The PEI Board of Directors met April 29 in Austin, Texas. Here is a summary of the meeting and some of the decisions that were made.

We began with a discussion of the impact of the EMV rollout on PEI members and our customers. Some retailers are taking a wait-and-see approach. Others are moving aggressively to replace or upgrade their payment systems on the fuel island. As a result, the pace of EMV work is already creating service tech staffing challenges for many distributors and service contractors. The directors also noted that EMV installations are rarely routine, with unexpected troubleshooting eating into profit margins. EMV-related work is expected to continue well past the October 2017 deadline for retailers to make pay-at-the-pump systems EMV-compliant or risk additional liability for fraudulent transactions.    

You might recall that last year the board authorized several initiatives to help with the recruitment, assessment and training of new service technicians. All of those projects are moving along rapidly. In Austin, we previewed three short recruitment videos that soon will be made available at no charge to PEI members. An industry-specific skills assessment test for job applicants also is likely to be released in late June. And the board reviewed the draft of a soon-to-be-published 52-page entry-level service technician training course. We believe these tools will be a great help to members.

Another recently launched member benefit is the PEI Business Bullet, a monthly e-newsletter focused on best business practices. If you are not yet receiving this free publication, I encourage you to subscribe. Members can find how to do so here—just scroll down to the bottom of the page. 

PEI staff also is working on a new mentoring program called PEI Connect. The program will match people who are willing to share their knowledge with others who are looking to grow their professional skills. Be watching for the official rollout of PEI Connect in the next few weeks.

Before the end of this month, distributor and service and construction members will receive an invitation to participate in the 2016 Distributor Profitability Survey. To make this survey as statistically relevant as possible, we are encouraging as many members as possible to participate.

As for upcoming events, the board approved a recommendation to hold a Service & Construction Managers Conference in the spring of 2017. If you are interested in serving on the planning committee for this always-popular event, please email Bob Young of the PEI staff at byoung@pei.org.

Plans are well underway for the 2016 PEI Convention at the NACS Show, Oct. 18-21 in Atlanta. More than 600 booths of direct interest to PEI members have already been sold—and the remaining booths are going fast. Insightful educational sessions will address the economy, safety, the future of retail fueling, business valuation, inter-generational work teams and more. As always, attendees also will be able to enjoy nonstop networking opportunities. Early-bird registration, which opens May 16, will save you $200 per attendee. Convention housing reservations can be made here.

PEI’s recommended practices continue to play a crucial role in the industry. Four documents are slated for revision this fiscal year: RP100 (installation of underground storage systems); RP500 (inspection and maintenance of dispensing equipment); RP900 (inspection and maintenance of underground storage systems); and RP1200 (testing and verification of spill, overfill prevention and secondary containment). Work is also underway on the new RP1600 (LNG fueling systems). And during our Austin meeting we authorized a brand new recommended practice on the decommissioning and removal of UST and AST systems. Click here for a complete list of all PEI recommended practices.  Also on the content front, we adopted a new policy requiring that the board approve the subject matter of any future PEI white papers or position papers.

Organizationally, the association remains very strong. In Austin, the board approved the 2016-17 fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). This represents the 23rd year in a row that PEI has operated without a blanket dues increase. The board also voted unanimously to appoint me as PEI’s executive vice president and general counsel, effective upon Bob Renkes’ retirement on June 1, 2017. Since 2009, I have served PEI as general manager, associate general counsel and editor-in-chief of the PEI Journal.