Januarty 07, 2016

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 DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!

UPCOMING NJGCA EVENTS: AUTO REPAIR AND TIRE SHOP SUMMIT,
FREE BREAKFAST MEETING IN WALL TOWNSHIP ON 1/13/2016,
NJGCA ENTIRE ETEP AND ETEP RE-CERT CLASSES
MARKETPLACE UPDATE:  WASTE OIL AND GASOLINE
COMMITTEE APPROVES TOBACCO PURCHASE AGE INCREASE

Happy New Year!!  We are busier than ever at NJGCA headquarters, with a calendar FULL of events and programs planned for our members in the next 5 weeks.  We hope you'll join us!
 
1. Auto Repair and Tire Shop Summit: Wednesday, February 10, 2016.  For as long as we have been expecting the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the new Emissions Inspection Program, we've known that this would provide the perfect reason to gather repair shops across the State to discuss the many issues affecting the industry.  We have arranged for a great program of speakers, including the US Department of Labor and OSHA to provide tips on proper payroll and book-keeping practices, and Automotive Training Institute will be our afternoon presenter, giving shop-owners an exclusive program to take the first steps to building a better business! NJGCA has created two postcards to promote the event, please click HERE to see the the one we just sent to the printer. You should be receiving it in your mailbox soon! To register for the event online right now, please click HERE.
 
2. Free Breakfast Meeting in Wall Township! The NJGCA Diner Tour is back for 2016!! Our first stop will be the Princess Maria Diner at 2044 Route 35 North, Wall Township, on Wednesday, January 13, 2016.  We will start at 9:30 AM.  As always, we will have a $50 American Express giftcard for one lucky attendee, and we will be providing information on all sorts of issues affecting the industry (mandatory tire registration, Right to Repair, gas tax, raising the tobacco age, Internet lottery, and much more!)  The details are HERE.  To RSVP, reply directly to this email or call Jacy at 732-256-9646.
 
3.  Entire ETEP Certification & ETEP Re-Certification Classes -- NJGCA will offer the entire ETEP curriculum starting on Tuesday, January 12th at 9:00 am.  The course will run every Tuesday for 11 weeks, starting January 12, 2016 and ending March 22, 2016.  This is everything you need to become a licensed Emission Repair Technician in New Jersey.  For anyone who simply needs to renew a license and complete Sections 8, 9, and 10, we will be offering the class in March (March 1, 8, 15 and 22) from 9:00am - 5:00pm. For more info on these classes, click HERE or call Debbie at 732-256-9646. To download the registration form, click HERE.
 
Now, I want to briefly discuss what you're seeing in the waste oil industry. I started receiving phone calls from members last month, who told me that they were now being charged to have waste oil removed from their premises, as opposed to being paid by the waste oil hauler. As you know, the waste oil market fluctuates in response to cycles in crude oil prices. Both crude oil and recycled motor oil are used in the production of lubricants, paving materials, plastics, etc.  Even after going through the recycling process, recycled motor oil is generally much cheaper than virgin product out of a barrel of crude oil.
 
When the price of crude oil is high, waste oil recyclers are willing to pay the haulers to bring them the waste oil, and the haulers are willing to pay YOU. When crude oil prices start falling, recycled motor oil loses its competitive advantage.  As the cost of crude oil further declines, anyone seeking to make lubricants, plastics, paving materials, etc. will choose virgin crude instead of recycled motor oil. Recyclers must keep their costs down in order to remain competitive, so they charge the haulers when they deliver the waste, and the haulers pass that cost along to you when they pick it up. This is why you end up paying the haulers to dispose of your waste.
 
This is a perfect transition to some recent events in the gasoline marketplace. As of today, the price of crude oil is at its lowest point since the end of 2008. In two years, the price of crude has gone from $90/barrel to around $35, which is why the price of gasoline has gone from $3.50/gallon to $1.75/gallon. As we just discussed, this clearly has an impact on the waste oil / recycled motor oil industry.
 
Additionally, the market recently received some shocking news from the Energy Information Administration, which showed a nationwide buildup of over 10 million barrels of gasoline a day over the previous week. This is the largest single-week increase in nationwide gasoline inventories since 1993 and is largely a result of consumption dropping to the lowest levels since 2004 in recent weeks. There was also a buildup of diesel fuel, however the price drop was not as dramatic. It won't be surprising if gas prices spike back up..  If not for the tremendous amount of domestic production in recent years, prices would've already shot up 20 cents or more overnight, due to recent geo- political firestorms in Saudi Arabia and Iran. I will continue to monitor the situation and report back to you.
 
Finally, the legislation proposing to raise the tobacco purchase age to 21 took another step closer to the Governor's desk.  The Assembly Appropriations Committee passed the bill a few hours ago.  I'm sure that the entire Assembly will vote on this bill on Monday, as that is the last voting session before the new Assembly is sworn in on Tuesday.  If the bill passes the full Assembly on Monday, it will go to the Governor's desk. We have been getting mixed signals from his Office regarding what action he would take on the bill, and the Governor has not tipped his hand either way.  Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!

All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

Emission Repair Technician ENTIRE Training Course
Eleven (11) Full Days -- 9 AM to 5 PM on Tuesdays
January 12, 19, 26 ... February 2, 9, 16, 23 ... March 1, 8, 15, 22

Emission Repair Technician Re-Certification Class
Four (4) Full Days
Days: 9AM - 5PM on Tuesdays -- March 1, 8, 15 22

For more details on all of these classes, click HERE. 
For a registration form for any of these classes, click HERE. 

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!

District Manager
Store Manager
Trucking Operations Manager

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

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1/5/2016:
De Blasio to Raise Minimum Wage for City Workers to $15 an Hour by 2018
NYC’s lowest wage workers are getting a raise.  NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he plans to raise the minimum wage for city workers to $15 an hour by 2018.  The move will also cover employees of not-for-profits contracted with the city. Altogether, 50,000 employees will receive the wage increase at a cost of $238 million over four years.  The news of the wage boost comes just two weeks after the mayor said that he would issue an executive order to guarantee all non-union city employees at least six weeks of fully-paid parental leave and up to 12 weeks when combined with accrued vacation time.  The wage increase will impact 20,000 direct city employees, including school crossing guards, job training participants and seasonal workers. The other 30,000 will be comprised of employees at not-for-profits that contract with the city, including child care providers and teacher aides.
 
1/4/2016:
Editorial: As wages go, $10.10 is the bare minimum in New Jersey
Think you could get by working for $8.38 an hour? In pricey NJ, it would be a close call even if you were living alone - and in your car. But it could be worse. What if you had car payments to make?  Add to the picture a wife, and throw in a couple of kids as well.  Then there's the monthly rental tab that usually accompanies such a family. What then? On $8.38 an hour, macaroni and cheese would have to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. It's a grim scenario but not an unreal one. For $8.38 an hour is currently the official minimum wage in NJ, one of the highest cost states in the nation. A single adult in the state earning $8.38 an hour needs to work ore than 94 hours a week to survive, a report says. Yes, New Jersey just increased its minimum wage through a Constitutional amendment in 2013. We were ahead of the curve. But we were not sufficiently ambitious. Several states and cities have approved far more generous increases, and President Obama has called for a national hike to $10.10/hour, a move that would only restore its real value from decades ago.
 
12/28/2015:
Where the Minimum Wage Will Rise on Jan. 1 -- And Why it Matters
On Jan. 1, min­im­um wage hikes went in­to ef­fect in 13 states and sev­er­al ma­jor cit­ies, mak­ing 2016 something of a na­tion­al ex­per­i­ment to test the ef­fects of high­er wages for the low­est-paid work­ers.  Eco­nom­ists say that high­er min­im­um wages are an ef­fect­ive tool against poverty and in­equal­ity, but taken too far, they can di­min­ish em­ploy­ment op­por­tun­it­ies. The fed­er­al min­im­um wage is $7.25 an hour; as of this year, the highest state min­im­um wage is $9.32 an hour. But Cali­for­nia and Mas­sachu­setts will soon be of­fer­ing some of the highest min­im­um wages in the na­tion, at $10 an hour -- while a hand­ful of cit­ies will be set­ting a $13 hourly min­im­um. What hap­pens next in these places could de­term­ine wheth­er em­ploy­ee ad­voc­ates suc­ceed in their ef­forts to con­sol­id­ate their re­cent gains and ex­pand their push for a $15 na­tion­al min­im­um wage. Click here for the state-by-state changes that went in­to ef­fect on Jan. 1.

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 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.