and vandalism, but not shoplifting). We are particularly interested in violent crime because we want to keep our members as safe and productive as possible. This is where we need your help! If your station or one of your employees has been involved in one of the crimes we mentioned in the last three years, please email jacy@njgca.org. Your participation is critical to the success of this research project, and we are confident that the study will produce recommendations that will help you protect your business, your profits and your employees. Please respond today!

Earlier this week I was caught off guard when the media started calling me wanting to discuss the dishonest repair shop sting that was conducted recently by the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs. To be honest, it brought back bad memories of a 60 Minutes expose from about 25 years ago, when I was still running a repair shop of my own. If any of you saw this and remember it, you must be an old timer like me, but 60 Minutes filmed and documented a lot of unscrupulous acts by auto mechanics selling repairs that were totally unnecessary. It created a cloud over the repair business for years. Many of you still encounter customers that have just the slightest bit of mistrust and unfortunately, there are still dishonest shop owners that make all of you honest guys look bad.

Here's what happened: Consumer Affairs conducted an undercover operation at 11 locations which had received numerous consumer complaints in recent months. The bad news is that Consumer Affairs documented two shops performing repairs that were absolutely unnecessary. The good news is that 9 of the 11 shops were conducting honest business operations. But, more bad news is that these findings mean that 20% of the shops that Consumer Affairs investigated were dishonest. Unfortunately, all it takes is two dishonest repair shop owners to make all of you look like crooks.

Once the media started calling, I contacted the Director of Consumer Affairs myself and spoke with him directly. I assured him that an overwhelming majority of shop owners are hard-working, honest business people. He agreed, but reminded me that consumer complaints must be followed up on. He appreciates that NJGCA supports tough actions being taken against those that smear the reputations of honest, hardworking business people.

Finally, there is one more issue in Washington DC that I want you to be aware of. H.B.580 is a piece of legislation which states that a repair shop cannot sell a new tire, retreaded tire, or used tire that is over three years old from the date of manufacture unless the dealer provides a written disclosure. A coalition has formed to oppose this legislation and we will continue to keep you apprised of its progress. If you have any questions or want to know more about this legislation, please contact eric@njgca.org.

Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato,
Executive Director

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

NJGCA also assists members in selling equipment through the placement of advetisments in Road Warrior!

If you'd like to list your business for sale, publish a location you're selling, or are seeking a business partner for your establishment, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066!

02/12/2014:
FDA Asked to Cancel Inaccurate Commercials: NATO, NYACS, NECSA and PMAA accuse ads of falsely depicting c-store sales
The National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), the NY Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS), the New England Convenience Store Association (NECSA), and the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA) have sent letters to the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Tobacco Products requesting that two commercials from the agency’s “The Real Cost” media campaign, which inaccurately and falsely depict c-store retailers selling cigarettes to a girl and a boy, be removed from television commercial airing schedule, deleted from the YouTube website, and not distributed in any other manner. These two commercials contain inaccurate and false depictions of a cigarette sales transaction in a c-store. To view the commercials, click here.

02/12/2014:
Latest Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers lower than expected
About 3.3 million Americans, including 54,805 New Jerseyans, have enrolled in the new Health Insurance Marketplace of the Affordable Care Act through Feb. 1, 2014. And although there is still more than a month left before the March 31 deadline, those numbers still fall well below expectations. Some estimates last fall indicated more than 700,000 Jerseyans were eligible to sign up through an exchange - with 300,000 others eligible to sign up through the expansion of Medicaid. The federal numbers also are below expectations. Early on, the administration aimed to have 7 million Americans enrolled by the March 31 deadline. To hit that goal, another 3.7 million Americans would have to enroll in the next six weeks.

02/10/2014:
Affordable Care Act deadline extended for mid-sized companies
The Obama Administration announced that medium-sized companies will have another year before they have to provide employees with health insurance or face tax penalties. The Affordable Care Act mandate will not be enforced until Jan. 1, 2016, so some companies that have more than 50 employees will now have an extra year to meet that requirement. In granting more time for compliance, the federal government set up new deadlines. For companies with 100 or more employees, 70% of workers must have the option of coverage by 2015 and 95% should have that option after that. Businesses with 50 to 100 employees will have until 2016 to provide health insurance or face tax penalties. Small businesses with 50 employees or fewer will not be required to provide coverage at any point. This latest delay in implementation follows several attempts by the Obama administration in recent months to soften the blow of trying to conform with the tenets of the Affordable Care Act.

02/06/2014:
How Much Will C-Stores Benefit From CVS Tobacco Ban?
Other pharmacies may follow CVS' lead on ditching tobacco products, while c-stores stand to gain more customers as tobacco users look for a new place to pick up their cigarettes, industry analysts say. CVS competitors such as Walgreens and Rite Aid will likely face pressure from the government and insurance agencies to phase out tobacco. If competitors follow CVS' lead, that will likely bring brisker business for convenience stores both in tobacco and other product sales, say tobacco analysts, since those tobacco users will likely purchase other items as well. C-stores already have a strong base of tobacco buyers, representing 86% of total US cigarette sales among mass merchants, according to Jeff Lenard, a vice president at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS).

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

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!!

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.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: 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
66 Morris Avenue
Springfield, NJ 07081
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.

THE MEMBER TOOL BOX

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