November 21, 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
•NJGCA in the News: Sal comments on proposed station generator requirements
•Will a Thanksgiving nor’easter affect holiday road travel?
•US on track to be world’s largest oil producer by 2020, energy independent by 2030?
•NJ Legislative leaders reach consensus on minimum wage hike

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

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
POST-SANDY ‘HOW TO GUIDE’ FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
KNOWING YOUR NEIGHBORS
READING COMMUNICATIONS

Before we get to this week’s message, a bit of house keeping: I’ve received a handful of emails and calls from members asking why they did not receive our weekly message for the last two Fridays. For the record, there was NO Road Warrior message on 11/9 since I barraged you with Wildfire Alerts that week, I didn’t have anything new to report, and we were still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. While I had considered sending one, I thought it would be somewhat redundant. Regular readers (not to mention, members who frequently check their email), will undoubtedly have noticed the high volume of Wildfire Alert messages we’ve sent out that week. Hurricane Sandy really did create a lot of work, and from our end, cranking out timely alerts and information has been an absolute marathon. It might surprise you, but even I got tired of “hearing” myself talk by that Friday! With so much already said, we didn’t see any reason to send an additional message. I apologize for any confusion, but am glad to know that a least a handful of people were anticipating our weekly memo.

This week’s message was in the pipeline ready to go last Friday, but technical issues with the service that delivers our emails to you were not resolved until Monday, so I figured that I would just send it along with our wishes here at NJGCA for a Happy Thanksgiving! So before I get in to my message, I want to send you my hopes that this Thanksgiving is truly one of thanks. My wish is for you to hug your family and look around you and appreciate all that you have, especially in comparison to many who are truly suffering and have nothing left because of Hurricane Sandy.

I am saddened by the families that have been devastated. I live in Barnegat which is in the heart of the devastated areas of Long Beach Island and Seaside Heights. My church has mounted efforts to provide relief and I am heartened to see the tremendous support of from the surrounding communities.

Everyone is taking a moment to reflect on what worked (or didn’t work) as the dust settles form the storm. And that’s not a bad thing. When Hurricane Irene hit last year, state officials called a meeting with various public and private players to improve our reaction time in case of another disaster. The groundwork laid out during that gathering helped enormously in tackling the effects of the latest storm. That conversation will now continue after Sandy, enabling us to better prepare for the next crisis, because there certainly are many lessons to learn from Sandy.

I know many of you are anxious to get additional assistance now that the immediate crisis is over. Recently, the state helped facilitate a conference call providing some useful information. Surprisingly, we ended up getting calls asking if the call-login information we conveyed in an earlier message was incorrect. Turns out, the info was fine; the problem was that so many people jumped on the call it exceeded the maximum number of participants.

Thankfully NJGCA staff was listening and taking notes so we could share what was conveyed. While the details were rather lengthy, the Governor and state officials have consolidated most of the information under the New Jersey Business Action Center. For those of you who have never heard of this agency, the Center comes under the purview of Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and acts as a “one stop shop” for all business-related issues in New Jersey. Their website acts as a portal to other departments and services. Call 1-866-534-7789 or visit their homepage at www.nj.gov/njbusiness for more details and helpful resources.

Additionally, the call also included federal authorities from FEMA, the Office of Emergency Management, the Department of Banking & Insurance, and others. Appreciatively, the Governor and state officials were able to consolidate much of this information into a single webpage with links and related details. CLICK HERE to visit their page. Furthermore, the NJ Office of Emergency Management has established a blog you can check for the latest news on the post-Sandy recovery -- CLICK HERE to visit!

When emergencies arise, it’s always important to make sure you get in touch with people in a timely manner. Sometimes just a little bit of warning makes a big difference in avoiding a serious harm. But how do you get information to people when you either don’t have access to their contact information or they refuse to listen? Can you understand how frustrating that can be?

We touched on that topic in our latest Wildfire Alert (The consequences of price gouging; Governor extends Executive Order), but want to touch on it further in my closing remarks to this week’s message.

As a trade association, state and local officials often turn to us to get a sense of what’s taking place on the ground in real time. What’s more, they often use our capabilities to contact large numbers of small business owners in order to disseminate information. That’s a unique capability that only trade associations (and related organizations) have at their disposal, giving us an additional tool to benefit the public.

However, that capability is incredibly hindered when members do not make use of what we send them or refuse to send us current, updated contact information. This past storm was a good example of this. Though we literally sent out tens-of-thousands of emails over the last two weeks, some of our communications went unheeded. In some instances, power and internet wasn’t available for some to access what we conveyed, so we sent out text messages and even faxes.

With that in mind, if we don’t have a current email address, cell phone number, home number, etc. please send it to me! What’s more, send me the same information for your spouse, employees, and even your kids if they participate in operating your business (yes, in some instances, we communicated via email with owners’ children during Sandy in order to get their parents the proper information).

Furthermore, I need your help in identifying each and every service station in New Jersey! You’d think that would be an easy feat, but if there’s one thing we’ve learned from Sandy it’s that not every station is accounted for! While the number of stations continues to dwindle, those that are left have changed hands, expanded, or new locations even pop up here and there. Since we don’t have eyes and ears everywhere, I need you to help me find those un-accounted stations so we can get them in the loop and informed!

So here’s your homework assignment: If you notice a new station in your area; if you’ve had a bad relationship with a competitor down the road; if you’ve heard it through the grapevine that a location a few towns over has recently switched hands – I want to know about it!

Next week I will probably discuss with you all of the efforts that are being made in the legislature to pass a law that will require gas stations to install back up generators in order to avoid the kind of chaos that ensued last week. For now, just please enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday, but please give thanks!

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!

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

11/15/2012:
NJGCA in the News: Sal comments on proposed station generator requirements
As Legislators reconvene in Trenton post-Sandy, many are proposing new legislation that would require service stations to have electrical generators on site in the even of an emergency. NJGCA Executive Director Sal Risalvato has recently spoken with a number of reporters on the Association’s take on the idea. Click above to see what Sal had to say to NJBIZ on the topic.

11/15/2012:
Will a Thanksgiving nor’easter affect holiday road travel?
Reports earlier this week have indicated that another nor’easter may make it to New Jersey in time for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday. A late-week forecast revision now predicts that the storm’s path may travel further offshore. However, after state residents were hammered by Hurricane Sandy and a nor’easter a week later, weather-weary residents may avoid Thanksgiving travel to avoid any possible inclement weather.

11/13/2012:
US on track to be world’s largest oil producer by 2020, energy independent by 2030?
A new prediction by the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that the United States will become the world’s biggest oil producer by 2020, eclipsing Saudi Arabia and other oil- rich nations. In making the announcement, the IEA has seemingly discarded the long held “peak oil” theory of world oil production. In defending their projection, the IEA states that new technologies, such as fracking, have increased the pool of recoverable oil from previously know levels. What’s more, thanks to rising natural gas reserves, the IEA also predicts that the United States will become fully energy independent by 2030. Click above to read the full report.

11/12/2012:
NJ Legislative leaders reach consensus on minimum wage hike
The Majority leadership in both the General Assembly and State Senate has reached an agreement on a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour. The plan would also include yearly increases pegged to the annual rate of inflation. Any proposal must win approval from Governor Christie, who is reluctant to include any automatic increases in a minimum wage hike.

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

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

MEMBER SAVINGS PAGE
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