September 26, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member: 16px;">:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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

NJGCA OPPOSES INCREASE IN GENERAL PERMIT FEES
PLEASE TAKE A QUICK LOTTERY SURVEY
IMPORTANT OVERFILL PROTECTION REMINDER
EPA IS CONDUCTING RANDOM BLEND TESTING
REMINDERS: FOX ROTHSCHILD LABOR ISSUES SEMINAR, NJGCA DINER TOUR, MBP SURVEY, NATURAL GAS SUMMIT

On Monday, I attended a special hearing in Trenton at the NJ Department of Environmental Protection. NJ DEP has issued a proposal to raise the permit fees associated with many of your operations. The one general permit fee that most of you must comply with is for Stage II Vapor Recovery. Presently, this fee is set at $410. The proposal is to increase it to $820. The other fees that you should be concerned with, which I also opposed in my testimony, are the fees that you must pay if you have a waste oil heater, a back-up generator, and if your repair shop has a spray booth for any body work that you do. These fees are also rising to $820. You can read my testimony by clicking HERE. These fee increases have not been implemented yet. We will keep you informed of what to expect if our fight to stop the increase is not successful...  And of course, I'll let you know if we are successful too!  No sense missing an opportunity to brag!
 
Last week, I hosted top officials from the NJ Lottery here at NJGCA headquarters. We discussed many aspects of the NJ Lottery program, and revisited the issue of internet lottery sales, which we strongly oppose. Over the past three years, we have been successful in beating back every attempt that has been made to permit lottery to be purchased over the internet rather than in your stores. However, we are becoming increasingly more concerned that a renewed effort will be made to implement internet lottery sales in the near future. I am very interested in monitoring the success of lottery sales in your stores. Last year, a new contractor was hired by the State to implement all marketing and sales for the NJ Lottery. It is important for me to know how well this is working for you. When my discussion with the Lottery officials concluded, my staff and I put together a short survey that I would appreciate your participation in. Please CLICK HERE to take the survey. I promise it will only take a few minutes.
 
Now, for an important reminder.  Back in one of our Road Warriors from May, I gave you a heads up that overfill “ball floats” are supposed to be set at 90% of the tank volume. This came to our attention when we learned that several of the locations that were purchased by dealers from Exxon under the Right of First Refusal were set at 95%, instead of 90%. We have recently learned that several Exxon dealers did not pay attention to this alert, and have been visited by NJ DEP for a routine compliance inspection, at which time they were cited for this violation. So let me remind you again -- even if you are not an Exxon dealer, you should all ensure that the contractor who performs your compliance testing checks to make sure that your overfill protection is set properly and calibrated to 90%. This will save everyone a lot of headache and hassle in the future… and money too by avoiding costly fines!
 
As you all should know, recently, the summer blend formulation for gasoline was switched over to the winter blend. Since this is less expensive to produce, we usually see price decreases at this time of the year. I want you to be aware that EPA is randomly taking samples from select gas stations around the State, to make sure that winter blends are indeed being dispensed. The contractor performing these tests is Southwest Research Institute. A Southwest employee will identify themselves and will then have you pump small samples from each of your pumps into approved and secure aluminum containers. They will pay for the product that is dispensed. You will be notified if the test results do not meet the current standards, and then you will be asked to provide invoices and bills of lading for the three deliveries prior to the sample being taken. Your supplier will also be contacted. All test results and any refusals to allow the test, will be reported to the EPA.  I have attached a copy of the letter that will be given to you upon the arrival of the Southwest agent collecting the samples.  Please click HERE.
 
Finally, I have FOUR important reminders for you.
 
1.  Hopefully, you all saw the Events and Announcements that I sent out last Friday, about the TWO FREE seminars being offered by Fox Rothschild law firm, an NJGCA Member Benefit Partner. The focus will be important labor-related issues: Wages, Hiring, Firing and Employee Handbooks. We are offering this class in TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS so that we can reach as many members as possible!  The seminars are 5:30-7:30 PM on Tuesday, September 30th in Roseland and Wednesday, October 1 in Lawrenceville. Dinner will be served, along with soft drinks, coffee/tea and dessert!  For more information, and complete details, please click HERE.  Please RSVP to this email if you plan to attend, so that we know how much food to order!
 
2. NJGCA will be back on the road again for a number of Breakfast Meetings throughout October. So far, we are scheduled to be in West Amwell on October 15 and Bordentown on October 28.  Do not miss these opportunities to come out, get some free breakfast, hear an update about what's going on at NJGCA and in the industry, and have the chance to voice your questions, concerns and comments.  Our Diner Tour has been a great success so far and we look forward to the opportunity to see YOU soon! 
 
3. Please take a moment to respond to our Member Benefit Partner Satisfaction Survey.  This information will be critical as we start to arrange our 2015 Member Benefit Partner Program and 2015 Member Benefit Partner Brochure.  We need to know about the experiences you have had, both good and bad, with businesses that serve our industry, whether they are in the NJGCA MBP program or not.  To access the survey online, please click HERE.
 
4. Natural Gas Vehicle Summit in Boston, October 21 and 22.  As you know, I firmly believe that the longterm future of our industry is in alternative fuels. There will, one day, be a last drop of oil.  And when that happens, I want all of you to be prepared to service vehicles that run on natural gas, electricity, hydrogen, or any other source of energy that is NOT gasoline. I have said this before and you will continue to hear me say it, “you are not in the gasoline and diesel fuel business - you are in the transportation energy business”. With that being said, I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to go to Boston next month for the Natural Gas Vehicle Summit. I have already heard from multiple members that they plan to attend as well, and I am thrilled that they are taking the future of the industry so seriously. For more info about the Summit, please click HERE.  If you plan to attend, please send me an email!

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading.  See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

Do you have a business for sale?  Are you looking for a new location or opportunity?

• NJGCA regularly assists members looking to sell their business by getting the word out.  Since everyone reading this message is involved in the small business gasoline retail, convenience store, and automotive repair trades, it is an ideal medium to connect with interested buyers and prospects!

NJGCA also helps members sell equipment by placing ads in the Road Warrior!

• 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! 

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

09/25/2014:
Officials eye gas tax hike to fix N.J. roads and bridges
The state badly needs to improve its roads and bridges, and a hike in the state gas tax is likely to be at least part of how that gets done, lawmakers said today at a hearing on transportation funding. But while it was clear that the money to fix New jersey's crumbling infrastructure would have to come at least in part from an increase in the state gasoline tax, there were few specifics on how big a hike should be expected or where other revenues or cost savings might come from. Tuesday's hearing at Montclair State University was the first in a special series on transportation funding being held by the Committee to address the rapidly depleting state Transportation Trust Fund, an account used to pay for big road and bridge projects that's financed by the gasoline tax. Some witnesses said hiking the gas tax was the only way to raise the $1.6 billion needed to meet the state's annual transportation spending obligations.
 
09/24/2014:
NJGCA in the News: New Jersey’s Cheap Gas Sticking Around For A While
New Jersey drivers rejoice! You can now find gas in the Garden State for under $3 a gallon! Gas prices haven't been this low in four years, and it may even continue to drop! Sal Risalvato is the Executive Director of New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, and Automotive Association who says we can thank a decline in demand for gas due to less people traveling in the fall compared to the summer. Also by switching the blend of gasoline that is better for the fall and winter seasons, this makes the gas even less expensive because of the different recipe. “We are seeing a very sharp decline right now because we've got just a small decline in demand. And just a little bit of that consumption drop will cause the market to start heading downward,” he said. Gas today is about twenty-cents less than this time last year. The average price in New Jersey is about $3.17 per gallon and for all of America the gas average is around $3.33 per gallons and drivers couldn't be happier!
 
09/082014:
Sustaining profits: Going green can improve the bottom line, even for small businesses
Small business owners have offered sustainability gurus every excuse in the book. Their plans for eco-friendly infrastructure reforms were shelved because they were a resource drain … their 200-page-long PowerPoint presentation about energy efficiency was disregarded because, well, it's 200 pages … they can't even think about going green because it takes too much green. But persistent advocates and now state initiatives are doing what they can to ease the process of implementing sustainability into a business -- and show it's the right thing to do for many reasons. Including the bottom line. For Jeana Wirtenberg, sustainability has long been a no-brainer for small businesses. As CEO of Transitioning to Green, a consulting and training company in Montville, she works to help businesses understand how these practices will lead to cost savings, talent attraction and an enhanced reputation.

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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

CLASS DETAILS:

Class Date: Monday, October 06, 2014
Class Location: NJGCA Headquarters, located at 66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081
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 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 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.