Wow! What another great turn out at the Annual MSSA golf tourna-

ment held at Wilds Golf Course in Prior Lake! I don’t think it could get

any hotter! As usual, a well -attended event as many golfers and other

guests contributed their time and energy in making this once again a fun

and exciting event. Congratulations to Todd Hill, Parker Hill, Noah

Rouen and Sam Schweich; winning the tournament with a score of 59 (-

13). Each wining $100 in cash, and a $50 Pro shop gift card. Second

place winning foursome went to Dave Rahn, Tim Rahn, Terry Bragel-

mann and Johnny Holig; each winning $50 cash, and a $50 pro shop gift

card. Third place foursome went to Patrick McLaughlin, Patrick

Rooyakker, Karl Schultz and Spencer Radke. Each winning a $50 in

cash and a $25 pro shop gift card. Congratulations to the top three

place finishers.

Now, you can’t forget about the team who finished in the rear, finishing

in last place does have its benefits. With a score of 91 (+19) Ron Feist,

Bill Feist, Rick Williamson and Kevin Kee each hard- working golfer

entitled to a box of golf balls.

This year’s event also paid dividend to the 25th,20th, 17th and 4th place

teams also. The 25th Place team each winning a jar of moonshine – Joe

Scanlon, Daryl Kirt, Tom Rugg and Katie Rugg. The 20th place team of

John Ryan, Mike Ryan, Howard Hogle and David Coty; each wining a

$25 pro shop gift card.

• MSSA Annual Golf Outing

• Executive Letter

• EV Charging Network

Expands

• We Card Awareness Month

• Should you Lower your Prices in

Your Auto Repair Shop?

• Independent Repair Shops Want

Right-to-Repair Law

Updated

• Retailer Incentive: Get your game

plan ready!

• Reminder: Minnesota enacted Wage

Theft Law, effective July 1st

• Petro Fund Update

M o n t h l y P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e M i n n e s o t a

S e r v i c e S t a t i o n a n d C o n v e n i e n c e S t o r e A s s o c i a t i o n

Volume 34 Issue 8 August 2019

MSSA Services

• Department of Labor

Information

• Legislative and Lobbying

• Legal Support

• Drive off Support

• Industry Information

(continued on page 4)

1st Place Winners: Parker Hill, Todd Hill,

Sam Schweich & Noah Rouen

Newsline

MSSA Annual Golf Outing

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 2

MSSA Board Members Ron Feist, President 763-544-5512 ‘19-’22

Chan Smith, Vice President 651-450-9729 ‘17-’20

Andrea Drake, Secretary/Treasurer

651-426-9996 ’18-‘21

Mark Olson

612-869-1244 ‘19-‘22

Steven Anderson 651-644-3436 ’18- ‘21

Joel Hennen 952-445-2478 ‘19-‘22

Jeff Bagniewski

507-285-0014 ’17-‘20

Jeff Peterson

507-452-3559 ’18–‘21

Jerry Charmoli 763-757-6789 ‘17-’20

MSSA Staff

Lance Klatt (651) 487-1983

Cell (612) 916- 9917

Nikki Steger (651) 487-1983

Insurance Representatives

McNamara Company

Patrick McNamara (651) 426-0607

Aleisha McNamara (651) 426-0607

Mitchell McNamara (651) 426-0607

Health & Life Financial Services

Kevin Urlaub (763) 287-0055

Andy Urlaub

General Counsel Randy Thompson (952) 405-7171

Nolan, Thompson, Leighton & Tataryn

Government Affairs Todd Hill – Lobbyist

Hill Capitol Strategies, Inc.

Hello everyone,

Wow! What another great turn out at the Annual MSSA golf tourna-

ment held at The Wilds Golf Course in Prior Lake. As usual, a well-

attended event as many golfers and other guests contributed their time

and energy in making this again, a fun and exciting event as this year

was one of the hottest MSSA golf tournaments on record.

Congratulations to Todd Hill, Parker Hill, Noah Rouen and Sam

Schweich; winning the tournament with a score of 59 (-13). Second

place winning foursome went to Dave Rahn, Tim Rahn, Terry Bragel-

mann and Johnny Holig. Third place foursome went to Patrick

McLaughlin, Patrick Rooyakker, Karl Schultz and Spencer Radke. Con-

gratulations to the top three place finishers!

At dinner all of us were treated to Lottery scratch tickets from the MN

State Lottery and a brief message from newly appointed Lottery Direc-

tor; Adam Prock. Adam shared the Lottery’s vision for the upcoming

year while building a stronger partnership with our retail industry with

more Town-Hall meetings on the horizon.

For the second year in a row, MSSA shared a portion of the PAC pro-

ceeds with NACSPAC. Special thanks to our headlining Co- hosts:

Cintas, Pepsi Bottling Group LLC, (best prizes ever!) Growth Energy,

Tecmark, Hunt Brothers Pizza and the MN State Lottery.

Of course, a “huge” thank you to our Retail and Associate partners for

your support in making this event one of the best golf tournaments of

the summer! Hope to see all of you next year!

Enjoy the summer- it’s quickly fading away just like my golf game!

Lance

MSSA Business

Hours:

Monday - Friday

8:30am-4:30pm

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 3

William Feist

Feist Automotive

Member since 1981

Richard Schneider

Midwest V

Member since 1989

Mike Johnson

Jim Johnson

Farmington Amcon

Member since 1998

N Anderson

Bobby & Steve’s Auto

World West St Paul

Member since 2000

Kevin Ide

Kevin’s Service

Member since 2002

Dave Kroona

Wash-N-Fill Express of Blaine

Wash-N-Fill Express of Elk River

Member since 2003

Falcon Heights BP

Member Since 2008

Tom Mack

Factory Motor Parts

Member since 2005

Mark & Diane Johnson

Rod’s Country Corner

Member since 2005

Jeff Bagniewski

Jeff’s Little Store, Inc.

Member since 2005

Jorge Samper Zelaya

Sunray BP

Member since 2006

Robert Evans

Ellwood Automotive

Member since 2007

Karl Brueske

Vista Ridge Incorporated

Emily Jo’s Mini Mart

Karl’s Korner BP

Member since 2007

Roger Koehnen

Koehnen’s BP of Excelsior

Member since 2007

Jason & Tammy Scribner

Premier Propane

Member since 2007

Steven Anderson

Electra Tune

Member since 2008

Brett Letourneau

Citywide Service Corp

Member since 2008

Tim Schlangen

Colonial BP

Penn BP

Shady Oak BP

Member since 2008

Garth Alston

Altria Client Services LLC

Member since 2011

Iris & Dan Towle

Ham Lake One Stop

Member since 2011

Hassan Warsame

3rd & Franklin BP

Member since 2011

Dave Sullivan

Twig General Store

Member since 2012

Mike Tigges

Napa Auto Parts

Member since 2013

Randy Dooley

Dooley’s Handi Stop

Dooley’s Petroleum, Inc.– Murdock

Dooley’s Petroleum, Inc.-Willmar

Emma’s Express

Benson Food Shop

Morris Food Shop

Shell Superstop

Super America– New Prague

Super America– Litchfield

Super America– Kerkhoven

Super America East– Litchfield

Member since 2013

Ron Dehn

Dehn Oil Co.

Member since 2016

Ed Lampo

Lynco Products

Member since 2016

Mark Molo

Molo Petroleum

Member since 2016

Tim Perisic

Wayzata BP

Member since 2016

Steve Youngstedt

Youngstedt’s Minnoco &

Auto Repair

St. Louis Park

Member since 2016

Ryan Elsner

Chanticlear Pizza

Member since 2017

Heather Kieffer

Amish Market Square

Member since 2018

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 4

The 17th Place team each winning $30 cash, Tom Urbanski, Jay Putnam, Rob Pezan and Darin Rysan. Scoring a 4th

place finish winning $50 cash each, Dave Salwasser, Becki Beer, Dan reed and Randy Kehs.

In a more challenging setting, many golfers entertained themselves in the Mtn. Dew “Voodew Challenge”. Win-

ning the Mtn. Dew “Voodew Closest to the bottle in the fairway challenge winning a 55” TV was Nick Kirnyczuk.

Throughout the day, there were many other prize holes including betting holes to raise money for the MSSA PAC

Fund.

On the most controversial contest hole of the day, hosted by none other than the fine folks at Tecmark. The

Tecmark “Fastest team – Get Rewarded” Challenge each team had to hole out in the fastest time. Congratulations

to Todd Hill, Parker Hill, Noah Rouen and Sam Schweich, each of them winning a cool $50 winning as a team

does has its rewards!

Many golfers won a variety of large prizes, from three 55” TV’s, a 65” TV, MN Wild Tickets, Scooter, Gift cards,

Twins Tickets, Vikings memorabilia, airline tickets and many other great prizes raising money for our Pac Fund.

This year, MSSA contributed a great portion of money raised to “NACSPAC”. Special thanks to Pepsi, Cintas,

Altria, all sponsors (see inside Newsline) and all retail and Associate partners for your support in making this event

one of the best golf tournaments of the summer!

(continued from front page)

Team:

Rahn Oil

& Propane

Team:

Cintas

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 5

MSSA Annual Golf Outing was a huge success!

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 6

MSSA Newsline - August 2019

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 8

to the following sponsors/hole sponsors for an excellent golf tournament!

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 9

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 10

MSSA Newsline—August 2019 11

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 12

EV Charging Network Expands Wawa is adding more Tesla Superchargers as electric vehicles take off.

August 12, 2019

ALEXANDRIA, VA.—Amid the increasing popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) c-stores, parking garages, and related industries

are adapting to better serve this new clientele. Last week, Pennsylvania-based Wawa said it will double the number of Tesla Super-

charger stations to more than 30 of its c-stores by the end of 2020. There are currently 16 Wawa stores on the East Coast with Tesla

charging stations, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Wawa charging sites typically have eight Tesla Superchargers. The fast-charging units are located at certain WaWa c-stores in Del-

aware, New Jersey, Virginia and Florida.

NACS believes convenience and fuel retailing locations are the most logical option for EV chargers because they are conveniently

located and has asked Congress to back private investment for charging stations. Convenience stores, with their more 153,000 loca-

tions—of which roughly 122,000 sell fuel—comprise seven times the total of current charging outlets in the United States.

In 2018, the United States reached a record 208,000 new registrations of electric vehicles, according to HIS Markit. Analysts at

Bloomberg New Energy Finance have forecast that in two decades, more than half of new car sales will be electric. However, the

lack of charging stations is a stumbling block to widespread EV adoption in the United States. Drivers who get too far from home

can have trouble finding a station to recharge.

In February, Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced a deal to acquire Greenlots, an EV-charging and power management company

based in Los Angeles, to enlarge its EV footprint in the U.S. Chevron has invested in ChargePoint Inc. of California, a leading net-

work with EV stations in the U.S., Europe and Australia, and has partnered with EVgo to add fast-charging EV stations to some of

its gasoline stations in California. Baltimore, Md.-based Royal Farms also has teamed up with ChargePoint to offer fast-charging

stations at some locations in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

For more on seizing EV opportunities, see “EVs Ahead” in the August 2019 issue of NACS Magazine, plus a look at leveling the

playing field for EV infrastructure, see “Charging Back” in the January 2019 issue of NACS Magazine. Plus, check out the latest

Convenience Matters podcast on “Sustainable Cities and New Mobility.”

MSSA Newsline - July 2019 13

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 14

We Card Awareness Month - September 2019.

We Card has a variety a communication tools ready for you now to download at www.wecard.org/awareness —

including a template for securing a Governor’s proclamation of support, print ads and logos for your publications, web-

site and emails. Last year, 34 Governors issued Proclamations or Letters of support for We Card during We Card Awareness

Month. Let’s shoot for all 50 states this year! We Card’s goal is to highlight September as a time to encourage retailers to train or re-train store employees, order

2020 We Card materials (calendars and kits) and raise awareness of FDA regulations, state and local law compliance on

tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapor products.

During this fiscal year, FDA has already completed 106,000 compliance checks nationwide as of June 30th. Ongoing

state level and local compliance checks and the focus on e-cigarettes and vaping products as age-restricted products

makes it a terrific opportunity to step up responsible retailing efforts to identify and prevent age-restricted product sales

to minors. It’s a great opportunity for you to communicate the “We Card” responsible retailing message to your association’s mem-

bers while highlighting your support to your stakeholders. Please keep We Card updated on your Awareness Month participation efforts by contacting Doug Anderson at The We

Card Program, Inc. at danderson@wecard.org.

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Our Service and Sales Teams are ready to assist you with all

of your Petroleum Equipment needs and do whatever it takes

to keep your business running smoothly.

The combination of POS & Site

Controller.

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 15

Taste The Difference: Chanticlear Frozen Pizza

The History & Heritage Behind Pizzas That Sell Themselves By Staying True To An Original Family Recipe

Who doesn’t love pizza? And better yet, who doesn’t

love a great tasting pizza! We know from decades of

success with our handmade pizzas born from our origi-

nal pizzeria in suburban Minneapolis, that making an

awesome tasting pizza that customers will come back

for time and time again starts with great tasting genu-

ine ingredients, not flavor enhancers and over pro-

cessing. These are the makings of the perfect pizza!

Our MSG-free pizzas start with our family secret, thin flaking crispy crust. They are topped with a game chang-

ing sauce that blends vine-ripened tomatoes, herbs, spices. We skip the added sugar! We layer on fresh vegeta-

bles and use only premium meats. Finally, we top it all off with 100% Wisconsin mozzarella that is grated right

off the block daily.

We are so confident in our pizzas that we don’t hide them in a box. Instead, we wrap our handcrafted pizzas in a

clear package so customers can see the quality of our ingredients!

Whether you enjoy pepperoni, sausage, veggie or even a Mac & Cheese, the varieties of Chanticlear Frozen Piz-

za means there’s something for everyone. We invite you to taste the history and heritage of our pizzas that we

proudly call the Chanticlear difference!

For information about Chanticlear Frozen Pizza and to inquire about stocking our famous pizzas which offer at-

tractive margins and incredible sell-through, contact your Eby-Brown representative.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 16

Should you Lower your Prices in Your Auto Repair Shop?

Every auto repair shop can expect slow periods now and then, especially in a slow economy. When this hap-

pens—particularly when it drags on—a lot of shops might be tempted to lower their prices in an effort to bring in

more business. There may be reasons to lower your prices in some circumstances, but generally, it’s a bad idea, as

we’ll see below.

Are Your Prices Too High?

As it turns out, about the only time it makes sense to lower prices is if your prices are out of line with going mar-

ket rates. If you’ve set your prices too high, your average ticket may increase, but your overall revenue is going to

drop off as customers defect for more moderately priced repair shops. Is your shop just not as busy as it used to

be after an increase in prices? Do the math.

Another sign that your prices are too high may take the form of a low conversion rate. If you’re getting a lot of

calls looking for estimates on repair jobs, but few actual customers through the door, your prices might just be too

high. Some customers will make the decision about which repair shop to take their business to based on price

alone, which is oftentimes the only information they’ll ask when they’re on the phone. But a customer on the

phone is practically a closed sale—if your prices are right.

Too few conversions could indicate a problem in your pricing, so maybe there’s something you’re missing. Don’t

be afraid to engage your customers. “We can usually do that job for this much—but what kind of prices are you

getting from other places?” This can be a handy way to learn if your prices are out of line—and give you the op-

portunity to meet a competitor’s price, keep the sale, and win a customer.

There’s nothing wrong with a little research, either—your competitors’ prices are likely to be published infor-

mation, or you could call and ask for a ballpark estimate on a common repair or two to see how your prices com-

pare. If you’re way out of line with pricing, it’s going to be unattractive and off-putting to customers.

But don’t be in too much of a hurry to exactly match a competitor’s prices. If your shop is a few dollars more ex-

pensive—but not wildly so—customers may perceive that as indicative of higher quality service.

When Pricing Isn’t the Problem

But if your prices are in line with the competition, you’ve got good customer service, and you’ve done a reasona-

ble amount of marketing for an auto repair shop, you’ve probably just seen a falloff in sales due to larger econom-

ic uncertainties—a slump.

And if it’s a long slump, some shop owners might be tempted to lower prices in an effort to attract more custom-

ers and drive more sales. But carefully consider the options and the outcomes, here—you might be surprised by

the actual effects lowering prices can have.

Should You Lower Prices? During a particularly bad business drought, you’ll try almost anything to get customers coming into your shop.

You might be thinking that lowering prices might make you a more attractive option than your competitors.

Wouldn’t it make sense that low prices would be the best way to keep current customers, gain new customers

from your competitors, and increase your shop’s revenue? It turns out that nothing could be further from the truth.

There are problems to this approach, which we’ll look at below.

Tangible Costs Before we go into the less tangible examples, let’s talk bottom line. Though your sales may go up, your revenue

may not. Say for the sake of argument that you have a service that you charge $100 for, but which costs you

(considering parts, labor, overhead, taxes, and the rest of it) $80.00 to provide. (continued on next page)

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 17

If you cut your price by 10%—just lower it to $90—but your cost doesn’t change, that cuts your profit margin in

half. You were making $20 in profit each time you sold that service, but after offering only a 10% decrease in pric-

es, you’re making $10 less—half of your previous profit—on each sale. Now you’re (maybe) doing more work but

earning less money per job—50% less. And all for a discount that many consumers are going to see as “only” 10%,

which simply isn’t that impressive to most people.

In a service-oriented and time-intensive business like auto repair, high volume, low ticket pricing models are not

effective or advantageous to any but a few specialty shops that specialize only in oil changes or some similar ser-

vice that could be turned around quickly. But for anything other than the most basic, routine service, you simply

can’t have a mechanic trying to beat the clock and still expect them to do quality work.

Repair jobs take as long as they take, and this is where the “low price, high volume” model falls apart for auto re-

pair shops—mechanics can only work so quickly and still do thorough, competent, and above all safe work. There

are some jobs that you don’t want to rush.

Since a strategy relying on a price decrease requires a disproportionally larger increase in volume to make up the

initial difference in lost revenue, this is an ill-advised move for most auto repair shops from just looking at the basic

accounting principles.

And always consider what a price decrease does to your bottom line—your cost isn’t going to change, so the only

room to reflect that lowered price is in your (often dramatically) lowered profit margin. In the short term, especially

in a sluggish or retracted economy, it’s guaranteed to mean decreased profits and perhaps little else.

Intangible Costs Then there are costs that aren’t as 2+2=4. Intangible costs, like how your product is perceived by the community

you’re trying to serve, can be the most expensive of all.

There’s a reason the phrase “cut-rate” has negative connotations. Cut-rate goods and services are almost never

seen as being of the same quality as similar goods and services sold at a higher (more “regular”) price. If goods

and services are sold at a discount, the thinking goes, they must be inferior.

Even if it isn’t true, the public perception is often that cheap work is usually shoddy, of poor quality, and unrelia-

ble. A business that heavily emphasized bargain basement pricing would likely have challenges in terms of estab-

lishing or maintaining a positive reputation for the perceived quality of their goods, services, reliability, and/or

overall customer satisfaction.

Due to this perception, when an established business (perhaps especially one like an auto repair shop) cuts its pric-

es, it tends to negatively affect public perception of the quality of that business’s products, services, and ultimately

of the business or brand in general. The idea that “you get what you pay for” cuts both ways, and with some

things—like auto repair—educated car owners would rather pay for what they get.

Little Apparent Gain in Price-Cutting, Several Apparent Risks You also run the risk of alienating existing customers who have been happily paying your shop’s “regular” rates

the entire time they’ve done business with you. If you suddenly cut prices, they may feel as if they’ve been over-

charged in the past, and you will probably lose some customers as a result.

Customers are also likely to leave in reaction to the perceived decrease in the quality of your goods and services

associated with the decrease in prices. It is unlikely that any increase in the number of new customers would offset

losses incurred by losing numbers from your existing customer base.

(continued on page 18)

(continued from previous page)

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 18

Another serious factor to consider is that if you have stiff competition, your competition may just match your pric-

es. This won’t help you gain new customers—in fact, if a competitor responds to a price reduction with a price

matching policy, both shops have lost revenue for no gain. Starting a price war is a dangerous maneuver.

And one more thing to think about—once you lower a price, it’s difficult to get a customer to be anything but irri-

tated if that price goes back up for any reason. Perceived value can decrease quickly but takes much longer to in-

crease.

Price Influences the Perception of Value

The amount a person feels comfortable paying for a product or a service varies depending on many different fac-

tors. Consumers may feel more comfortable going with an auto repair shop that charges reasonable, fair prices than

with an auto repair shop that charges a bottom dollar. Most people feel, fairly or not, that significantly cheaper usu-

ally means significantly lower quality. Especially for a knowledge-based, service-oriented busines like automotive

repair, most people would feel more comfortable paying higher prices for things like experienced mechanics and

superior customer service.

Price Helps Determine Customer Goals It helps to think of your ideal customer and your ideal transaction. Different consumers are drawn to different fea-

tures of a business or its offerings. How a business positions itself in terms of showcasing its main benefits can

greatly influence the kind of consumer that business attracts.

Discount-Motivated Consumers

Consumers who are drawn to bargain prices are discount-motivated and seek out the absolute cheapest auto repair

shop they can find, regardless of other factors. They typically do not buy add-on services like routine or preventa-

tive maintenance and are the least likely to invest proactively in their vehicles.

Discount-motivated customers want the cheapest prices they can find and have little loyalty to a brand or specific

business. Though these may be excellent customers for certain kinds of high-volume businesses, they are poor cus-

tomers for automotive repair shops—at least ones that do quality work. Discount-motivated customers tend to want

cheap, fast service with no frills and little follow-up, which they will tend to view with suspicion.

Another factor to consider is one of reputation. Businesses—may be especially auto repair shops—that offer cut-

rate prices are seen as doing sub-standard work and are perceived as being less honest, even by their own custom-

ers. Regardless of the actual quality, “bargain” or heavily discounted goods and services will almost always be

seen as lower quality, and business or brand known to cater to bargain hunter consumers is assumed to be offering

a product inferior in quality than that offered by their “regularly priced” competitors. It can be difficult to shake

this perception once it has become established.

Value-motivated Consumers Customers primarily motivated by factors like quality of the product, quality of service, or overall value were more

likely to be comfortable paying higher prices for goods and services they perceived to be of higher quality. This

type of customer is also more likely to see the value in proactive and preventative maintenance, is typically more

interested in optional services or products, and is much more likely to upgrade to higher-quality brands when the

choice is available.

Value-motivated customers tend to build loyalty in a handful of brands over time and tend to stay with their favor-

ite businesses. They are much more likely to make word of mouth recommendations. They do tend to avoid dis-

count or cut-rate businesses, again due to the perception that the goods and services they offer are of inferior quali-

ty.

(continued on page 19)

(continued from page 17)

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 19

Pricing for the Customer You Wish to Attract We’ve seen the damaging effects that lowering your prices can cause, and identified some upsides of leaving fair,

market-value prices un-altered. When thinking about your pricing policies and how you might include them in

marketing efforts or just your shop’s philosophy, it’s good to remember that different pricing models appeal to

different customers, and you have a lot of control there.

Decide what kind of customer you want to attract and then find out what appeals to them. If your goal is to in-

crease revenue, you would probably be better off going after that mid- to the upper-range customer who invests in

their vehicle and doesn’t mind paying a little more for added value.

Posted by Juan E. Chavez

JMC Automotive Equipment

Family Owned Automotive Equipment Superstore

Tom & Deb Ham

Automotive Management Network

www.AutomotiveManagementNetwork.com

5355 Plainfield Ave. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49525

616-340-2380

(continued from previous page)

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 21

Independent Repair Shops Want Right-to-Repair Law Updated

A coalition of independent repair shops is reigniting the “right to repair” campaign in hopes that state policymakers

will update the 2013 law to provide the same information to diagnostic data as the manufac-turers give authorized

dealerships. The Massachusetts Right to Repair Coalition, relaunched last year after the successful 2012 right-to-

repair ballot question and the subsequent 2013 law, said a legislation update is much-needed because newer cars

have built-in wireless technology providing diagnostic and repair information that independent repair shops can’t

access.

“Automakers are increasingly restricting access through rapidly expanding wireless technologies in vehicles not

covered under current law,” the coalition said in a statement to the Herald, adding that if repair shops can’t get that

data, “car owners have no choice but to be steered by vehicle manufacturers towards more expensive automaker

authorized repair options.”

State lawmakers filed legislation in January to strengthen protections against “telematicsystems,” technologies in

newer cars that transmit crucial diagnostic and repair information to manufacturers - including automatic airbag

deployment and crash notifications, navigation and stolen vehicle location.

Alan Saks, the owner of Dorchester Tire Service since 1982, told the Herald that independent repair shops “simply

want an equal footing with deal-erships to access diagnostic information.”

“Auto manufacturers make it extremely difficult to give us information in diagnosing a problem for a car,” Saks

said. “Their computers can plug into a car and know exactly what’s wrong and what to do to fix it. For us, we have

a list of multiple choices, test some of it and see if it works. This puts us in a severe disadvantage.” “If you’re

spending 30, 40, 60,000 for a new car, you should be entitled to know about it and go to a shop of your choice,”

said Saks. “We’ll have a hell of a time to fix your car without that requirement in the law.”

“Our jobs deal with cycle time: Get the vehicle in, properly diagnosed, repaired and then back out in the shortest

turnaround time as possible,” said Evangelos Papageorg, executive director of the Alliance of Automotive Service

Providers in Massachusetts, which represents over 200 collision repair shops.

“If information in the computer shop isn’t readily available, we now will have to take the vehicle to an original

equipment manufacturer service station to get that information read, brought back to our facility, fix the vehicle

and send it back. It just adds to that cycle time and overall expense of the collision repair process.”

“The fact that there is that telematics quote unquote loophole in it wasn’t thought of back when the legislation was

originally passed in 2012,” Papageorg said. “With a change in technology

bringing on telematics as opposed to hard-wiring of getting that information out of the vehicle … It’s just another

avenue of getting the information out of the vehicle and made available to repair facilities and to the owners of the

vehicle so that they can choose where and how the vehicle will be repaired.” We thank the Boston Herald for re-

print permission.- Automotive ViewPoint

Retailer incentive: Get your game plan ready!

Your business could win a pair of Vikings Cabin Suite tickets for the

Sunday, December 29 home gas vs. the Chicago Bears. The Cabin

Suites offer comfortable seating, great food and a fabulous view of the

field. It is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Earn entries by selling packs of $2 and $5 Minnesota Vikings games.

The more packs you sell, the more entries your business earns! Find

all the details in the incentive overview letter you recently received

and in the official retailer incentive rules.

Get your sales team geared up for the chance to experience the Vikings

Cabin Suite! Provided by: Minnesota Lottery Link| August 2019| Volume 30| Issue 8

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 22

ASSOCIATE MEMBER DIRECTORY

Accountants

LMV Corporation

Ron Velander 952-457-7153

Advertising/

App Design/Media

Allover Media Inc. Ben Enger 763-762-2013

Appraisers/Commercial

Brokers

Petroleum Marketers Svc, Inc. Mark Montag 952-435-9822

Auto Parts Supplier

NAPA Auto Parts Danniel Johnson 952-924-1213

Factory Motor Parts Clay Johnson 651-405-7645

ATM Machines/Novelty

Games

Universal Money Centers

Jerry Spain 913-831-0248

Danielle Skinner 913-244-3249

Attorneys

Merrigan, Brandt, Ostenso & Cambre, P.A.

Gary E. Persian 952-933-2390

Ned E. Ostenso 952-933-2390 Nolan, Thompson & Leighton

Randy Thompson 952-405-7171

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.

Tami Diehm 612-604-6658

Jim Kierking 612-604-6651

Batteries

Interstate Batteries Dan Hartel 952-345-1190

Factory Motor Parts Clay Johnson 651-405-7645

Beverages/COFFEE

American Bottling Company Mark Mathewson 651-552-3582

Pepsi Bottling Group Julia Yngsdal 612-282-1079

C-Store Supplier

Chambers & Owen

John Schoenke 262-297-2920

Core-Mark International Christina Larson 763-545-3700

Eby-Brown Co. LLC Michael Roenna 630-449-1312

Farner-Bocken Company Bruce Milbrandt 800-555-1088 x7444

Henry’s Foods Dale Erickson 800-726-5299

Lynco Distribution, Inc Zac McCall 612-865-0275

Car Wash

Blendco Systems Brent Anderson 763-567-3324

Professional Carwash Systems, Inc. Bob Englund 763-550-1001

Reliable Plus Car Wash Cary Fritsvold 952-888-8023

Credit Card Processing

Chase Paymentech Doug Megow 972-324-5509

Credit Card Processing

Transport EchoSat Communications Group, Inc.

Mark Carl 859-389-8700 x106

Dairy/Ice Cream

Brown’s Ice Cream Patrick Nelson 612-378-1075

Polka Dot Dairy, Inc.

Pat Pettit 651-438-2793

Environmental

Bay West LLC

Donovan Hannu 651-291-3424

ECS

Joe Van Wyk 610-955-5015

Tanknology

Robert Cox 800-666-5301

Environmental rebates

Center For Energy and Environment

Kristen Funk 612-335-3487

Ethanol

Growth Energy

Mike O’Brien 952-212-3380

Food Services

7th Avenue Pizza Patrick Nelson 612-378-1075

Chanticlear Frozen Pizza Ryan Elsner 612-619-8064

Hunts Brothers Pizza Aaron Hobbs 1-816-210-6143

Food Services

Wenzel’s Farm LLC

Lane Nelson 800-336-6328

Health Insurance

Health & Life Financial Services Kevin Urlaub 763-287-0055

Ice Vendors

Arctic Glacier Ice Jon Stelley 651-455-0410

Minnesota Ice Robbie Harrell 612-254-8330

Information Services

Automotive Management Network

Tom Ham 612-299-9298

Insurance

McNamara Company

Patrick McNamara 651-426-0607

Aleisha McNamara 651-426-0607

Mitchell McNamara 651-426-0607

Investments/ Financial Waddell & Reed, Inc.

Matt Anderson 952-884-1503

Lenders/Financial Ascentium Capital LLC

Len Baccaro 281-902-1931

Tony Zieglar 281-883-5005

Lottery

MN State Lottery Adam Prock 651-635-8233

Loyalty/apps/rewards

Tecmark Brent Harms 612-746-4771

Jesse Parker 612-746-5095

Member Services/

Associations

American Lung Association

Jon Hunter 651-268-7601

Office Supplies

Network Business Supplies Inc.

Brett Cohn 651-207-1077

Petroleum Equipment/

Services

CSC Service Works Doug Wagner 800-247-8363

MN Petroleum Service, Inc. Gerald Swan 763-780-5191

O’Day Equipment LLC Dan O’Day 763-230-7630

Pump & Meter Service, Inc.

Mike Eicher 952-933-4800 Zahl - Petroleum Maintenance

Brian Larson 612-331-8550

Reminder: Minnesota enacted Wage Theft Law, effective July 1st (Please see the article below from July’s Newsline)

The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry

new labor standards requirements that began July 1, 2019.

Minnesota recently enacted a new Wage Theft Law, which amends existing state labor laws and adds

new wage and hour requirements, protections and sanctions. Beginning July 1, new requirements for all

Minnesota employers include an employee notice requirement, plus additional information for already-

required earnings statements and employer recordkeeping. Increased enforcement of state wage and

hour laws and criminal penalties for employers that commit wage theft are also included in the new

law. For more information, visit the Department of Labor and Industry Wage Theft Legislation 2019

and Summaries webpage at:

www.dli.mn.gov/business/employment-practices/wage-theft-legislation-2019-and-summaries.

Petroleum/Lubricants

Adium Oil Co.

Dean Mielke 320-356-7350

Dehn Oil Ron Dehn 763-421-5571

Dooley’s Petroleum Randy Dooley 320-875-2641

Fuel Service DJ’s Mart LLC John Salden 715-723-1701

Hartland Fuel Products LLC Ray Colbert 608-797-3930

Molo Oil Co., Inc. Mark Molo 563-557-7540

Rahn’s Oil & Propane

Dave Rahn 320-256-3680

Severson Oil

Josh Severson 507-452-4743

United Farmers Coop Scott Trebelhorn 507-647-6620

Waterford Oil

Gary Lynch 507-645-5659

World Fuel Services Brad Schneider 320-360-9988

Colleen Mercil 612-501-5117

Petroleum Reporting

OPIS/AXXIS Petroleum

Donna Harris 888-301-2645

Petroleum Transport

D&J Transport Inc.

Josh Selbrade 507-413-0384

Danco LTD

Dan & Jodi Gerads 320-743-2006

Propane

Dooley’s Petroleum Randy Dooley 320-875-2641

Hartland Fuel Products LLC

Ray Colbert 608-779-6526

Premier Propane

Jason Scribner 612-839-1569

Rahn’s Oil & Propane

Dave Rahn 320-256-3680

Refrigeration

Maintenance

Quality Refrigeration

Bob Forder 612-861-7350

Retail Signage

Digital Art Services

Katherine Rugg 651-354-3564

Rose City Canopy

Corey Goodwin 218-738-3188

Security System,

Monitoring &

Surveillance

Digital Surveillance Concepts LLC

Dan Nordsletten 701-261-2488

Softener Salt and

Washer Fluid

Paramount Marketing/ SunSoft Salt

Brooke Taney 612-866-1980

Splash

Manny Flores 763-742-0262

Factory Motor Parts

Clay Johnson 651-405-7645

Tobacco

Altria/Phillip Morris USA Garth Alston 608-251-0195

RAI Trade Marketing Services Michael Brown

Trucking Services/

Wrecker

Twin Cities Wrecker Sales Rod Pellow 651-488-4210

Uniforms

Cintas Corporation Brad Beyer 763-391-5684

Used Oil

Loe’s Oil

Brian Loe 507-625-5278

MSSA Newsline - August 2019 23

ASSOCIATE MEMBER DIRECTORY

“Serving Our Members Since 1966

800-752-4884 651-487-1983

FAX: 651-487-2447 www.MNSSA.com

www.facebook.com/MnServiceStationAssociation

We’re on Facebook!

September MSSA

Board Meeting

September 19, 2019

10:00 am

Meeting

11:30 pm Lunch

MSSA Office

2886 Middle Street

October MSSA

Board Meeting

October 17, 2019

10:00 am

Meeting

11:30 pm Lunch

MSSA Office

2886 Middle Street

Petro-Fund Update – Important Notice

According to Joel Fischer (Executive Director of the Petro Fund) the unencum-

bered balance of the Petrofund fee has dropped below $4 million, the Petrofund

Board

voted to impose the Petrofund fee at their meeting earlier this week.

The fee will be 'turned on' for the four-month period of

July 1, 2019 to October 31, 2019.

The MSSA will continue to update this information every month.