The New York Association of Convenience Stores announced today that Peter Tamburro of Cliff’s Local Markets, Marcy, N.Y., and Molly Slingerland, of Altria Client Services, Albany, N.Y, will be honored at its May 12 Chairman’s Banquet in Syracuse, N.Y.

Tamburro will receive the 2022 NYACS John MacDougall Leadership Award, while Slingerland will be presented with NYACS’ 2022 Carl Tripi Award.

NYACS, in partnership with the John and Elaine MacDougall Foundation, created the John MacDougall Leadership Award in 2017 to honor the late NYACS co-founder and CEO of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes. It is presented annually to the individual or company who best demonstrates qualities that characterized John’s career: Success in the convenience store business, industry leadership, a commitment to relationship building, and active involvement in NYACS.

NYACS established the Carl Tripi Award in 2006 to recognize “low-profile, high-impact” contributions to NYACS and the convenience store industry. It is named for the late Carl Tripi, who as chairman of Buffalo, N.Y.-based wholesale distributor Tripifoods Inc. remained behind the scenes but made sure NYACS had sufficient financial and volunteer support to be effective.

Peter Tamburro is general manager of Clifford Fuel Co., Utica, N.Y., operator of 20 Cliff’s Local Markets across Central New York. He has served on the NYACS Board of Directors for 16 years, two of them as Chair, and is on the Executive Committee and Convention Committee. He also is a long-time board member of the C-Store industry’s National Advisory Group (NAG), where he served as chairman from 2017-2019.

Tamburro is a native of Hudson, N.Y., where he worked for Valley Oil Co. from 1983 to 1993, helping develop 10 Nice N Easy franchise locations and several Citgo and Mobil marts in the Hudson Valley. He was promoted to Vice President of Store Operations.

In 1993, when Valley Oil was sold to Mid-Valley Oil (Xtra Mart), he was hired by John MacDougall, president and founder of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes in Canastota, N.Y., as director of franchise operations, providing support to 18 separate owners operating 75 stores combined. In 1997, he became vice president, taking on additional responsibilities for marketing, foodservice and store operations for Nice N Easy’s own locations, and later senior executive vice president. After Nice N Easy was sold to CST Brands in 2014, Tamburro joined Clifford Fuel. He and his wife Pamela reside in Oneida NY and have two sons, Patrick and Matthew.

Previous MacDougall Award recipients were Case Marshall of Pit Stop Convenience Stores, Tripifoods Inc., and Mickey Jamal of Chestnut Markets.

Molly Slingerland is managing director of regional government affairs for Altria Client Services LLC, managing government affairs activities for Altria Group and its operating companies in the Northeast Region including New York. Previously, she was a lobbyist with Princeton Public Affairs Group representing a variety of corporate and non-profit interests. She has also worked on numerous campaigns on the federal, state and local levels in five states.

Molly is a graduate of Wellesley College, cum laude, and Albany Law School of Union University, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Albany Law Review. She is licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey. She currently serves on the boards of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets and the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association. Molly lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children.

Previous Carl Tripi Award recipients were Ted Marshall, Pit Stop Convenience Stores; Carol Taylor, Taylor’s Mini Mart; Ned Dewey, Reinhardt Corp.; Steve Altman, Mountain/Service Distributors; Joseph Mirabito, Mirabito Energy Group; Kevin Noon, K&K Food Marts; Jim Clifford, Clifford Fuel Co.; Fran Duskiewicz, Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes; Mike Deuser, Tripifoods Inc.; Bill Dunn, Swisher International; and Paul D. Reid, Reid Petroleum.

Friends and colleagues are invited to attend the May 12 banquet, where in addition to these award presentations, retiring NYACS President Jim Calvin will be inducted into the New York Convenience Store Hall of Fame. Online registration is available at www.nyacs.org.

Headquartered in Albany N.Y., NYACS is a statewide trade organization representing and serving New York’s diverse, dynamic community of nearly 8,000 neighborhood convenience stores.