Taking on King Kong

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LAS VEGAS -- "It will be a few weeks before we will know the makeup of the next Congress, good, bad or ugly. But whichever, I can tell you our agenda won't change," said National Association of Convenience Stores incoming chairman Sam Turner during his Closing General Sessions remarks at the NACS Show 2006.

The biggest and toughest battle, one that Turner compared to "walking up to King Kong and pulling a hair out of his chest," is over credit card interchange fees. "Last year, our industry paid almost as much in credit card fees as we saw in profits. [image-nocss] That's absurd!"

But because of NACS, Capitol Hill is paying very close attention to the issue of credit card fees. "Through our efforts, both the House and Senate understand just how outrageous these fees are and that the system is broken," Turner said. "The battle against the credit card companies will be difficult and NACS will push even further and harder in the next Congress."

A second huge issue for the industry on Capitol Hill relates to motor fuels, considering that motor fuels make about 70% of the industry's revenue dollars. "In the past few years, we have made remarkable progress educating Congress about the retail gasoline business. NACS was instrumental in the development of many provisions in last year's energy bill, including putting a stop to the spread of boutique fuels," said Turner.

But, he added, As we've watched gasoline prices top $3 a gallon, we see that politics and sound policy do not always go hand in hand," said Turner. "We have a responsibility to ensure that Congress understands what is occurring in the retail gasoline business. NACS will continue to work with members of Congress to develop strategic policies that promote a more stable, long-term environment for retailers and the consumer."

While Congress is under enormous pressure to "do something," "we've got to make sure that when they 'do something' that it's the right thing," said Turner.

Turner also discussed the dramatically changing workforce, including the surge in immigration. "How we manage immigration is a huge issue where I live, and if it hasn't happened in your community, it will soon," he said. "As the immigrant workforce in our communities grows, we must be even more responsible in our hiring practices. Meanwhile, NACS is working in Washington to make sure Congress does not turn us into the immigration police."

Another labor issue, said Turner, is healthcare. At his company, almost 75% of store managers are women with families. "Health insurance is a critical issue to them, and it is to me"if I expect to keep them,VbCrLf he said. "To compete for the best workers, we deserve the opportunity to provide high-quality health insurance at an affordable price. This will be a priority of NACS in the coming year."

Investing in technology also will be critical to retailers, and in making them better places to work, said Turner. "NACS, and its technology spinoff, PCATS, gives us the tools to drive costs out of your system," he said. He said that at his company, they were able to conduct lottery reconciliation electronically and take at least 100 hours a week of "grunt work" out of the system. "This was work that didn't need to be done by people. Now we've got computers doing the work computers should be doing. We've got people doing the work that they should be doing"better serving our customers," said Turner.

Above all, he stressed that retailers need to get actively engaged in government relations, in using NACS products and services, in using technology standards, if they want to fully benefit from opportunities presented to them. "Whether or not you're actively engaged, NACS will be working for you," said Turner. "We will lobby on your behalf on our critical issues. We will continue to develop products and services that allow your people to work better. And we will continue to find new ways to chase costs from your systems and put the money where it belongs"on your bottom lines."

He told attendees: "NACS will continue to protect and defend our industry. No matter which issues come up we'll stay the course and fight for what's right.VbCrLf

At the show this week, NACS announced the election of its 2006 Executive Committee. Turner, president of Calfee Co. of Dalton Inc., Dalton, Ga., was named the associations 2006-2007 chairman. He also chairs the NACS Executive Committee, which provides strategic direction and financial oversight to the association.

Also named to the Executive Committee were the following NACS retail members:

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