Are You Planning A Holiday Drive? Let NJGCA Highlight You!
What’s Going on in the Marketplace
MBP Survey: Take the Survey and Enter to Win an Amazon Gift Card!
Minimum Wage Increase
It doesn’t feel like it, but we are officially at the “end of the year” again, and with that comes our annual reminder to you that promptly on January 1st the state minimum wage will rise again. This year it will come out to $14.13 an hour for businesses with six or more employees. Due to inflation this year an additional 13 cents were added on to the original planned amount. We know many of you are paying well over this amount to attract more employees, but if you are paying anyone less than $13 an hour you will need to make sure you explicitly authorize your payroll company to make that change. Some think this change is made automatically but generally payroll companies will not change the wages unless you explicitly tell them to do so. For businesses with five or fewer employees and/or seasonal employers, the minimum wage will rise to $12.93 on January 1st (up from $11.90). Seasonal employers are defined as those for whom last year at least two-thirds of their gross receipts were received in a continuous period of 16 weeks or less.
Holiday Drives
NJGCA is trying to do our best to work on outreach with our members, and we want to hear from you. Are you planning a drive or collection to give back to your community? Are you currently raising money for an organization? We’re officially in the holiday season and know that our members are generous and often plan opportunities such as these in order to celebrate the season of giving. If so, we want to highlight you and give you a larger platform to help those in need. If your business is planning any community service, please email Michelle at michelle@njgca.org. In the past we have even been able to help some members in advance of holding an event by sending out a release to our press list. If you are interested, please reach out to us.
Marketplace Update
Rack prices have fallen over 25 cents a gallon so far this week as part of an overall 70 cent a gallon drop this month. On Tuesday, the average rack price (plus taxes) was the lowest since January 10th 2022, and analysts are predicting price drops through the end of the year. We encourage members to maintain their margins as best they can when these few opportunities come up to make a little extra money. This will ultimately help you when price increases inevitably come.
Diesel prices have also dropped by over $1.50 a gallon after the huge spike they had earlier in the month November. Prices continue, however, to be over a dollar per gallon more than gasoline. People continue to have supply fears when it comes to diesel due to continued uncertainty around the market disruptions tied to the Russian war against Ukraine, as well as how high heating oil demand will be this winter. Right now, where the price of diesel is going is too unpredictable.
MBP Survey
Earlier this year, you should have received the 2022 NJGCA Member Benefit Partner Brochure, which provides information about all of the companies/businesses/vendors that have partnered with NJGCA to provide our members with the highest quality products and services.
Now, it's time for you to tell us what you think! Our updated survey takes less than five minutes, and the information and feedback that you provide will help us tailor our Member Benefit Partners program to best suit the needs of our membership. If you also use companies which are not currently NJGCA MBPs that you are happy with, please let us know so we can determine if there are any businesses that we would like to partner with in the future.
This year, we are excited to announce a giveaway tied to our survey. All NJGCA members who complete the survey will be able to enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card. We will randomly select four winners on December 9th who will receive a gift card by email.
All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 615 Hope Road, Building 2, 1st Floor, Eatontown, NJ 07724
ASE Training Course - Reach Out Today!
Are you (or an employee) getting ready to take your A6, A8, or L1 in preparation to recertifying your Emission Repair Technician (ERT) credentials through the State's Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP)?
We can help --- but we need to hear from you, first! NJGCA wants to hear from students interested in our ASE-prep training program, so we can gauge demand and schedule our next session series.
As you know, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has always maintained a "dual-track" system to allow technicians to earn their Emission Repair Technician (ERT) credentials through New Jersey's Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP). In doing so, technicians were allowed to certify as ERTs through either an ASE-test track or an ETEP-educational class track. Starting on January 1, 2020, NJDEP amended the ETEP criteria, and the ETEP-educational class track was abolished.
Today, only the ASE-test track remains, and all ERTs must certify or re-certify their credentials though ASE to remain in the Program.
NJGCA has recently offered an ASE-prep class to help you get ready for the A6, A8, and L1. In doing so, students were welcome to participate in a ten-session preparatory class that covered material for all three ASE exams. We also had a handful of students who joined us only for the A8 or L1 sections.
Once completed, students took their ASE exams with a local ASE-approved test proctor (NJGCA can train you to prepare for the ASE exams, but are not permitted to offer the actual exam - students must make these arrangements individually themselves).
Building on that success, we are now seeking student participation in our next training series session. To make arrangements and organize a session, we need to hear from you!
The New Jersey Senate pulled a bill paring down the state’s disposable bag ban from its agenda Monday after Democratic senators requested changes that would require a new educational component and exempt food banks from the ban for years. The proposed changes will likely keep the measure from reaching Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk before the year’s end, said Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), the bill’s prime sponsor. Since the bag ban went into effect in May, lawmakers have heard complaints from residents who say they accumulate reusable bags every time they have food delivered, a buildup that threatens to undercut the law’s goal of reducing plastic pollution.
After years of ambitious targets and bold promises, investors are growing impatient with the pace of driverless-car development, applying pressure on an industry that had become accustomed to latitude and piles of cash from investors. Auto makers in recent weeks scaled back plans for the technology amid new pressure to curb expenses during an economic slowdown.
Electric vehicles have never been more popular. Just about every automaker is in the midst of an electrification effort, spurred on by impending government regulations around the world aimed at reducing our dependency on fossil fuels. But is the movement having an effect? Here in the US, plug-in vehicles are selling better than ever, despite supply chain shortages and frequent hefty dealership markups. According to Argonne National Lab, between 2010 and the end of 2021, the US had bought more than 2.1 million plug-in vehicles, including 1.3 million battery EVs. That sounds like a very impressive number, but bear in mind that's out of a total national vehicle pool of nearly 276 million cars and trucks. Argonne estimates that despite all these plug-ins, national gasoline consumption was reduced by just 0.54 percent in 2021.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has issued another order to further postpone the effective date of required warnings on cigarettes. The new date is November 6, 2023, stated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Any obligation to comply with a deadline tied to the effective date is similarly postponed, according to the FDA, but the agency encourages entities to submit cigarette plans as soon as possible but no later than January 9, 2023. In March 2020, the FDA issued a final rule requiring cigarette health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements. In October 2019, NACS filed a letter on the proposed rule on graphic warning labels on cigarette packages.
The New Jersey Business & Industry Association’s 64th annual Business Outlook Survey finds that Garden State business leaders believe they are being left out of the affordability conversation that has dominated Trenton over the past year. According to the survey, released Nov. 28, 75% of respondents said that the governor and lawmakers have not done enough to address business affordability in the past 12 months, while a combined 82% said that New Jersey is either somewhat unaffordable for businesses (46%) or not affordable at all for businesses (36%). In fact, just 5% said that policymakers are doing enough to help businesses. “It was a year which saw historic spending and budget surplus, yet no comprehensive business relief – and our businesses have taken notice,” said NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka.
Three men busted their way into a Kearny gas station mini mart early Tuesday morning and hauled away an ATM, Kearny police said. The incident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. at the Exxon station at 514 Kearny Ave., said Kearny Capt. Tim Wagner, who noted there has been a recent increase in this type of theft. The gas station was closed when police say three men pulled up in a Range Rover that had been reported stolen out of Franklin Lakes in Bergen County. The men then smashed the door with a crowbar, entered the mini-mart and stole its ATM, Wagner said.
11/29/22
NJ Town Would Make It Illegal to Stand Near Driveways With Cars Officials in this Monmouth County municipality are proposing a law that would fine or imprison someone who tries to open, unlock, or even stand near a vehicle that is not theirs. The proposed ordinance, scheduled for a final vote by the Township Committee on Dec. 13, comes amid reports of car theft rates increasing by around 20% a year in New Jersey since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The Holmdel ordinance, introduced on Nov. 22, would make it illegal for anyone who does not own or have permission to access a certain vehicle "to enter or remain on any driveway, paved surface, or location within 20 feet" of that car when parked.
Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.
