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

SEMINAR SUCCESS WILL LEAD TO SERVICE STATION SURVIVAL!

This week’s message is not going to be overly long or raise new and important issues.  Why?  Because I am actually writing this on Thursday afternoon in a back room during our second Calibration & Regulatory Seminar in Toms River. 

The last week has been incredibly busy for me and I’ve been out of the office the entire time.  Wednesday and today (Thursday), I was hosting our Calibration & Regulatory Seminars in Pompton Plains and here in Toms River.  Monday and Tuesday I was in Pittsburgh to attend an important meeting with leaders from other service station associations throughout the country.  I don’t have time to report on that event at the moment, but will cover some of that next week.

Getting back to our seminars the last two days, however, I have a lot of thoughts and sentiments about the event NJGCA just put on.

First Thought: WOW.  This was a great event!!  We had a lot of important information conveyed to our members on the last two days. 

Second Thought: There should have been 500 more of you here at this event!!  Though the seminars were well attended and the rooms were full, there should have been MORE NJGCA members here!  For Heaven’s sake, we even had NON-MEMBERS who attended! That may sound a little demanding, but demanding or not, the information presented was too valuable for you to have missed.  Hell, I’ve been in and around this industry for over 30 years and even I learned a few things! 

I’m making a big deal over this because your attendance could literally mean your continued existence – or your eventual exit – from this business.  I know that there are lots of demands that weigh on you and burden you as a small business owner.  What’s more, I know that many of these things tend to fall on the back burner and are even neglected over time.  What worries me is that checking and regularly calibrating your meters and tank inventory control system (ATG system) is one of those things you’re letting slide.  The majority of station owners who are reading this message ARE GIVING AWAY PRODUCT, and yet when you are offered essential information to keep that from happening, many of you didn’t take advantage of this offer to learn how to save your business.

An Interruption: Mike Vanderslice from Environmental Alliance just broke my train of thought by popping into the back room to talk to me.  I know he didn’t do it on purpose, but he doesn’t realize I need to get this Road Warrior done quickly so I can duck back inside.

Third Thought: The presentation by Joseph Petrecca of the USDOL was an enormous surprise to our members – for a number of reasons.  First, I don’t know if everyone fully comprehended how serious the government is about changing the employment and compensation habits in our industry.  It was both alarming and shocking!  Mr. Petrecca reiterated that his department began investigating gas stations and auto repair shops with a task force at the beginning of the year,  (You’ve seen the splashy headlines) and plans to visit every gas station and auto repair shop in New Jersey no matter how long it takes.  Second, he openly stated that they are conducting surveillance for as much as a week prior to visiting your facility, flashing their badges at you, and interviewing your employees.  What’s more, once the process starts, they will give you 72 hours to produce 2 years (and in some cases, 3 years) worth of payroll records.  Third, if you weren’t there to hear the presentation – and the Q & A session from fellow station owners – you missed out!  Mr. Petrecca was there to show you how you can EASILY stay in compliance to avoid costly fines and fees.  That means you could save yourself the headache of having to pay $3,500 IN FINES PER EMPLOYEE PER LOCATION by following his advice.  Fourth, he gave us all a heads up that in the next few weeks there are going to be more ugly headlines about their findings and that they’ve even targeted one oil company brand (they shared which brand it is with me, but I’m not free to reveal it right now). 

Fourth Thought: The NJDEP refresher on regulations and compliance presented by Jonathan Berg and his team was excellent!  A lot of the folks who attended are going to be first time station owners, as they have recently acquired (or are in the process of acquiring) their location from the oil companies.  Learning how to avoid costly fines and penalties was both informative to these newly minted property owners as well as seasoned veterans.

After reading my thoughts here, do you see why I’m upset that even MORE of you weren’t here to participate in our seminar?  But you don’t have to take my word for it.  I was fortunate enough to have been approached by a few of our members during the last two days on what they thought about our event.  Here’s what a few had to say:

"Very informative, these seminars are important to go to, I'm fired up to head back to my business and get everything in line.  The calibration talk was especially informative” 
- Stan Kaplan, Parkway Service Center, Ewing

"Joe Petrecca from the USDOL was very informative in explaining the mission of the usdol. His presentation was everything from scary, to eye opening, to enlightening.  One of the most productive presentations I have attended.  From this day forward my business model will change to be fully compliant to our labor laws." 
- John O'Connor, Shade Tree Garage, Morristown

"Very informative.  All my career I've tried to be in compliance.  NJGCA helps me stay in compliance and protect my business.  Great job and thank you for putting this seminar together." 
- Tom Sadowski, Sadowski Shell, Lyndhurst

"In order to be in business you have to keep up with environmental laws and labor laws.  NJGCA put together a great program." 
- Juan Carlos Ramirez, Ramirez & Sons Service Station, West New York

"I learned a lot of useful information from DOL and from DEP" 
- Ranjit Dhaliwal, Main Petroleum Corp., Pleasantville

“It was very good, very informative, and lunch was great too!" + "I'm glad I came, well worth the time, every presentation had high points, I'm probably going to calibrate my pumps.  The stuff talked about will save $ and aggravation" 
- Rich and Al Wendt, Al and Rich’s Gulf, Hammonton

Though it’s not the same thing as being here to take all of this in, I’m going to try and make some of the information and slides available to you when I can.

On a different note, I’d like to shift gears a bit and talk about this week’s elections.  As small business owners, I hope that you ALL took a break on Tuesday to go and vote!  It is imperative that you make your voice heard and help shape public policy! 

I’m happy to report that our friends did pretty well on Tuesday night.  While there weren’t any surprises, I’m pleased to tell you that everyone our PAC supported with a campaign contribution won!  How’s that for a batting average?

A second interruption: Debbie Hill, who knows I’m trying to remain undisturbed to hammer out this newsletter, has KNOWINGLY interrupted me.  Just figures.  I think I should take this as a sign that I’ve written enough and it’s time to go back inside.  

Final Thought: Here are some pictures for you to take a look at from the last few days.  I wish I didn’t have to send them to you ---- You should have been HERE to see it for yourself!

NJGCA Executive Director Sal Risalvato gives his opening remarks to seminar attendees at the beginning of Day One of the Calibration & Regulatory Seminar.

Kevin Madison discusses why it is important to calibrate your pumps and ATG in order to avoid giving away gasoline.  Kevin presented documentation, photographs, and anecdotal evidence to illustrate how un-calibrated equipment can cost you thousands of dollars a month – and put you out of business!

Joseph Petrecca from the US Department of Labor addresses attendees regarding wage and hour compliance.  Mr. Petrecca highlights that USDOL has been targeting gasoline stations for poor payroll practices and what owners must do in order to comply with current federal law.

Seminar attendees line up for lunch in between the morning and afternoon sessions.  Lunch was served at both the Pompton Plains and Toms River events.

Jonathan Berg from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection speaks to the assembled seminar attendees regarding regulatory compliance.  Many members and non-members that attended just recently purchased their locations from major oil companies, making the presentation especially important to these new owners.  What’s more, veteran station owners also found out about new and evolving changes environmental rules.

Thanks for listening - See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

11/11/2011:
New Jersey could be a leader in Biomass to Energy conversion
According to a new state advisory panel, New Jersey has an abundance of energy resources that are being overlooked.  Panelists state that yard waste, trash, livestock manure other organic waste can be utilized to create pump fuel or operate power plants.  Experts cite that the Garden State has 4 million tons of easily recoverable biomass resources that could generate up to 9 percent of the state’s electricity or possibly 5 percent of road fuel.  Click above to read the full article.

11/10/2011:
About-face move: UMDNJ now open to Rutgers merger
In what is seen as an utter reversal of their previous stance, beleaguered UMDNJ president William Owens, Jr. is now working to merge part of his institution with Rutgers University.  The news comes as a surprise to many academic observers as UMDNJ has bitterly fought with state officials to resist any kind of merger for well over a decade. If the plan were to be implemented, three UMDNJ assets — the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the School of Public Health and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey — would be transferred to the Rutgers New Brunswick/Piscataway campus.  Click above to real the full article.

11/10/2011:
Private-to-Charter school conversion bill signed into law
Earlier this week, Governor Christie signed into law new legislation which would permit struggling private schools to become charter schools.  In doing so, the state has removed a number of administrative hurdles to create charter schools in struggling areas. Click above to read more details.

11/10/2011:
Election Results: Voter turnout at an all time low
In hitting a new record low, only 1.4 of the 5.2 million registered voters actually made it to the polls in Tuesday’s election.  The low turn out – approximately 26 percent – eclipsed the previous low voter record set in 1999, when 31 percent of registered voters actually voted. To reverse the problem, political commentators believe that more must be done to notify the public about Election Day and the candidates on the ballot.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES IN OUR “NEWS AROUND THE STATE” ARCHIVE 

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE

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