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October 12, 2012
Here's what you'll find in this edition:
CLASSIFIEDS!
NEWS AROUND THE STATE
TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE
MEET THE FOLKS AT LIBERTY GAS
MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATIONS FOR SERVICE STATIONS JOIN NJGCA ON FACEBOOK -- CLICK HERE
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!
VOTER GUIDE IN THE MAIL Before I get started this week, I wanted to let you know that our yearly On The Road: Special Edition Voter Guide is in the mail. You should be receiving it shortly. When you get it, I urge you to take some time to read though it. Our team works very diligently on every edition of On The Road, but we work especially hard on our Voter Guide. So please take a half an hour to really digest all the information we present -- You won’t be sorry. Though the Voter Guide goes into deeper depth on this, I ask you to consider how your action (or inaction) on Election Day affects your business. I know politics isn’t a game that everyone likes to play; but it is a game that everyone unknowingly participates in whether you like it or not. Think it through: If you vote, don’t vote, pay attention, don’t pay attention, or just stuff your fingers in your ears and bury your head in the sand – you are ultimately affected by an election. That’s because the voting process empowers a select few individuals to craft policies which affect your business (not to mention the other aspects of your life). If you sit on the sidelines and don’t participate, you are gambling that the person who ends up in power will do what’s best for your livelihood. What are the chances of that happening without your participation?
With so much at stake, I hope you’d decide to take a hand in shaping tomorrow’s events rather than let those events unwillingly shape you. I know that many of you have been keeping tabs on the events surrounding the LUKOIL lessees. This is smart not only because many of them are fellow NJGCA Members, but because their situation could one day be your own. As such, I’d like to report that LUKOIL North America President, Robert Ferluga, met with me earlier this week for a second sit-down meeting. Mr. Ferluga had returned from Moscow with a set of approved “plans” on how to address the grievances of LUKOIL franchisee-lessees in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Though I can’t talk about specifics, I can say that NJGCA met with the LUKOIL lessee group to evaluate their proposals.
While we did make some progress, our discussions are far from over. Any LUKOIL dealer who came to that meeting (or any LUKOIL dealer who didn’t but is involved in the coalition) should keep an eye out for a communication from me in regards to our next steps. Remember, our goal is to get the collective concerns of the dealers addressed! For many station owners, tobacco product sales create a lot of foot traffic for their locations. When a customer comes in looking for them, they are likely to also purchase an additional, higher profit item – which fattens your bottom line and keeps your doors open. Ultimately, that means that anything related to the tobacco industry will have an affect on your shop. With this in mind, last week we learned that the FDA Center for Tobacco Products signed a series of retail inspection contracts aimed at compliance and enforcement. Known as “Compliance Check Inspections”, the new contracts added three new states to their efforts. Taken together, that means the FDA now has 40 states doing retail compliance inspections for federal authorities. YES, New Jersey is already one of them.
What do these inspectors do? A number of things, actually -- including trying to catch you in the act of selling tobacco products to underage individuals. That’s right – the FDA is bold enough to send an underage kid into your shop and has him or her attempt to buy cigarettes, roll-your-own products, or smokeless tobacco (snuff, chewing tobacco, etc).
If you are curious if you’ve been visited by state officials acting on the FDA’s behave, you can find out by CLICKING HERE and entering your business name, address, and related information. Time is everything, and unfortunately, just as we were making headway in partnering with a new ally organization to redouble our efforts on Right to Repair, I was taken out of commission in order to go back under the knife. Thank God my surgery was successful and my recovery has gone well, but it’s also set us back a bit on our revitalized effort to see Right to Repair become a reality for NJ motorists. Though I can’t get into any specifics at this time, please look out for future updates on this bill. Lastly this week, I want to bring to your attention some recent action in the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee. Yesterday, the Committee passed a bill that would ban the sale, distribution, possession, and manufacturing of bath salts in New Jersey. Members will remember that the “bath salts” ban had nothing to do with baths or salts. Rather, these substances actually dangerous controlled substances, such as synthetic marijuana, and sold under unremarkable names like “K2” and “Spice”. Unfortunately, many service stations and convenience stores sold these substances without knowing that they were harmful to the public. Sponsored by Senator Turner, the proposal would essentially take the prohibitive orders given by Attorney General Jeff Chiesa and codify them into a statute. This would take what was a temporary administrative order and permanently put it on the books. It must now go to the full Senate for consideration, but seems likely to pass without objection. Thanks for listening – See you next week.
Regards,
BUSINESS FOR SALE!
CLASSIFIEDS: FOR SALE & HELP WANTED! After running an ad in the Road Warrior over the last month, NJGCA was able to assist a member in selling his equipment! 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!
10/11/2012:
10/11/2012:
10/10/2012:
10/9/2012:
TRAINING CLASSES!! NJ EMISSION INSPECTOR TRAINING In order to be licensed as a Motor Vehicle Emission Inspector, you must complete this course and pass a “Written Exam” given by the State of New Jersey. NJGCA offers this training in a ONE DAY State approved training program that will provide an understanding of inspection related issues including EPA Regulations, Safety, Diesel, Customer Service and the New Jersey State Specific Curriculum. This specially tailored NJGCA course fulfills all requirements.
CLASS DETAILS: PLEASE NOTE: FUTURE DATES 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
TMP Energy Solutions 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
Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members. 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: 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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