REMINDER: WEBINAR TOMORROW REMINDER: PLASTIC BAG AND STYROFOAM BAN EFFECTIVE MAY 4 MARKETPLACE ROLLERCOASTER CONTINUES SELF-SERVE UPDATE REMINDER: INFO ON DUES RENEWALS REMINDER: WEBINAR TOMORROW Tomorrow, April 1st at 12pm we are hosting another webinar with someone from FreeWire to discuss the State's new grant program for the installation of an EV fast charger. We had an enormous response from the first webinar we did two weeks ago, I'm happy to see so many of you emailing us to look into it further. The business case for installing one of these chargers changes significantly when the State is offering a grant that pays for much of the cost. If you need a refresher or if you couldn't make it 2 weeks ago make sure you do now, the grant opportunity is only through mid-May and realistically you must decide whether to apply by May 1st in order to have everything completed in time. Click here to register: https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/87Rz5BR4yzg_mCNd78EA0w SELF-SERVE UPDATE Recently many of you have written to tell me you're ready to help take action to get self-serve legislation passed. Please consider this a formal request: Even if you've done it before, even if you just did it within the last few days, please email me Sal@njgca.org or just reply to this email if you are willing to participate in a self-serve awareness campaign of some kind, at your station, to educate your customers about the benefits of convenience and savings they could have if self-serve were permitted. I will share more details about what specifically we are planning to do as it develops, look for an email. Also, if you do not already please follow the Fuel Your Way NJ Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FuelYourWayNJ/ and please like and promote its contents to your friends and followers. REMINDER: PLASTIC BAG AND STYROFOAM BAN EFFECTIVE MAY 4 This date is approaching fast, and given the significance of this change and how it affects every retail business in this state, you want to be prepared now, particularly with the supply chain issues we've all seen the last two years. As part of legislation that was passed and signed into law in November 2020, on May 4th a variety of restrictions will come into effect dealing with bags and Styrofoam products. All single-use plastic carryout bags will be banned at all retail stores in the state. Single-use paper bags will still be allowed, but only for convenience stores under 2,500 square feet and businesses that do not sell food. Paper bags are generally more expensive than plastic bags, and c-stores under 2,500 sq. ft. are free to choose not to provide them at all and instead ask customers to either go bagless or purchase a reusable carryout bag. Stores could also charge a small fee for a paper bag if they wished to. Reusable carryout bags are defined as a bag that "(1) is made of polypropylene, PET nonwoven fabric, nylon, cloth, hemp product, or other machine washable fabric; (2) has stitched handles; and (3) is designed and manufactured for multiple reuse." We encourage you to stock some of these bags for sale to customers. There are several small exemptions to the plastic bag ban: a bag used solely to contain uncooked meat or fish, a bag used to package loose items like fruit, nuts, coffee, candy, flowers, small hardware items, etc., a bag used to contain food sliced or prepared to order including soup or hot food, a newspaper bag. Also banned are most food packaging products made of expanded polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. This includes drink cups and food containers. There are several exceptions: disposable long-handled foam soda spoons used for thick drinks, portion cups 2oz or less, trays for raw meat or fish, and food that was prepackaged by the manufacturer with Styrofoam. One benefit of this law is that once it goes into effect it totally overrides all local rules and ordinances covering these items, so if your local government had either prohibited paper bags or required your store to charge a fee for them, they will no longer be required to do so. Also, the penalty for violating any provision of this law is a warning for the first offense. The State has also set up a dedicated webpage for business owners covering these rules, which includes a list of vendors and distributors who sell approved reusable bags. MARKETPLACE ROLLERCOASTER CONTINUES The marketplace for crude oil and motor fuel continues to be as chaotic as I've ever seen. Three weeks ago WTI crude was about $124 a barrel, two weeks ago it was $95 a barrel, one week ago it was $115, two days ago it was about $104 and now it's creeping back up. Every news story, from Russian troop movements to Chinese coronavirus outbreaks is leading to huge shifts in the market by the speculators. Rack prices follow closely behind, jumping 10¢ a gallon one day and then falling 20¢ the next day. These kinds of swings are why we consistently advise you to keep your margin as high as possible, you will need the additional revenues to cover on the day you inevitably wind up buying a load of fuel just before a double-digit drop in price that a competitor takes advantage of. Some of the decrease over the last few days is likely because suppliers or refiners need to empty their inventories of winter blend gas, as of April 15th they need to be supplying the more expensive summer blend gas, that higher cost will soon lead to higher price increases. NJGCA SCHOLARSHIP AWARD Last year NJGCA awarded 4 scholarships to children of NJGCA members and the children of employees NJGCA members. A total of $10,000 was awarded with $5000 being contributed thanks to the generosity of Utica Insurance. Utica Insurance is the insurance company that insures many NJGCA. The contribution was arranged by NJGCA MBP Amato Agency. Once again Utica has contributed $5000 towards a scholarship that is to be awarded to a student attending an automotive technical school or studying automotive technology. The NJGCA Board of Directors has also approved participation in additional awards. Be on the lookout for an email that will enable you to complete the scholarship application online. Each NJGCA member will be entitled to submit ONE application that will be reviewed by the scholarship committee. The application may be submitted for the child of a member, or the child of an employee that works for the NJGCA member. More details will follow soon. REMINDER: INFO ON DUES RENEWALS All members who are scheduled to renew their membership will receive an email with an electronic invoice and a link to pay for it. When you go to the site to pay you will have to retrieve your logon information as it has changed from last year. You'll receive an email with the new logon credentials. When you pay the invoice, a confirmation email will be generated. Also, when you click on the "continue" link in the email, you will see the actual invoice with details and an option to print it or download it to your computer. For all other members renewing throughout 2022, this is the new procedure for billing and payment. It is important to check your emails on or about the first of the month of your renewal. Reminder invoices will also be sent out on or about the first of the month. Any questions or concerns can be addressed by emailing accounting@njgca.org Be Well - Sal Risalvato
Executive Director |
