The president of Jetz Convenience Centers in Wisconsin succeeds Peter Tamburro, of Clifford Fuel, as NAG chairman and will oversee the association’s effort to support and engage small, mid-sized and family-owned convenience store businesses.
The National Advisory Group (NAG) provides the convenience store industry one of the most exclusive environments for small, mid-sized and family-owned retailers to interact with each other and share ideas for reducing operating costs and increasing sales. NAG is now pleased to announce that Robert “Bob” O’Connor, president of Jetz Convenience Centers, has been named Chairman of the Board of Directors. He takes the reigns from Peter Tamburro, the general manager of New York-based Clifford Fuel Co., for a one-year term helping to oversee the direction of NAG and content for its annual conference.
“As a third generation petroleum marketer and as a participant in the convenience industry for more than 30 years I am honored and delighted to serve as chairman of NAG,” O’Connor said. “Through continuous work and diligent effort NAG continues to benefit your business and our industry in many ways. Not only are we kept informed in ‘real time’ by a trusted source, but we are introduced to new ideas and best practices which continue to move our industry forward. As an added benefit we are able to maintain strong social connections and learn from the industry’s best and most respected leaders through the annual NAG Conference. With continued participation and support, NAG will continue to raise the bar for our industry while promoting greater levels of convenience, added value and higher levels of satisfaction for our customers.”
O’Connor, along with his cousin Tim Klein, owns and operates four locations which include Jetz-branded convenience stores, Jetz branded on-site fueling, Jetz branded car washes and four nationally franchised restaurants including Subway, DQ, Little Caesar’s and Culvers.
The Jetz brand though small in number is large in scope. Jetz has gained the attention and respect of major competing Wisconsin retailers and as a result O’Connor recently concluded his term as Chairman of the Wisconsin Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (WPMCA).
Jetz has earned a reputation as a forward-thinking brand and is quick to deploy products and technology which offer future promise. In November 2016, Jetz was the first to introduce E15 to the Milwaukee market and together with the Wisconsin Biofuels Association developed and ran a marketing campaign that introduced E15 to the entire state of Wisconsin. E15 has shown signs of early success. This advanced fuel allows Jetz to offer new choice at a higher level of competition. Because of this, Jetz recently installed their second E15/E85 installation and is helping to lead the charge for higher blends of ethanol in an extremely conservative market. Since Jetz began its campaign for E15, other major Wisconsin retailers have also begun to offer this new advanced fuel beneath their canopies.
“Our NAG board represents a wonderful mix of the very best retailers in the convenience store industry,” said John Lofstock, Executive Director of NAG. “We are honored to welcome Bob as Chairman and look forward to working with him to continue our mission of serving small and mid-sized chains in the competitive convenience store industry. At the same time, I would like to sincerely thank Peter Tamburro for his leadership as board chairman these past two years. Peter has been a mentor, friend and leader for NAG members for the past 10 years and I’m thrilled he will remain on the board to continue our efforts to grow NAG.”
NAG AT WORK FOR THE INDUSTRY
NAG is a retail trade association driven by retailers for retailers and is an organization committed to building profits and relationships. NAG is aimed at small, mid-size convenience and family-owned convenience store chains and the executives that run them.
NAG members meet annually to examine pressing issues affecting the convenience store and petroleum industry. Through education, networking and NAG’s world-class Information Exchanges, NAG members and the supplier companies that support them have formed lasting friendships and partnerships that have helped storeowners increase profits, reduce operating costs and explore new ideas for expanding their business.
Recognizing the role next-generation leaders play in the competitive convenience store and petroleum industry, training the young executives is more important than ever before. NAG relaunched the Young Executives Organization (YEO) in 2012 to help young executives have a group that is solely focused on exchanging personal experiences with peers in their age group. YEO accomplishes this mission by providing networking and educational opportunities at the annual YEO conference in May and recently launched Web-based training sessions, which provides access to information exclusively for YEO members.
NAG is also committed to helping convenience store retailers cultivate the executive leaders of tomorrow through higher education. In keeping with that theme NAG is proud to offer scholarship funding for children of NAG members.
For information about NAG, YEO or membership, contact NAG Executive Director John Lofstock at [email protected] or NAG Chairman Bob O’Connor at [email protected].
The 2018/19 NAG Retail Board members include:
Robert O’Connor, Jetz Convenience Centers., Hales Corners, Wis.
Mary Banmiller, Warrenton Oil, Truesdale, Mo.
Doug Gali, Crosby Reid Stores, Lockport, N.Y.
Greg Ehrlich, FriendShip Food Stores, Columbus, Ohio
Joe Hamza, Tedeschi Food Shops, Nouria Energy, Worcester, Mass.
Brent Mouton, Hit-n-Run Food Stores, Lafayette, La.
Peter Tamburro, Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes, Canastota, N.Y.
Vernon Young, Young Oil Co., Piedmont, Ala.
