January 21, 2011

Dear NJGCA Member:

Here's what you'll find in this edition of the NJGCA Road Warrior, and thank you for reading:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!
•Take Advantage of your NJGCA Benefits

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
•Proposals aim to control salaries, spending for state boards and commissions
•Judge upholds law requiring public workers to pay toward healthcare
•State approves 23 new charter schools, total number of schools could swell to 97
•Business tax cuts planned for next year's budget

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

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE
•See our latest training class schedule below!!

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
•Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

THE MEMBER TOOL BOX
•On the NJGCA Homepage
•Know your Territory Manager!


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

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR NJGCA BENEFITS
Every Member should be saving $$$$ offers on Health Coverage & Training classes!
Shell Dealers faced with Lehigh Gas as their new supplier.

NJGCA Members constantly vent about how hard it is to make it out there.  As someone who ran his own station for over 20 years – and probably shaved an additional 20 years off my natural lifetime in the process thanks to stress and anxiety – I can sympathize with your plight.  No one will understand how hard it is for a small business owner to manage the many obstacles you are asked to endure daily unless they’ve been in your shoes.  Trust me…..I have been there!

Let me be blunt: If you are not taking advantage of your NJGCA membership by participating in the Association Master Trust (AMT) Health Coverage Plan, then you are paying too much.  THIS IS A BENEFIT THAT ONLY NJGCA MEMBERS CAN HAVE!  State law will not permit a non-member to buy their Health Coverage thru AMT.  ONLY members of one of the 13 participating trade associations that comprise AMT can participate.

For those of you rolling your eyes right now, please stop.  This isn’t a sales ploy or some fancy reverse-psychological game I’m playing at.  On the contrary, this is the hard-knuckle truth from a guy who’s been in the same place you’re standing in right now and is tossing you as many life preservers as I can. 

Saving $100 or more every month means you’re freeing up some money that can be used someplace else in your shop.  That’s not voodoo-mathematics, but simple arithmetic.  Hey if you can’t use it in the shop….then take your wife out to dinner.

Health Care coverage is EXPENSIVE!....BUT…..any NJGCA member who buys coverage for themselves and their employees from another insurance company is PAYING MORE!  Yes there are agents out there who will tell you that they will save you money, but they just can’t beat AMT rates.  Especially right now!  All Health insurance companies try to be competitive with AMT, and sometimes they can get close, but for some reason the competition is lagging very far behind right now and AMT rates are kicking ass.

Let me repeat myself.  You will save money by getting your Health Coverage through AMT.  Insurance is expensive (no one will disagree with that) but unlike other policy providers, AMT is a NOT-FOR-PROFIT organization that is overseen by its thirteen member-associations.  NJGCA is one of these thirteen associations and has a direct say on how the organization is operated.

AMT IS A SELF FUNDED TRUST.  So it pays the claims and adds only enough to operate the AMT TRUST.  There are no stockholders that require a profit.  The plan holders receive the profits in the form of lower rates.

Again let me repeat that…….AMT has no shareholders to report to, only the associations who make up the board.  That means that no earnings are delivered to faceless investors, just the savings and dividends which are returned to the policyholders!  (By the way…just last week your NJGCA/AMT Sub Trust voted a dividend to be paid back to AMT plan holders that are in good standing as NJGCA members.  This is the 3rd year in a row that AMT participants will receive a check.  I expect most NJGCA members in the AMT program will receive $100-$600.  Do you think Aetna, or Prudential, have ever returned any premiums back to their policy holders? AND….. the dividend is on top of the monthly savings!)

Now before someone calls me (AGAIN) to say they got a cheaper policy from John Dough’s insurance shop down the road, please be sure you read the fine print.  Unfortunately, some members have left the program claiming they got the same policy for less money somewhere else, only to find out the hard way that when they submitted a claim or had a large medical expense, their policy didn’t cover them.

Fact is, in comparing apples-to-apples, NO ONE COMES CLOSE to the prices AMT offers our members.  We will save you at least 10% from your current provider.  Even if that only saves you $100 per month, that’s $1200 in savings that you can use to balance the books elsewhere. 

Think about it this way: If you save $100 a month on your policy by switching to AMT (and in all likelihood, it could be more) that’s three times what you pay me a year in dues.  That means that your membership in NJGCA literally pays for itself in the savings you get from this one program alone!

Think about it another way: When you sign up for an AMT policy, you have a substantial advantage over non-NJGCA members.  This gives you a leg up on your competitors down the road who are paying more for something you get at a discount!

I know many of you have loyalties to some insurance agents you’ve work with for years or a broker who lives down the road from you.  It’s really nice to build personal relationships with folks, but business is business and making ends meet is the only thing that will keep your doors open.

There is simply NO REASON you can give me to NOT participate in an AMT plan.  Even if you get insurance through a spouse, you still have employees who look to your establishment to provide them with benefits.  What do you have to lose by comparing your current policy to an AMT plan?  Nothing!  And nothing is what you will save if you don’t take advantage of this NJGCA MEMBERS ONLY BENEFIT!

PHEEEEW!  I vented a bit…but it had to be said.  Call NJGCA Headquarters and we will send an AMT representative out to see you.
 
How else can you save money?  How else can you improve your business at a bargain price?  By continuing your education (or educating others) for less!

Since we began to offer classes, our Members have been OVERWHELMINGLY satisfied with the NJGCA training program.  Our instructors are knowledgeable and experienced, our materials are up to date with the latest rules and standards, and our curriculum is approved by state officials who certify our courses.

But if professionalism isn’t enough to convince you, then the fact that you actually SAVE MONEY by taking these classes with us should.  You automatically get a discounted rate just by being an NJGCA Member.  In fact, many non-members have joined our organization in the last two years merely because they’d have to pay considerably MORE for multiple people taking one of our classes.

Currently, NJGCA is offering all the classes that your technicians need whether your business is a Private Inspection Facility or Emission Repair Facility – AT A REDUCED PRICE!!
 
While some shops depend on one or two mechanics for doing their inspections or emission repairs, you have the advantage of educating and licensing your whole shop for less.  Plan ahead!  When you are strapped for time, don't allow your business to get bottlenecked with only one or two technicians on hand. 

If you would like to be a licensed Emission Repair Facility or license additional folks as Emission Repair Technicians, please see our class schedule below! 

For those of you who are interested, NJGCA will offer the ENTIRE ETEP COURSE this March!  No other vehicle training provider or automotive education program in New Jersey offers this class in the format of EIGHT days over an EIGHT week period.  This is not only convenient for small business owners and professionals who put in long hours, but is cost affective as well.

REMEMBER: The reason you should belong to NJGCA is because we advocate on your behalf and we inform you of important changes and events taking place throughout the industry. However, we also go the extra mile in finding ways to save you money.  Take advantage of that and grab these opportunities to better your small business!

On another note…..it appears as if Shell is trying yet one more time to circumnavigate the “First Right of Refusal” law that we passed in 2009.  I will be meeting with all Shell dealers tomorrow to get the details and plan a course of action.  Apparently Shell has assigned the dealer’s supply contract to the worst possible choice of distributors….Lehigh Gas Corp.  Lehigh has done some very unscrupulous things to dealers in NJ as well as other states.  Read the most recent issue of the NJGCA On The Road Newsletter to get details just how sleazy their conduct has been.

I caution all of you who have supply contracts with Lehigh to BE CAREFUL!  I have other distributors of Shell and Exxon products that I would like you to consider as I know that they will treat you fairly.

I will have more details after I meet with the Shell Dealers, so stay tuned.

Thanks for listening - See you next week!

Regards,

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

1/20/2011:
Proposals aim to control salaries, spending for state boards and commissions
Trenton is looking at a number of bills which would curtail the salaries and spending habits of New Jersey’s many boards, commissions, and authorities. If passed, the bills would put restrictions on organizations such as regional agencies, municipal water authorities, and sewer utilities.

1/20/2011:
Judge upholds law requiring public workers to pay toward healthcare
A Superior Court Judge in Mercer County upheld two rulings which require government workers to pay toward their healthcare benefits.  The lawsuits were filed by groups representing government workers and teachers, who claim that the 1.5% contribution amounted to a tax on government employees.

1/19/2011:
State approves 23 new charter schools, total number of schools could swell to 97
This week, Governor Christie announced that 23 new charter schools have been approved, a large jump in the total number of such experimental schools operating in New Jersey.  Seen as an alternative to failing public schools and growing in popularity throughout the nation, the number of charter schools could reach 97 by the fall.  The Governor also proposes changes to the current charter school law, including allowing colleges and school boards to approve new charter schools.

1/15/2011:
Business tax cuts planned for next year's budget
When the Governor presents his budget next month, he will include a tax break for state businesses.  The idea of cutting business taxes in the next year must first be approved by the Legislature, which has recently passed the "Back to Work New Jersey" package of bills last week.

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