NJGCA is Now EMG
Happy New Year to all fellow members, we are writing to share some exciting news about our association. After thoughtful discussion and strategic planning over the course of the last year, the Board has decided that it’s time to refresh and expand our organization in order to better serve you, our members, and to strengthen the collective voice of our industries. This effort will include an expansion of our membership to welcome a broader range of businesses that are shaping today’s energy, motor fuel, c-store, and auto repair sectors.
Since we were founded in 1937, this organization has always been the most successful when the industry was united. The more we stand together, the harder it is for our voices to be ignored. Over the decades we’ve had several name changes, from the NJ Gasoline Retailers Association, to the NJ Gasoline Retailers and Allied Trades, to the NJ Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association. As of today, we are now formally to be known as the simpler New Jersey Energy Marketers Group (NJEMG).
This change isn’t just about updating a logo or tagline. It’s about making sure our association is built for the future. As we move forward, our mission will remain clear: to empower motor fuel and energy retailers, distributors, suppliers, convenience store operators, and auto repair shops across New Jersey. We will continue to provide legislative advocacy, lobbying efforts, education, important information, and collaborative resources that promote equitable access, regulatory clarity, and innovation in the evolving marketplace. We will strengthen our collective influence through an expanded membership that brings in fuel distributors and suppliers as Regular Members, which will allow us to build a stronger coalition, one that reflects the full spectrum of businesses impacted by the government.
With the added membership and resources, we will be able to redouble our efforts in Trenton by not just slowing or minimizing bad policy, but by stopping it completely and proactively enacting new policies that will actually help our businesses survive in this state. These include defining a minimum markup for gasoline sales to ensure every station is guaranteed to earn enough per gallon to survive, protecting repair shop access to vehicle repair data and returning some form of safety inspections, allowing convenience stores to sell beer and wine, and many more ideas to come.
To this end, we are hiring a dedicated and influential professional contract lobbyist to actively push these issues to the state’s powerbrokers. As we welcome the start of the 222nd Session of the New Jersey Legislature and the inauguration of Mikie Sherrill as the 57th Governor, we are prepared to hit the ground running.
We also will be diving into more membership benefits, including financial benefits, larger events, and educational opportunities for business owners and your employees.
We believe that solidarity and unity are more important than ever. A strong, broad, and organized presence is critical when engaging with state government and other stakeholders to ensure that our members’ interests are heard and respected. By refreshing our brand and broadening our base, we will be in an even better position to benefit both our industry and the communities we serve.
These changes were approved unanimously by the NJGCA Board of Directors. We remain a nonprofit trade association, organized for the exclusive purpose of serving our dues-paying members and advancing the cause of the businesses which serve the motorist— motor fuel, auto repair, and convenience stores.
We are excited for this next chapter to begin, and we look forward to working with you alongside our great professional staff, Executive Director Eric Blomgren and Director of Member Services Nick De Palma, who have a combined 25 years of experience serving our association. You can reach them anytime at Eric@njgca.org and Nick@njgca.org, or 732-256-9646.
This is a pivotal moment for our association and our industries, and we are excited to embark on this journey with you. Together, we can build an even stronger association that is prepared to lead in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Thank you for your continued commitment and support.
Sincerely,
The NJEMG Board of Directors