Last month, Matt Cullen and his family donated $15,000 to the Long Beach Rescue Mission on behalf of F&L Racing Fuel.

 

Near the onset of the statewide shutdown, F&L Racing Fuel refocused its production efforts to manufacture hand sanitizer, with all proceeds from its sales going to charitable causes. 

 

In the first month alone, F&L Racing Fuel was able to generate $15,000 for the Long Beach Rescue Mission, a local organization dedicated to helping those who have fallen on hard times, by providing hot meals, safe shelter, and learning opportunities to aid men and women in getting back on their feet. 

 

To see more, click here: https://www.facebook.com/lbrescuemission/videos/526599198016002/

 

If you'd like to help support their efforts, you can purchase F&L sanitizer here: https://www.mil-specproducts.com/Products/handsanitizer

 

CFCA is beyond proud to have members like F&L Racing Fuel, and the entire Dion and Sons family of businesses, who selflessly give back to those who need it most.

 

If your company is giving back to your employees or your community during the COVID crisis, please send your story our way, we'd love to hear it. 

 

Reach out to james@cfca.energy to learn more. 

As you may have seen last month, CFCA is very sad to report the passing of Pat Cullen. 

 

Pat was a giant in our industry and a dedicated part of CFCA in its days as CIOMA. 

 

In a very generous tribute, the Cullen family has named the CIOMA Memorial Scholarship Fund as the memorial for Pat Cullen. 

 

We would like to extend a huge thank you to the Cullen family. If you would like to make a donation, click the link below. 

 

iRely is a premier software partner serving the petroleum and C-store industry for over 30 years. Their software solutions help petroleum distributors and C-Stores manage core business processes within a single, easy-to-use system, customized to meet your needs. Their solutions are developed, and education conducted, by experienced teams with deep industry knowledge, giving you the peace of mind that your front and back-office operations will result in a competitive advantage. 

 

"In light of the White House's "Opening Up America Again" Guidelines released on April 16, 2020, several states have begun to scale back their shelter-in-place orders. A number of businesses will again be able to open their doors-at least in some capacity-following the relaxation of some of these stay-at-home restrictions. In many instances, this will mean the return of employees to the workplace. Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this return-to-work process may not be as straightforward as it would be under ordinary circumstances. The attached summary from our attorneys, Maynard & Cooper, covers various questions and considerations of which employers should be aware during this time.

 

Please don't hesitate to contact our team with any questions. We are staying on top of developments and are ready to assist you.

Best Regards,
Maniaci Insurance Services, Inc. "

CFCA has recently secured a vendor for fabric facial coverings.

 

As part of a number of county orders, retailers are required to provide their employees with face masks if they interact with customers. 

 

A huge issue that a number of retailers are facing is that vendors nationwide are experiencing shortages and members have expressed that they are unable to secure reliable sources for masks.

 

As of today, CFCA has entered a partnership with Simple Fabric Masks, a provider of, as their name implies, Simple Fabric Masks. 

 

Click the link below to access their online store.

We simplify the process of lowering your energy costs by starting with an intelligent facility analysis. We develop a customized energy solution to meet your needs and operational budget.  Our team is comprised of  intelligent, friendly, and passionate people and who we train to be guardians of our customer’s best interests. Daily, we work toward bettering the world through converting our customers power use from traditional sources to renewable.  . We invite you to join us on our journey to discover the possibilities of renewable technology, and how it can have a positive and immediate impact on your company’s bottom line.

 

Founded in 2013, Enable Energy was established by industry veterans who had a vision for a sustainable future. We are dedicated to continuous discovery and implementation of clean energy solutions to better the environment and help save our customers money. Our team has developed more than 1GW of solar PV projects in the utility, commercial, and residential markets. We strive to deliver the best renewable energy solutions to the industries we serve. Our promise to our customers is to always put their needs first and in doing so we focus on best in class design, engineering and construction techniques utilizing the highest standards with a relentless focus on clear communication. In doing so, we strive to build long term relationships with our customers and surrounding communities as we help transition their energy infrastructure from an inflexible fossil based one to a dynamic, low cost, sustainable one. We are proud of the work we do.

PFCS 2020 is still scheduled as planned! Despite current events being postponed, we are still preparing for a PFCS coming up this September you will never forget!

 

Last year, PFCS booths sold out, be sure to get yours early! 

 

Our online reservation portal is now open!

 

We can't wait to see you for PFCS 2020, so make sure you're ahead of the curve and reserve your booth space now! Spaces are already filling up quickly, so you won't want to wait for your chance to secure a spot for your business!

 

Hotel and attendee registration will open soon, so make sure you check back in on the PFCS website regularly to beat the crowd. 

 

On May 19th, Anheuser Busch and NACS will present a webinar on the state of convenience retail and the impact of COVID-19 now and in the near future.

 

Topics included in the discussion include:

 

Pre-COVID-19 State of the Industry

Impact on Shopper and Beer Category

Forward-Looking Insights and Recommendations

In response to the current state of affairs surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, CFCA officially canceled our annual Day at the Capitol event.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience, but out of an abundance of caution, CFCA is taking these steps to ensure the health and safety of our members.

 

For any questions regarding current Day at the Capitol registrations or hotel reservations, please contact Amber Palmer at (916) 646-5999 or palmer@cfca.energy.

More than two dozen California counties have asked for permission to loosen their stay-at-home orders beyond what the state allows, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, promising a speedy review of their requests as jobs continue disappearing by the millions in a coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

 

Newsom relaxed some statewide restrictions last week by allowing curbside pickup at most retail stores and giving manufacturers the OK to resume with some limits. He’s promised to release guidelines on Tuesday for the return of dine-in restaurants.

 

But many rural counties with few coronavirus cases are eager to jump ahead of Newsom to get started on recovering from a statewide stay-at-home order that has been in place for nearly two months.

Discover said yesterday that it is delaying the EMV fraud liability shift deadline for chip payments at automated fuel dispensers until April 16, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Visa and American Express had already said they would delay the EMV deadline, leaving Mastercard the only major card company that hasn’t yet announced plans to postpone the liability shift at the pump. Like Discover, American Express’ new deadline is April 16, 2021, but Visa’s new deadline is April 17, 2021.

 

“With the current pandemic impacting merchants around the country, we looked at our mission to be a good partner and believe that moving this date will ease the concerns for gas stations as they look to update their automated fuel dispensers,” said Andrew Hopkins, senior vice president of global products and pricing at Discover. “EMV has significantly reduced counterfeit fraud, and we encourage our merchants to continue their efforts to migrate their fuel dispensers to EMV.”

 

The extension gives gas stations more time to install EMV-compliant systems as they deal with the pandemic’s economic and logistical challenges, Discover said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the California economy, especially public-facing businesses. Entertainment – including motion pictures, television, live shows and theme parks – restaurants, accommodations and retail sectors have been laid waste, evaporating thousands of jobs. 

 

Few states depend on this sector as does California. Tourism, hospitality and retail also are the very sectors that employ workers on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. The supply and service chains that feed into and out of those industries are likewise on the brink. Like a boulder crashing into a lake, the longer this crisis persists, its waves will widen their reach and affect more industries and throw more Californians out of their jobs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has focused on the factors necessary to reopen the economy, including increased testing, contact tracing, availability of personal protective equipment and re-engineered workplaces. More recently the governor has begun to loosen some of the initial stay-at-home restrictions.

This isn’t the first time Paul Suchanek has experienced a sudden drop in car sales from a major disaster or event.

 

“I've been in the car business for 20 years and went through the 2008 slowdown and 9/11,” said Suchanek, general manager at Niello BMW Sacramento. “We actually had a pretty good used car run for I would say the first 10 days of the shelter-in-place, then the sales were non-existent.”

 

Shortly after the pandemic began he was forced to lay off three-fourths of his sales staff. “We were tracking a record month and then the wheels fell off,” he said. “So we went through that little gap in the middle of that month and then it actually kind of closed pretty strong.” Almost eight weeks later, he’s now hired the majority of his sales staff back. 

 

Suchanek says all sales are down, including electric cars. Research from Wood Mackenzie, a global research and consultancy group, projects a major decline this year of about 43% in global sales of electric cars. For California that could present both short and long term hurdles to meeting the state’s climate goal of 5 million on roads by 2030.