December 10, 2010

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!
•Trenton has NEVER Kept Us So Busy! Internet Lottery Advances + Profit Margins + USDOL

NEWS AROUND THE STATE
•Bill aimed at creating jobs passes
•Tool Kit Update: Arbitration reform deal reached
•New Jersey nuclear power plan to close a decade early
•NJGCA in the News: Risalvato defends Weights & Measures

A REGULATORY ADVISORY FROM ATS
•New air regulations will be enforced on January 10, 2011 -- will you be ready?

NJGCA WANT AD CLASSIFIEDS
•Do you have what this member is looking for?!

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!

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

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


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

TRENTON HAS NEVER KEPT US SO BUSY!
Internet Lottery Takes the First Step Forward
Profit Margins…..AND Keep a Lookout for the USDOL

Today was a busy day in Trenton as NJGCA members showed up at the Committee Hearing to oppose A-2676 from being passed.  This legislation if successful will allow sales of Lottery over the internet.  Trenton is struggling to find new revenues and legislators believe that lottery sales will increase if your customers are allowed to buy their lottery tickets over the internet.

NJGCA teamed up with several other Small Business organizations to present a united force to the legislators on the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee.  Although we filled the hearing room with our people, and made it clear in our testimony that sales of lottery over the internet will hurt your convenience store business, the committee voted 3-2 to send the bill to the full Assembly for a vote.  Committee Chairman John Burzichelli has asked that we provide Assembly members with hard documentation that sales of other items in our stores such as coffee and sandwiches will suffer once lottery sales are permitted over the internet.

This is a challenge that we should be able to meet.  Be on the lookout for a simple form that I will post on our web site, that you can reproduce, and that will help you to properly track your lottery sales.  I may only need data to be recorded for a 2-3 week period.  Stay tuned, this fight is just beginning.  Thanks to all that took time to come to Trenton.

Last week I alerted you that we were receiving reports from NJGCA members that the USDOL was invading your businesses and using very intimidating tactics to find employees that are not being paid properly.  I called our contacts at the USDOL to inquire.  NJGCA and USDOL have had a cooperative relationship in the past, and at one time before I arrived in this job, USDOL had conducted a few seminars for our members.

I learned that the USDOL has begun an initiative to aggressively audit gas stations.  The task force began operation on December 1 and plans to continue thru the end of 2011.  Apparently USDOL has found an unusually large amount of gas stations violating labor laws and is looking at this segment of business as low hanging fruit and wants to set an example.  I have requested a meeting.  In fact when I called I was told that my business card was on their desk, and they were preparing to call me to request a meeting.  It is not likely that I will be able to get them to end their initiative; however, I expect I can pass on more info to you that may help you avoid serious problems.  If violations are found, it will be difficult to get USDOL to back off, but we will seek to get you the best legal and accounting counsel if necessary.  Please inform me if USDOL visits you and certainly let me know the outcome….both positive and negative.

My headline this week indicates that Trenton has been a war zone.  All of the issues that I have alerted you of these past several months are still in play.  Although I believe we have successfully bottled up any legislation that will prohibit you from posting both cash and credit prices on your pumps, the issue is not dead and only vigilance will keep it bottled up.

We continue to be concerned that rewards and giveaways that would result in “below cost selling” are still very much “on the table” in Trenton.  Our friends at the NJ Food Council who represent the big supermarkets and oppose us on this issue have continued discussion with us in order to find an acceptable solution.  Ironically the NJ Food Council was in the thick of the fight today and stood shoulder to shoulder with us to oppose the internet lottery bill.

On a positive note, Senator Cardinale has made several changes to the amendments he is proposing to the First Right of Refusal legislation that we passed last year.  Both Exxon and Shell still have very real deals that they are trying to make that would leave their dealers out in the cold.  Thanks to the efforts of the Exxon dealers who asked Senator Cardinale to sponsor this legislation, there is a better chance to further protect these dealers should Exxon or Shell make a move.  As I stated last week, this legislation promises to help Sunoco and Gulf branded retailers in the future should their franchisors decide to do the same and sell their real estate to a third party gasoline distributor.  I plan to support this legislation with gusto, and I will be both disappointed and angry if Sunoco and Gulf dealers sit on the sidelines and let the Exxon and Shell dealers do the heavy lifting.

Hardly a day goes by without an NJGCA member complaining about the poor profit margins that are experienced in the marketplace.  Having spent 23 years in the business I understand.  However, I will tell you that at one point in my career, I decided to stop being stupid.  I did simple math and made a hell of a lot more money.  My Exxon station on Route 17 in Paramus was pumping 100,000 gallons a month with a margin of 4 cents.  I raised my margin in 1983 to 25 cents and my volume dropped to 42,000 gallons a month.  Do the math!  My gross profit went from $4,000 to $10,500.  Noooo…Exxon wasn’t happy……but poop…I was happy!

NJGCA member Eel Chang owns several service stations and sells gas and performs auto repairs.  Eel is one of our smarter members and he has produced several videos that sum up the mentality of the average gasoline retailer.  The videos are posted on YouTube and I am certain that you will find them to be both amusing, and sad, as they depict the truth.  I am including links to these videos and I encourage you to take the time to view them.

The first one is titled STUPID and you can view it by clicking HERE

The second one is titled Mercedes and you can view it by clicking HERE

Thanks for reading.  See you next week!     

Regards,

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

12/9/2010:
Bill aimed at creating jobs passes
Legislators in Trenton recently passed a bill designed to help created jobs in the Garden State.  The package of proposals will allow for job creation by creating regulatory and tax cuts aimed at spurring economic growth.

12/9/2010:
Tool Kit Update: Arbitration reform deal reached
Governor Christie and the Democratic leadership in the Legislature have come to an agreement on arbitration reform, one of the biggest pieces of the Governor’s ‘tool kit’.  Arbitration reform, a needed instrument in limiting salary awards to public employee unions during contract negotiations, is seen as an essential piece in reigning in the cost of government.

12/8/2010:
New Jersey nuclear power plan to close a decade early
Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, the nation’s oldest active plant, will close 10 years earlier than anticipated.  Originally granted a 20-year license extension by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the plant will now be closed to avoid spending hundreds of millions on the construction of cooling towers.  The towers would be required to avoid drawing billions of gallons of water from Barnegat Bay, which kills aquatic life.

12/4/2010:
NJGCA in the News: Risalvato defends Weights & Measures
Executive Director Sal Risalvato was recently interviewed for a piece discussing how county offices of Weights & Measures has protected consumers and small business owners.  Click above to read what Sal had to say.

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

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

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NJGCA WANT AD CLASSIFIEDS

NJGCA Member Jerry Sweet needs to relocate his shop.

He is looking for a new location in the Mine Hill, NJ area and is asking fellow NJGCA Members for assistance.

If you have at least 2 bays available, please contact Jerry at 973-252-5151 or email him at Sweetmotors@optonline.net