What role in the community do you think convenience stores should play?

I think community engagement may be one of the most important as well as most satisfying programs we are involved with. Because we operate between 50 and 60 stores in suburban or rural areas, our involvement within the various communities is critical. Whether it is sponsoring the county fair, rodeo or a local little league team, it helps to ingrain us into the communities we depend upon for our success.

What does NACS political engagement mean to you, and what benefits have you experienced from being politically engaged?

Within the last several years we have literally seen an explosion of new laws and regulations that impact our industry and our daily business. Working through NACS and getting to personally know our congressmen and congresswomen has never been more important. Supporting NACS’ political engagement efforts ensures us that Pester Marketing has a seat at the table and that we have a voice that will be heard. In my opinion, NACS Day on the Hill is a must-attend event.

What federal legislative or regulatory issues keep you up at night?

With the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic I worry about knee-jerk legislation that attempts to provide or regulate solutions that in the long run are detrimental to our business and industry going forward. All of our businesses have been negatively impacted in some form or fashion, and piling on further expensive regulations will only slow our recovery.

What c-store product could you not live without?

In Colorado our industry fought for years to be able to sell strong beer. Now that we are finally able to sell strong beer, the beer category has exploded and basically has provided us with an additional much-needed revenue stream that we never had before.