October 19, 2012

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

CLASSIFIEDS!
•Do YOU have equipment for sale or are you looking for a new employee?!

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
•N.J. unemployment rate falls to 9.8 percent
•Biofuels industry presses congressional leaders to maintain fuel rule
•Gas prices soar for lack of new refineries and pipelines
•Nitrogen cycle: Difference Engine: End of the electric car?

A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM BELLOMO FUELS
•Serving New Jersey since 1910 -- Over 100 years of supplying gasoline to service station retailers like YOU!

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE
•New Emission Inspector Training Class available -- SIGN UP TODAY!

SUNOCO MEETING REMINDER,
ALTERNATE ENERGY BILLS ADVANCE,
MINIMUM WAGE INCREASE & MORE

I want to start off this week’s message with a reminder to all the Sunoco dealers reading this about the upcoming meeting NJGCA is hosting. Every Sunoco lessee dealer in the state should be at this meeting, where we will be discussing the future of your business and the very real possibility that you will be given the choice of finally owning your property or being forced out of business by a potentially unscrupulous new landlord. There has not been an official announcement yet that the new owners of Sunoco will be divesting, but when they do announce it things will move very fast and you need to be ready. This free meeting is scheduled for November 1^st at 9:30am, less than two weeks away. Please RSVP immediately by either emailing Greg@njgca.org or calling the office at 973-376-0066.

After months of dormancy, our state Legislature is finally entering its busy season and we saw a lot of action this week. You may be sick of hearing me talk about alternative energy vehicles, but you’re gonna have to get used to it because the speed of our society’s march away from gasoline is continuing to pick up. One of the main reasons it is picking up is how much pushing the government is doing. This week saw movement on several bills that promote alternate energy in transportation. S-2192 would establish a $250,000 grant program to community colleges to create training programs to teach people how to convert gas and diesel cars to electric, natural gas, or propane power. It passed its committee with no opposition. A-2416 encourages the development of electric vehicle charging stations in transportation projects; it passed the General Assembly by a landslide vote of 57-18. Also seeing movement were some bills that promote natural gas school buses and the installation of CNG refueling in residences. As soon as you started reading about alternate energy you probably knew this sentence was coming since I’ve said it to you about a million times: You are not in the gasoline business, you are in the transportation energy business. Senator Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the Chairman of the Senate Energy & Environment Committee, has publicly stated that he wants to get people to compromise on a package of bills that will promote alternate energy and have it pass the Legislature in the coming months, so you can expect to keep hearing about this subject for a long time to come.

The most important bill to see action in Trenton this week was SCR-1, the constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage to $8.25 an hour and establish annual automatic increases based on inflation. Earlier this year the General Assembly passed a very similar measure to increase the minimum wage and tie it to inflation. The Governor and several Republicans in the Legislature said they would be willing to accept an increase in the minimum wage, but will not agree to the automatic increases. Rather than come to a reasonable compromise, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) is taking the extraordinary step of trying to amend the state’s constitution to get it passed. He wants to go around the Governor by having the voters decide next November if the minimum wage should be increased, since the Governor cannot veto that decision. If the voters say yes, then that means the issue of minimum wage increases will never be before your elected representatives again, which means you will never again have the opportunity to hold the politicians accountable for a future minimum wage increase.

If this amendment were added to the state constitution we would see the minimum wage rise every single year forever. Let me ask you, are your profits guaranteed to rise every single year? I didn’t think so. One of the advantages of having a minimum wage raised every few years by the Legislature is that they can take into account the current state of the economy. If it’s in the constitution, the wage will rise every year whether times are good or whether most businesses are barely hanging on at all, like what we saw only a few years ago when the economy collapsed. Even if your employees are earning less than $8.25 an hour, this wage increase will still drive up your costs. The employees you do have will start demanding extra wages because if they could earn more than the minimum wage before, they think they should continue to earn a similar amount above the minimum. The ripple effects of this proposal will hit every business in the state.

NJGCA submitted testimony to the committee hearing that was held on Monday, you can read that testimony by CLICKING HERE. It passed the committee with all the Democrats voting in favor and all the Republicans opposed.

It wasn’t all bad news coming out of Trenton. A-354 was passed out of Committee 11-0 and was scheduled for a vote on Thursday. This bill requires that all lamps and lighting devices on motor vehicles be kept in working order. Currently there is only a minimum number that be kept working. For example, the law says every vehicle must have two brake lights functioning, but if the car came with three (as many now do) and one is not working it is not a violation of the law. This bill would change that. We all know what a disaster eliminating safety inspections has been to your businesses and to road safety; I hope this bill is one small step in the right direction. You can read the letter I sent to all members of the General Assembly in support of this bill by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks for listening – See you next week.

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!

10/18/2012:
N.J. unemployment rate falls to 9.8 percent
“While New Jersey's job market in September still showed the effect of the summer doldrums apparent in the national figures these last few months, there are positive signs,” said Charles Steindel, chief economist at the state Treasury Department. “Our long-term uptrend in private sector employment continues and September's dip in unemployment might be a sign that the situation will be getting better.” The economic slide began in January, when the unemployment rate bottomed out at 9 percent and Christie declared a “Jersey Comeback.” Since then, the rate has climbed, even as the state has added jobs, signaling more people are looking for employment and causing the Christie administration to question the way the rate is calculated. Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said the latest employment figures, combined with other economic reports, prove the governor has the state headed in the right direction. Since February 2010, Christie’s first full month in office, the state had added 84,900 private sector jobs. That was offset by 29,200 losses in the public sector, resulting in a net growth of 55,700 jobs in the state.

10/18/2012:
Biofuels industry presses congressional leaders to maintain fuel rule
Biofuels groups pressed congressional leadership Thursday to maintain a biofuels mandate when lawmakers consider drought-relief legislation. The groups want to keep the renewable fuel standard (RFS) intact. The rule requires refiners to blend 13.2 billion gallons of corn-based biofuel into transportation fuel this year. The biofuels industry contends that the drought, not the RFS, is what has pushed prices higher. They say a waiver is unnecessary because refiners already have curtailed biofuel production in response to corn prices, and that enough renewable fuel credits exist to cover the remaining blending requirements.

10/15/2012:
Gas prices soar for lack of new refineries and pipelines
In five of the last six years, the price of a gallon of gas decreased between July and October as Americans cut back on their vacation driving and winter gasoline blends were phased in at the pump. Gas prices dropped by an average of 27 cents over these months. But not this year. This year, the average price of a gallon of gas rose 46 cents between July and October. The solution to this problem is to build new refineries and new pipelines, like the planned Keystone pipeline that would connect Canada's oil sand with existing oil refineries along the Gulf of Mexico. But of course, Obama and his environmental allies have blocked this and many other oil infrastructure projects. There has not been a major new oil refinery built in the United States since the Marathon Garyville Refinery was built in Louisiana in 1977. True, our existing refinery capacity is higher today than it was 30 years ago, but all that refining is being done at 137 refineries today, versus 254 refineries 30 years ago.

10/15/2012:
Nitrogen cycle: Difference Engine: End of the electric car?
A COUPLE of dozen electric cars with fuel cells under the bonnet (in place of the more usual flat-pack of batteries beneath the floor) have been zipping around your correspondent’s neighbourhood for the past few years. Most are FCX Clarity models from Honda, all in the same rich crimson colour. A couple of others are silver F-Cell station wagons made by Mercedes-Benz. These experimental vehicles are leased to selected users for trial periods while their manufacturers see how the hydrogen-fuelled cars survive the cut and thrust of Los Angeles' traffic. So far, most seem to have acquitted themselves rather well. Meanwhile, their drivers can feel rightly smug about the only emission from the exhaust pipes being water vapour. Another plus is that the fuel-cell vehicles are largely free of the “range anxiety” that plagues battery-powered electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf. Both the Honda and the Mercedes have ranges not that far short of comparable petrol cars—ie, 190 to 240 miles (300 to 380km). Sooner or later, though, they have to return to one of only five hydrogen-refuelling stations open to the public in the greater Los Angeles area. But once there, their tanks can be refilled in minutes, rather than the hours needed to recharge a battery car.

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

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:
Class Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Class Location: NJGCA Headquarters, located at 66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081
Arrival Time: 7:00am
Lunch Break: 12:00pm (Pizza and soda will be served)
NJMVC Test: 1:00pm

Class Fees:
NJGCA Members: $250.00
Non-members: $300.00
Manuals are included and payment is due upon registration. All credit cards are accepted.

License Fee: Bring a $50.00 check made payable to NJMVC to satisfy the State’s licensing fee.

PLEASE NOTE: If you live out of state, you must bring 6 points of ID with you, such as a license, passport, healthcare card, utility bill, etc.

CLICK HERE to view and complete the registration form with all the required information.

Once complete, please fax it to 973-376-0766. Alternatively, you may also either scan the form or email the details below to Debbie Hill at debbie@njgca.org.

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!!

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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