National Petroleum News (NPN) has been the independent voice of the petroleum industry since 1909 as the opposition to Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. So, motor fuels marketing and retail is not just a sideline for us, it’s our core competency.
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2012, reaching a record 410 exhibiting supplier company volunteers who helped attendees navigate the Georgia World Congress Center, locate educational sessions and provide directions to the expo halls. "The strong exhibitor commitment to the NACS Show demonstrates that this event is an essential part of annual plans for both retailers and suppliers," said NACS Vice Chairman of Convention Jack Kofdarali, president of Corona, Calif.-based J & T Management Company Inc. "The record-setting expo, combined with our motivational and inspiring keynote speakers, leading content experts in the educational sessions and our new networking events, prove to me that each year the NACS Show is an indispensable event that I cannot afford to miss." "The growth of the NACS Show is impressive, and it's also a clear indicator that the supplier community is serious about partnering with convenience store operators to leverage business connections and solidify their position within this dynamic and highly innovative retail channel of trade," said NACS Supplier Board Chairman Bob Sears, director, trade & state relations, training & compliance at Altria Group Distribution Co. "Investing in the NACS Show, participating in networking events and engaging with current and potential customers offers an immediate ROI for exhibiting companies that take full advantage of the opportunities available to them at the NACS Show — and beyond." Earlier this year NACS partnered with GenieConnect to offer a new NACS Events mobile app and the MyShow Planner online tool for attendees to pre-schedule the events and sessions and map out the exhibitors they wanted to visit at the NACS Show. Usage for the NACS Events app increased 32 over the previous 2012 NACS Show mobile app, reaching nearly 11,800 downloads. Also new this year, retailers attending the NACS Show received the first-ever NACS Show Product Bag, which was full of product samples and literature from more than 30 exhibiting companies. By the end of the Show, NACS staff handed out 3,000 bags. At the conclusion of the NACS Show, a total of 47 tons of leftover product from exhibitors was donated to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which delivers food and groceries to Food pantries, community kitchens, childcare centers, night shelters and senior centers in 29 metro Atlanta and north Georgia counties. The convenience and fuel retailing industry's value proposition continues to be embraced by consumers, as noted by several NACS Show general session speakers. The U.S. convenience store industry conducts 160 million transactions per day and sells 80 percent of all motor fuels in the country. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 149,220 convenience stores across the country — or one per approximately every 2,100 consumers — posted $700 billion in total sales in 2012, of which $501 billion were motor fuels sales. In addition to networking, the expo and learnings found in the educational sessions, the NACS Show is also a business meeting. At the conclusion of the event, Brad Call, www.npnweb.com n NPN Magazine vice president of adventure culture at North Salt Lake City, Utah-based Maverik, was named the association's 2013-2014 chairman. Call also chairs the NACS Executive Committee, which provides strategic direction and financial oversight to the association. Also named to the NACS Executive Committee were the following NACS retail members: • NACS Vice Chairman-Treasurer: Steve Loehr, vice president of operations support at LaCrosse, Wisc.-based Kwik Trip Inc. • NACS Vice Chairman of Government Relations and of NACSPAC: Peter Tedeschi, president and CEO at Rockland, Mass.-based Tedeschi Food Shops • NACS Vice Chairman of Convention: Jack Kofdarali, president at Corona, Calif.-based J&T Management Inc. • NACS Vice Chairman of Research: Joseph Sheetz, president and CEO at Altoona, Penn.-based Sheetz Inc. • NACS Vice Chairman of Member Services: Rahim Budhwani, CEO at Hoover, Ala.-based 6040 LLC • NACS Vice Chairman of International: Frank Gleeson, retail director at Dublin, Ireland-based Topaz Energy Group Limited • NACS Vice Chairman: Tony Kenney, president, at Enon, Ohio-based Speedway LLC NACS also named four new members to its Board of Directors: • Tim Chalk, CEO, 7-Eleven Hong Kong & Macau • Steve DeSutter, president and CEO, Stripes LLC • Chris Gheysens, president and CEO, Wawa Inc. • Leo Vercollone, president and CEO, Verc Enterprises Inc. On the supplier side, Bob Sears, director of trade & state relations and training & compliance for Altria Group Distribution Company, was named 2013-2014 chairman of the NACS Supplier Board. Joe Vonder Haar, managing partner of iSEE Store Innovations Inc., was named chair-elect and will succeed Sears as 2014-2015 chairman. PEI Convention Phil Farrell, president of Double Check Company, Inc., Kansas City, Mo., has been elected to serve as PEI president and takes office on Jan. 1, 2014. Farrell has served as the president of Double Check since 1980. Founded in 1965, Double Check is a distributor of petroleum, car wash and lubrication equipment and industrial pumps. The company has six offices throughout Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. Farrell has served on PEI's Convention/ Education Committee, Executive Committee and the PEI Board of Directors. He is a member of the Republic 10-Group. Farrell replaces Terry Cooper, president of Acterra Group of Marion, Iowa, as president of PEI. "Phil has been an active advocate for the Petroleum Equipment Institute and its activities for many years and, as such, will make a great president," said Robert Renkes, PEI's NOVEMBER/December 2013 11