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National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) Executive Summit, Jan.
30-Feb. 1, Washington, D.C.
With a membership composed of national distributors and 70 line-of-trade
associations representing 30,000 employers and 5.9 million American workers,
NAW is the voice of the $5.7 trillion wholesale distribution industry.
“Disruption” was the theme of this year’s summit, with speakers, panelists
and roundtable discussions encouraging distributors to innovate, adapt and
evolve.
I can’t
quit thinking about 12 specific insights, examples and ideas from the
conference. See if any of these resonate with you as you build your
business’ future.
- Amazon doesn’t sell anything. Amazon
helps customers buy.
- Distributors can’t let Amazon
Business be the frame through which they visualize and develop their
strategies.
- Small to medium-sized distributors
should be ideal innovation labs because they aren’t bound by rigid
structures and systems.
- Drones are already proving their
merit in delivering items to rural locations.
- Barriers to innovation come in two
varieties:
- Cognitive:
We’ve never done it that way before…we tried something
like that once and it didn’t work;
- Structural:
That’s not our department…we need a task force to look
at that…you need to focus on the job we assigned you.
- No Excel spreadsheet has ever gone
viral; videos and visuals go viral.
- What happens in your office is more
important than what happens in any politician’s office.
- Tax cuts provide only a short-term
boost to GDP, not a long-term one.
- The recent round of tariffs may be
scaled back, but they are unlikely to disappear.
- If your website looks out of date or
isn’t easy to use, you will drive away younger job applicants, customers
and prospects.
- Use times like these—when business
is good—to reduce debt, improve productivity and otherwise do the hard
work that will help you survive when times are not so good.
- The
best question to ask when developing a strategy is, “How would I beat our
company if I were my competitor?”
MINNESOTA OFFERS VAPOR RECOVERY GRANTS
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is
offering matching grants of up to $24,000 for installation or repairs on
Stage I vapor recovery systems in the state. The deadline to apply is Feb.
21. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees, governmental agencies, tribal
nations, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations are
eligible.
All retail
fueling locations in the Twin Cities metro area are required to have a
functioning vapor recovery system. Federal law requires Stage I vapor
recovery on systems with a monthly throughput greater than 100,000 gallons.
Grant
details and application forms are available on the
MPCA website.
ATG
SECURITY RISKS
In the Jan. 28 Oil Express newsletter, a
Veeder-Root representative said the company is aware of less than 100 denial
of service (DOS) cyberattacks on automatic tank gauges (ATGs) worldwide. A
DOS attack disrupts internet traffic to make a host target unavailable to
its users. ATGs are at risk because they are now routinely accessible over
the Internet to allow remote tank monitoring.
Citing
information from the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCISSC)
and NACS, the article recommended four steps to reduce the risk of ATG
cyberattacks:
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Limit remote ATG access by third-party vendors;
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Immediately install all vendor-supplied software patches;
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Upon installation, replace the device’s default password;
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Strengthen and periodically change passwords
NACS TO
DEVELOP EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROGRAM
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently awarded NACS a grant to
develop an emergency preparedness program for convenience stores.
The nine-month project is designed to help stores increase resiliency and
assist with community disaster response and recovery. For background, NACS
is asking interested parties to share their corporate-level emergency business continuity
plans, and individual c-store emergency plans and disaster training materials. For
additional information, contact Carolyn Schnare, NACS director of strategic
initiatives, at
cschnare@convenience.org.
MISSOURI UPDATES KANSAS CITY, ST. LOUIS VAPOR RECOVERY
The
Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources (MDNR)
website includes new emission requirements for
storing, loading and transferring petroleum in the Kansas City and St. Louis
areas. The changes become effective Feb. 28, 2019, and March 30, 2019,
respectively. Among other changes, Missouri no longer requires vapor
recovery construction permits or operating permits in the two areas. A
complete summary of all requirements can be found
here.
BRIEFLY
NOTED
“From the recent sales low of 10.3 million vehicles in 2009, light-duty
vehicle sales reached 17.5 million in 2016 and
have been over 17 million each year since. Sales data show 17.2 million
light-duty vehicles sold in 2018, which is just over the 2017 total of 17.1
million vehicles.”—Department of Energy, Feb. 4, 2019
“A Santa Barbara contractor has agreed to pay $100,000 and is permanently
barred from work with the state’s Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund
under a settlement with state regulators over fraud allegations. … The
company, which provided investigation and remediation services for sites
contaminated by leaking underground storage tanks, including former gas
stations, had worked at more than 30 sites in Santa Barbara and Ventura
counties.”—California State Water Resources Control Board, Feb. 1,
2019
“We're also earmarking $60 million for EMV compliance. This spend
consists of major investments in new dispensers and dispenser upgrades to
further secure our network and avoid fraudulent chargebacks from the credit
card companies. This amount includes roughly $10 million of dispenser
upgrades we would normally replace on an annual basis.”—Murphy USA CEO
Andrew Clyde, Jan. 31, 2019
“Maryland plans to deploy a new tool in the race to get automakers to
sell more electric cars in states outside California: The state plans to
install 5,000 electric-car chargers across the tiny state. Last week,
the state's public utilities commission approved a proposal by four of its
largest utilities to install the 5,000 chargers in an effort to sell 300,000
electric cars in the state by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40
percent below 2006 levels by 2030.”—Green Car Reports, Jan. 21, 2019
DEATHS
Steve Purpora, 54, died on Feb. 2. Since 2002, Purpora had been the
president of Protanic Inc. and Purpora Engineering, the companies founded
by his father, William. He was an active PEI member, including service on
the Overfill, Release Detection and Release Prevention Equipment Testing
Committee and the Vapor Recovery Installation Committee. Survivors include
his wife of 29 years, Michelle; daughters, Ashley Purpora, Sydney Purpora
and Samantha Scofield; son-in-law, Zane Scofield; brother, Ross Purpora;
mother-in-law, Beverly Koller, and father-in-law, Mark Koller; and many
other relatives and friends.
MEMBER
NEWS
Caliber Professional Sales Services contracted to
represent Omntec Manufacturing in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
Oklahoma and Texas.
Dover Fueling Solutions named its Latin America facility in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, the winner of the 2018 Dover Safety Excellence Gold Award.
E. O. Habhegger Co. purchased the assets of service provider Gateway
Petroleum Technology. The former Gateway operation in Hatboro, Pennsylvania,
will continue in operation as a Habhegger branch office.
IRPCO appointed Eastern States Associates to represent the
company’s hose products in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The John W. Kennedy Co. will hold its 2019 Forging Relationships
trade show March 27-28, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Warwick, Rhode Island.
Leighton O’Brien appointed Scot Thrash to the newly created
position of account executive for North America.
Matrix Capital Markets Group Inc. announced the following
appointments and promotions: Spencer P. Cavalier, CFA, ASA, and
Cedric C. Fortemps, CFA, co-heads of Matrix’s Downstream Energy &
Convenience Retail Group; R. H. “Tod” Butler, senior advisor;
John C. Duni, CFA, CPA, senior associate; Honor P. Carver,
director of marketing and communications.
McKinney Petroleum Equipment signed an agreement with Canary
Compliance, under which McKinney will offer its customers Canary
Compliance’s data-driven remote tank monitoring system for underground
storage tanks.
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) named David W. Cobb as
director of federal affairs. He will work in NBB’s Washington office.
Performance Ink named Mike Long and Associates the winner of
its 2018 Sales Award, given to the rep firm that has the highest gross sales
for the year. Red Mountain Sales received the Growth Award, given to the rep
firm with the largest growth percentage for the year.
The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) announced that Rick Long
was appointed to the board of directors of the National Association of
Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) and named the chair-elect of NAW’s Council of
Association Executives.
Seneca Companies Waste Solutions Services named Doug Wilson
operations manager for its Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Grandview, Missouri,
branches.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Ohio installation company. Tri-State Service Station Maintenance Inc.,
6830 Chrisman Lane, Middletown, OH 45042, has applied for service and
construction division membership. Wallace Patrick Jr. is president of the
firm, which was established in 1985. Tri-State Service Station Maintenance
installs and removes underground and aboveground storage tank systems, and
provides leak detection services. Sponsored for PEI membership by Chuck
Storey, W. C. Storey & Son Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Florida
installation company. SGI Builders, Inc., 3878
Prospect Ave., Riviera Beach, FL 33404, has applied for service and
construction division membership, Christopher Huff is CEO of the firm, which
was established in 2016. SGI Builders provides environmental compliance,
preventive maintenance, service and installation of fuel and lube systems.
Sponsored for PEI membership by Frank Evans, Core Engineered Solutions Inc.,
Herndon, Virginia.
www.sgibuilders.com
ADMITTED TO PEI
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Coastal Pump & Tank Inc., Harrington, Delaware (distributor)
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AW Associates Inc., Corona, California (service & construction)
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Quality Quick, Lexington, South Carolina (service & construction)
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Art Balzer, Wesco Inc., Muskegon, Michigan (operations & engineering)
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