ALBANY, N.Y. -- Paul Rankin, Raziur Rahman and David Geary have been elected to the New York Convenience Store Hall of Fame. They will be inducted by the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) at its annual Chairman's Banquet on May 17 in Syracuse, N.Y. The Hall of Fame honors individual retailers and suppliers for exceptional achievement in the c-store industry and exemplary service to NYACS.
Rankin is a vice president of retail marketing with United Refining Co. of Pennsylvania. He manages its Erie Pa.-based Country Fair division, which operates eight c-stores in New York, five in Ohio and 61 in Pennsylvania. He joined United Refining 26 years ago, serving as assistant vice president for its Kwik Fill c-store division before assuming the helm of the newly acquired Country Fair chain in 2001.
He served on the NYACS board of directors from 1990 to 1993 and was active in NYACS events, legislative affairs and promotion. He is currently chairman of the Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council.
Rahman and Geary recently retired after many years as sales executives with Altria Group Inc., the parent company of Philip Morris USA, Richmond, Va. They were based in Syracuse, N.Y., serving upstate wholesale and retail accounts.
"Raz," as Rahman is known to many in the industry, worked for Altria/PM for 21 years. He was section sales director, overseeing a team of 80 salespeople and 6,500 retail stores from the Canadian border to northern Pennsylvania. He previously was PM's national director of trade relations, during which time he served on supplier committees of the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the board of the American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA).
While serving on the NYACS associate board during the 1990s, he was instrumental in launching NYACS' "C-Store Management 1-2-3" training program in conjunction with NACS and Cornell University in 1999.
Previously, he was a division supervisor for Stop N Go Foods and worked for Tripifoods Inc. as regional sales manager.
Geary was district sales manager for Central New York, reporting to Rahman. He was with PM USA and Altria for 31 years, also holding sales positions in Rochester, Buffalo, Albany and Erie, as well as a stint as director of sales training.
Rankin, Rahman and Geary will be the 35th, 36th, and 37th individuals inducted into the New York Convenience Store Hall of Fame, which was founded by NYACS in 1986.
The Chairman's Banquet will be the closing event of NYACS' two-day Trade Show & Convention May 16-17 in Syracuse.
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