July 10, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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

CRIME RESEARCH SURVEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER!
"BAN THE BOX" LEGISLATION ADVANCES IN TRENTON
LOOK FOR THE OTR MAGAZINE IN YOUR MAILBOX NEXT WEEK!

In recent communications, Sal has written frequently about the Crime Research Survey that was developed by NJGCA and a team of researchers at John Jay College.  The information gathered from this survey will help you better protect your business, your employees and your profits. As we have seen in recent weeks, there have been an alarming number of attacks and robberies on gas station attendants in New Jersey.  This past week was no different, with the news that one New Jersey gas station was robbed twice in less than 24 hours!  NJGCA has publicized a list of safety tips and recommendations for lowering risk and preventing crime, but this survey will provide much more reliable, concrete data. To see information that NJGCA has provided in the past, please click HERE and HERE.

Additionally, self-serve supporters say that New Jersey's full-service policy unnecessarily puts attendants in harm's way, and this survey will help to create a complete, thorough and accurate list of crimes committed recently at New Jersey gas stations, which self-serve advocates will be able to use as evidence to support their claims.  If you support self serve, make extra sure that you complete our crime research survey, since the two go hand-in-hand.  To fill out the survey, please click HERE.
 
One final note about the survey.  If you have more than one station, we ask that you please fill out the survey for each station, since each station will have unique characteristics that will be important to our research. Additionally, it is important that we have responses from stations that HAVE been victims of crime, as well as stations that HAVE NOT, so that we can highlight differences between the stations and draw significant conclusions about what factors/behaviors influence whether a station is likely to be victimized or not.
 
The only other thing that I wanted to bring to your attention is an update about the "Ban the Box" legislation. The bill has been positively amended in several ways. It now will only apply to businesses with 15 or more employees. Additionally, after conducting your first interview with the potential employee (this includes a phone interview), you are able to ask about an arrest record (instead of having to wait until the time at which you were offering the position, which is what was originally proposed). However, if the position requires a background check and/or cannot be filled by someone with a criminal history, then you can continue to ask whenever you want. This is important to NJGCA members who sell lottery as there are standards already in place that restrict persons with criminal records from having certain positions in your stores if the work involves lottery sales.  It also specifically says that lawsuits on the issue are not allowed and it removes any Ban the Box laws that local municipal governments have instituted which may be stricter than this law. 
 
Overall, while this bill does have some restrictions on businesses, it is remarkably better and fairer than the original version and as a result NJGCA is neutral on the bill. It passed the Senate 32-1 and passed the Assembly 49-24. As of now, it has not been signed by the Governor into law, but we expect him to do so in the next few weeks. The bill will take effect 6 months after the Governor signs it.    
 
Finally, please be on the lookout for a few things in the upcoming week:

1. An invitation to a joint Department of Labor / Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) meeting on July 16, 2014 at 9:00 AM in Avenel.  Mark it on your calendar now! More details to follow!

2. An invitation to join NJGCA Executive Director Sal Risalvato, other NJGCA staff, Member Benefit Partners, and your fellow business owners, at a FREE breakfast in Bridgewater on July 22nd at 9:30 AM. More details will be sent out early next week!

3. Your quarterly OTR Magazine! It should be in your mailbox in the upcoming week, and it is full of important information. Please take some time to closely read through the articles that NJGCA staff, NJGCA members, NJGCA Member Benefit Partners and other contributors have written for your benefit!  With any questions, comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to call the NJGCA office at 973-376-0066!  We look forward to hearing from you!

Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Regards,
Jacy Lance
Communications Director

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Long Established Towing Business For Sale!

Numerous contracts in place for new owner to take over!

• Dealerships, Municipalities, Road Service Clubs as well as State of NJ, State Police and Ocean County.
• Medium and Heavy Duty relationships as well.

Contact Greg at NJGCA (973-376-0066) for more information!

If you'd like to list your business for sale, publish a location you're selling, or are seeking a business partner for your establishment, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

07/09/2014:
Time to Submit Comments on the FDA Deeming Regulations: One month remains in the commenting period
With exactly one month remaining for the public to submit comments to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the proposed tobacco deeming regulations, now is the time for tobacco retailers and wholesalers to take 10 to 15 minutes and submit comments to the FDA. NATO is providing with this article easy step-by-step instructions and suggested comments to make the process of submitting comments to the FDA simple and quick. Please click on the link above to access the entire article and learn how to submit your comments today!
 
 
07/08/2014:
N.J. to take part in Affordable Care Act study
New Jersey is one of 24 states where the impact of the Affordable Care Act on hospital admissions and emergency room visits will be monitored in a new study led and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The New Jersey Hospital Association is partnering with Princeton-based RWJF on the study. Kerry McKean Kelly, spokeswoman for the NJHA, said: “One of the main theories of the ACA is that with more people having health insurance, we will see a decreased use of hospital emergency departments. That is one of the questions we hope this project will answer.” Kelly said among the 24 states in the study, New Jersey ranks in the top third for hospital admissions and ER visits. “We will be very interested to see if the ACA moves those numbers,” she said. “We hope the ACA will move Emergency Department numbers down and get more people into primary care and we hope this will reduce health care costs in the long run.” The study uses 2013 hospital data as the baseline year to assess the impact of the ACA, which was fully implemented in 2014.
 
 
07/07/2014:
BP: 53.3 Years Of Oil Left At Current Production Rate
"Nobody knows or can know how much oil exists under the earth's surface or how much it will be possible to produce in the future." That's how BP starts its website page defining oil reserves, and it's why we should take statistics like "53.3 years of oil reserves" with a pinch of salt. But currently, that number is BP's informed estimate of how much oil we have left, given known global reserves and estimated production rates. Illustrating just how malleable such figures are, that's actually a 1.1% increase over last year's estimate. Numbers fluctuate with time, as scientists and oil companies find new reserves, and new, more cost-efficient ways of extracting oil from known reserves. Reserve estimates have been rising for several years now, and are likely to do so for some time. Whether that will be enough to satiate increasingly industrial countries like China is another matter -- BP's figures reveal Asia-Pacific reserves sit at just 14 years at current production rates.  That means importing it from elsewhere to meet demand--or using increasingly damaging methods used to extract oil from ever-more-difficult sources.
 
07/04/2014:
Paterson gas station robbed 2 nights in a row
An Exxon gas station on 21st Avenue was robbed at gunpoint twice in less than 24 hours, police said. The first robbery happened at 3:30 a.m. on July 3, while the second occurred at 2:30 a.m. on July 4, according to Lt. Bert Ribeiro. Authorities are not sure whether the same person committed the two crimes. In both cases, the suspect was alone, police said. The suspect in the first robbery was wearing a mask, but he was not using a mask in the second one, police said. The July 4 robbery happened in the station's convenience store, Ribeiro said. The suspect asked to buy cigarettes and was making believe he was reaching for money to pay for them when he pulled out a gun and took several hundred dollars, police said.

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

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

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions
Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

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.