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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/230121
"It can be intimidating because often you are sitting in a group that includes attorneys or engineers and that may have PhD's — a roomful of people who are obviously smart — but the one thing we can bring as a regular businessperson is the real world," Bjornson said. "All you can do is do your best to explain to them the reality of what they are proposing and how it works in the real world and they take what you share with them to heart. They are just trying to do a job and we are just trying to make sure they understand the other half. When I first started testifying in legislature committee hearings you get pretty nervous, but eventually after you do it enough you figure out that for the most part legislators appreciate regular people coming to testify." That need for knowledge was recognized by Scheeler early on, and helped motivate his activism. "At first, I was really surprised at how little they knew about the issues that were important to us," said Scheeler. "That set off an alarm bell in my head about how critical it is for us to inform them and educate them, so that they can make informed decisions for their constituents. If we don't do that, in many cases they are simply not going to know our side of the issue. Another surprise has been how active our opponents are. Every time I have been in D.C. to present the argument supporting our industry, I would hear back the opposing argument because the opposition had already been in there." Our award winners have also found that the political process isn't necessarily all that political or that different from day-to-day business once you take the first step. "We used to get hung up sometimes on is the legislator a Republican or a Democrat, and we can't support this guy because he's a Democrat or this guy because he's a Republican, and right now it does not make any difference," Kelly said. "Being conservative is my nature but you have to go with the people that understand your issue and the people that will help you with that issue and will go to bat for you. I can tell you right now Senator Klobuchar understands our issues and even though she's of the different party I will support her in a heartbeat. Senator (Al) Franken (D-Minn.) — I've sat in his office and he took off his coat and sat down and said 'What can I do about speculation? I know that is what is raising gas prices. You tell me what I can do and I'll do it. '" Scheeler agrees. "A lot of people stay out of this realm because they say, 'I'm just not a political person,' but that's the wrong way to look at it because it's not about politics," he said. "It is about leadership — leading your business and leading the industry. And we are not playing sides here — right wing or left-wing — it's about protecting our interests and our paychecks and our customers. It's not about politics." Nor is the actual process of interacting with legislators and regulators all that complex. "Sometimes you meet with the legislator sometimes you meet with their energy people and you try to bring three different issues — you don't want to bring too many because their eyes glaze over," said Kelly. "It gets down to the passion of the issue. If 20 November/December 2013 you're going to talk to a legislator, this is something that impacts your business every day and you know all about that issue and you can explain things that the legislator has never heard about and that might mean the difference in the vote. The key again is the idea that a lot of these people are businessmen or lawyers and they are no different than we are, and they want to hear from us and they want to make an intelligent vote in most cases." Scheeler suggests starting the activism locally, for example with the city managers. "The chairman of our company, Bobby Williams, stressed that many years ago and he is absolutely right," he said. "Get to know your mayor, and your state representatives and your senators. Quick change can happen at the local level. Then you move on to the federal level and frankly it's a bit more fun and a bit higher profile, but you really should start at the local level." Life is hectic on all fronts these days. Business life, family life and even personal time fight against each other for some balance. Taking the extra effort to help the industry is not easy, but it is critical and it can be highly rewarding in both tangible and intangible ways with a terrible alternative. "I want my peers to visualize nobody going," Kelly said, "what would be accomplished? If nobody is going to speak for our industry on the issues the legislator won't know how to vote. And a lot of times, all it takes is one person calling up saying 'I would like you to think about voting this way.' If somebody else has presented the other side and they haven't heard our position, which way are they likely to vote?" Sometime, it's difficult to count on a third party, even an industry party, to represent your specific positions. And sometimes, representing your needs involves standing up for your positions within the industry itself. "We ran into an issue because there had been some fatal robberies, and there was a push to have two employees in the store at the same time," Kelly said. "While some of the big stores always have two people, in some of the rural places it would put operators out of business. In that case the issue was not as clear cut as it normally is and we had a big against small battle. But, if you don't speak up for your part of it, all they are going to hear are the big guys. We were heard on that issue and we got that changed." And then there is the feeling of being involved in a good fight with other good people working toward the common goal. "If there is anybody in this business or any business that worries it's going to cost too much time or cost too much money, I've found that I've gotten everything I put in at either the state or national level back many fold in a number of ways," Bjornson said. "There is definitely a great reward from being involved in not only learning stuff that you otherwise wouldn't be aware of, but also in meeting marketers from different areas with different perspectives and different ideas and maybe becoming a little bit better rounded than you were when you began. I'm thankful to my fellow marketers for the opportunities they've given me to have these experiences and to go out and work on these issues." NPN Magazine n www.npnweb.com