October 23, 2015

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

This week's message starts with an update on mandatory tire registration. The news is positive, but we are still a long way from being in the clear completely. This week, the House of Representatives released a bipartisan, transportation funding bill, which does not contain the controversial mandatory tire registration language! There will be many hearings, drafts and revisions before this bill is finalized, and we must remain vigilant to ensure that mandatory tire registration language stays out of the bill!

While we are off to the right start, there is still much to overcome. We are confident that we have done enough work in the House of Representatives to protect our interests, but unfortunately, the Senate has already passed a bill which includes mandatory tire registration. This means that the Senate and the House will have to go to a conference committee for a compromise bill. I am fearful that once the bill goes to conference, the Senate may have the upper- hand. Although I have the utmost confidence in our friends in the House, and I know that they are very committed to protecting small-business owners, there are some Senators who have very generous and well-funded tire manufacturers supporting them. With the ultimate goal being to pass a highway funding bill, we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility that our Representatives may not be willing or able to secure a transportation funding bill which does not include mandatory tire registration.

We will continue to do everything that we can to attack mandatory tire registration from all angles. There is no question, our first success this week was achieved because tire retailers were very active on this issue and made a huge difference by writing letters, making phone calls, and even traveling to Washington to speak directly with members of Congress about the problems associated with mandatory tire registration. As the picture and the process starts to get clearer, we will keep you informed about what we need YOU to do.

Next, this is another reminder about the efforts to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 in Paterson. The proposal will be up for a vote on Tues., October 27th. We are still in the process of trying to schedule a private meeting with the Mayor before the Council hearing, but it seems unlikely that we will be successful. Therefore, it is even more important that we have small business owners supporting us on Tuesday night. If you own a business in Paterson or you know anyone in Paterson, please email eric@njgca.org. Your support, as a business owner who would be impacted by this policy, provides a much- needed perspective on the issue that is more compelling when told by YOU and not me. Please help us fight this battle!

Moving on, you all should have received the October On The Road magazine. This issue is our annual Voter Guide for elections taking place on Tuesday, November 3rd. We work very hard to gather information and report it to you as simply and clearly as possible, so that you can decide who to support. Though I would love to tell you who to vote for, that would be improper of me. Please take the time to carefully review the OTR and the enclosed Voter Guide, and let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the November 3rd elections.

Finally, also in the OTR you will find our schedule for upcoming Diner Tours. We look forward to continuing our travels across the State to come to a diner near you and enjoy a great breakfast and round table conversation about what's going on in the industry and what issues are affecting your business. Our next meeting will be at 9:30 AM on November 4th in Egg Harbor Township at the Shore Diner. To RSVP, please reply to this email.

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.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

CLASS DETAILS:
Class Date: Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Class Location: NJGCA Headquarters -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Twp, NJ 07753
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.

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 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!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

NJGCA MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER GILL ENERGY LOOKING TO HIRE FOR (3) DIFFERENT POSITIONS!

For more information about these positions, and to submit a resume for consideration, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

10/21/2015:
Acme can't sell liquor at stores it bought from A&P
A 53-year-old New Jersey law is preventing the Acme supermarket chain from tapping into a valuable asset at some of the A&P stores it has purchased in North Jersey -- their liquor licenses. Former A&P stores in Allendale, Fort Lee and Midland Park have recently reopened as Acme stores, but without the liquor departments that were popular features under the previous A&P ownership. Acme is restricted from operating liquor departments in those stores, as well as other New Jersey stores, because of a 1962 state law that limits supermarket corporations to two retail liquor licenses in New Jersey. That restriction has been an issue when other food retailers have entered the state for the first time. Trader Joe’s can’t sell its famous bargain brand of wine, Two Buck Chuck, at its stores in Paramus and Westwood. When Whole Foods wanted to open a liquor department at its store in Paramus, the company first had to close the wine department at its Madison store. It’s unclear whether the liquor license issue will impact the $246 million price Acme paid for 71 A&P stores, or become a bone of contention in the bankruptcy proceedings.

10/16/2015:
Rutherford c-store owners honored for tracking down patron to return $1.4M lottery ticket
The owners of Leprechaun News in Rutherford were honored by Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Rutherford Councilwoman Stephanie McGowan on Friday for their efforts in tracking down a patron who had mistakenly discarded a scratch-off lottery ticket worth nearly $1.4 million. Earlier this year Yogi Patel and his wife Vilsa discovered that a million-dollar scratch off had registered in the store’s computer, but no one had claimed the winning ticket. Yogi remembered one of his regular customers frequently played the type of game the winning ticket was from, and his wife told him the winner had come in earlier in the day and collected a number of small winnings from the game. Soon enough, they tracked the winner down. “I was happy to be honored by the Assemblyman, but I was happier when I was able to give the ticket back,” Patel said.

10/15/2015:
Challenge of proposed Wawa in Ramsey continues
A proposed 24/7 Wawa gas station and convenience store on Route 17 would create a buildup on site and generate more peak-hour traffic on the highway, a traffic engineer challenging the project argued at a Planning Board hearing on Oct. 6. It was the second consecutive hearing featuring testimony by traffic engineer Hal Simoff, of Chatham, who analyzed traffic reports submitted by engineers for V-Boys Ramsey Holdings LLC, the site’s developer. The company has applied to build the 5,051-square-foot gas station/ convenience store on the former Curry Sport property. The application includes a canopy at its entrance extending over eight gasoline dispensers with a total of 16 nozzles; one kiosk for attendants; a divided driveway for entry and exit; an air tank for tires; 48 parking spaces around the store and an additional 5,000 square feet of landscaping. Simoff was testifying on behalf of a legal team representing 50 residents in Bear’s Cove, an upscale condominium complex bent on derailing the project.

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 require 12 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 732-256-9646 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
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
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.

*NEW*Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three (3) weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are for reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.