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October 5, 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!
ATTENTION ALL SUNOCO DEALERS By the time you’re reading this, every Sunoco lessee dealer should have gotten the letter I mailed to your station. The great drumbeat of divestiture is getting ever louder, and the time has come for all of you to come together and meet to discuss the future of your businesses. The meeting will take place on Thursday November 1, 2012 at 9:30 AM. The meeting will be held the Holiday Inn 36 Valley Rd. Clark, NJ 07066 immediately off of Parkway exit 135. If you are a Sunoco lessee, clear your calendar for that meeting no matter where in the state your station is, it is critical that you attend. Back when the first oil companies starting divesting their stations and I began the immensely successful fight for the Right of First Refusal, I suspected that Sunoco would be shedding their stations. I’m sure you know that Sunoco has been sold to a company called Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), a company which traditionally has had nothing to do with the retail world. On Tuesday night Sunoco stockholders got together and approved the structure of the deal for Sunoco to be acquired by ETP. The transaction should formally go through on October 5th. Once the transfer of ownership is complete, all bets are off for what comes next. Do I know for certain that the stations Sunoco owns will be put up for sale? No. So why am I going so far as to organize a big meeting for every Sunoco dealer in the state? It’s because 30 years of experience and instincts are all screaming at me that this is going to happen and happen soon. It simply makes business sense for the new owners of Sunoco, who stated publically they weren’t interested in Sunoco because of its retail business, to follow the lead of most of the other major oil companies and divest themselves of their stations. Ultimately I’m just acting like a good boy scout and being prepared, just like you should be. The future of your business is at stake here, the business that you’ve devoted blood, sweat, tears, and years to. I know of too many stories of dealers who couldn’t or didn’t buy their properties when they had the chance, and their new landlord supplier came in and slowly but surely screwed them out of the business they built. Don’t let it happen to you! RSVP to the meeting by emailing Greg@njgca.org or calling the office at 973-376-0066. It is important that you provide your name and the name of your business. Please also provide the business address and phone number, email address, and cell phone. Let us know if you plan to bring your spouse or others. There’s news to report this week on the E15 front as the newly approved blend of up to 15% ethanol in gasoline is starting to gain wider acceptance. Up until now the major car manufacturers have opposed the use of E15, saying that their warranties will not cover the cars if there is any damage caused by E15. This is despite the fact that the EPA, which has done extremely extensive testing on E15’s effect on passenger vehicles, has ruled that its fine to use E15 in all Model Year 2001 and newer vehicles. Since 2011 E15 has been the official fuel used in all NASCAR racing, and since then they have racked up well over two million miles worth of driving on the track and are quite happy with the performance. What is significant is that the manufacturers are now starting to adjust to the march of progress. It was announced this week that Ford Motor Co. has approved the use of E15 in its non-flex fuel cars for MY 2010 and onward. General Motors cars are also manufacturer approved to use E15 in MY 2012 and 2013 vehicles. These two automakers together produce more than one third of the new light-vehicles sold in the United States. Now that these two major auto manufacturers have updated their non-flex fuel cars to run on E15, it won’t be long before all the other manufacturers follow suit. E15 adoption was never going to happen overnight, just as E10 adoption didn’t spread quickly at first. Nowadays, it’s close to impossible to find gasoline for sale that isn’t E10! With the larger movement towards all sorts of renewable fuels, I anticipate E15 will see widespread adoption quicker than E10 did. There are approximately 8 stations currently selling E15 in Kansas and Iowa and they say it is performing quite well; there have been no customer complaints and the selling price is less than regular gas, but much less than mid-grade which is really its gasoline equivalent. It has been cleared for use in several other Midwestern states and will almost certainly be available at retail there soon. Currently there isn’t much of a supply or a demand here in New Jersey for E15. For now it’s likely best to adopt a wait and see approach to the fuel before making the investment in E15 and allow the infrastructure to grow and for consumer confidence in it to increase as it gains widespread usage in the Midwest. Wednesday night was the first Presidential debate between President Obama and Governor Romney. The election is only a month away and the polls are close. Almost all the pundits agree that Governor Romney gave a strong performance and showed that there are clear differences between the two candidates. I know you’re busy, but if you missed the debate it really is your civic duty to take some time and hear what the candidates believe from their own mouths. The debate was almost exclusively focused on issues of the economy, taxation, and the deficit; issues that have the biggest effect on your business. You can watch the debate here. Energy issues were only briefly covered, and unfortunately the candidates did not engage each other much on the topic. We are just putting the finishing touches on the special October Voter Guide issue of the On the Road magazine, which will be hitting your mailboxes soon and will include more information about all the candidates’ positions on the issues. Finally, I wanted to briefly mention to you a little contest I was made aware of being held by a radio station in Philly. As a response to the President’s “you didn’t build that” comment from a few weeks ago, the local radio station is holding a contest looking for the best success stories of small businesses whose owners have been able to make their businesses prosperous through their own abilities. Nominees will be able to tell their story on air, and the winner will receive $10,000 worth of advertising time. For more details or to enter click here. 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!
10/4/2012:
10/4/2012:
10/3/2012:
10/2/2012:
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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