by Ronald K. Fong/president & CEO, California Grocers Association There is an expression—“get on the bus or get run over by the bus”—that rings true from time to time in politics. Every so often, when faced with huge policy shifts on the horizon, one is forced to make this very calculation. CGA did this a […]
Category: California Perspective
Posted inPackaging News, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, Shelby Content, West
Prop. 65 Warning No Longer Needed For Coffee; Cereal Under Scrutiny
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association In many respects, California is like an island unto itself when it comes to laws and regulations. For better or worse, our state is home to a number of laws and regulations that exist nowhere else in the nation. Among the most notorious and controversial of them […]
Posted inCalifornia Perspective, Association News, Home Page Latest News, Shelby Content, West
California Perspective: State Showed Its Purple In June Polling
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association Californians went to the polls in June to determine matchups for November’s General Election. Despite California’s reputation as being solidly blue and progressive, this election showed the shades of purple that exist up and down the state. While a vast majority of Californians remain socially very liberal […]
Posted inCalifornia Perspective, Association News, Home Page Latest News, Shelby Content, Shelby Signature Content, West
California Perspective: Relationship-Building Plays Important Role In The Political Process
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association Success in government relations often is rooted in the connections developed with legislators over the years. While politics, and lobbying specifically, is by its nature an adversarial pursuit, good government relations separate the conflict from the person you conflict with. Legislation comes and goes, but legislators stay […]
Posted inMeat/Seafood/Poultry, California Perspective, Grocery News, Home Page Latest News, Industry News, Packaging News, Shelby Content, Sustainability News, West
California Perspective: We Can Fight City Hall—And We Should
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association Local governments across the country have become emboldened to legislate on issues they never considered. Likely due to the action or inaction of federal and state governments, cities and counties feel it is a duty and opportunity to regulate on the bleeding-edge policy. California has always been […]
Posted inCalifornia Perspective, Association News, Home Page Latest News, Shelby Content, West
California Perspective: Strength Comes In Unity
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association Have you ever stopped to closely look at a piece of rope? Like one, for example, used to tie a boat, or even a ship, to a dock? It can actually be a little shocking. Because if you did, you would see that the big, bulky, strong […]
Posted inCalifornia Perspective, Association News, Home Page Latest News, Shelby Content, West
California Legislature’s Focus May Again Be Diverted From Anti-Business Bills
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association California’s political outlook appears even more unpredictable than in years past due to an intersection of events that don’t happen very often. From the election of the first new governor in eight years, to a legislature in flux due to a number of recent resignations resulting from […]
Posted inAssociation News, California Perspective, Home Page Latest News, Store News, West
California Grocers Association Lauds Legislation To Help Stop Serial Theft
The California Grocers Association (CGA) is supporting and co-sponsoring a bill that would provide grocers and other retailers with relief from the recent spike in shoplifting. Assembly Bill 1326 by Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), and co-authored by assemblymembers Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona) and Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), will aggregate the dollar value of certain property crimes, […]
Posted inWest, California Perspective, Home Page Latest News, Shelby Content
Op-Ed: Will ‘Island’ Of California Drift Even Farther From The Mainland Under New Administration?
by Ron Fong/president and CEO, California Grocers Association The idea of California as an island dates back to at least the 16th century, when cartographers mapped it as sitting just off the western coast of North America—a mini paradise unto itself. As technology and cartography became more advanced, this misconception was corrected on world maps. […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Home Page Latest News, Store News, West
California Assembly Votes To Raise Tobacco Age To 21
The California Assembly on Thursday voted to raise the age of sale for tobacco products to 21, add electronic cigarettes to state tobacco regulations and approve other measures to further reduce tobacco use. The state Senate previously approved similar measures and is expected to give final approval soon. By increasing the tobacco age to 21, […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Shelby Content, Shelby Signature Content, West
Company Culture Is The Most Important Factor For Success, Says ‘Happiness Expert’
Shawn Achor, founder and CEO of GoodThink Inc. and author of “The Happiness Advantage,” keynoted the California Grocers Association’s recent Strategic Conference to share a simple message: When it comes to a company’s chances for success, “culture eats strategy for lunch.” Achor spent 12 years with Harvard University as a researcher in the field of […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Store News, West
California WIC Moratorium Is Lifted
The moratorium for stores to apply for authorization in the California Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program was lifted Feb. 1. The announcement was made by Dr. Ron Chapman, director and state health officer at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). “This positive step will improve availability and access for the approximately 1.4 million […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Industry News, Store News, West
Calif. Governor Signs Landmark Carryout Bag Legislation
After years of work, California grocers scored a major victory Tuesday with Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on Senate Bill 270—a measure that creates a consistent, statewide standard for regulation of carryout bags. More than 120 local jurisdictions have enacted their own regulatory schemes, many with slight variations. The patchwork has become confusing for grocery retailers […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Store News, West
CGA’s Fong Pleased With Strategic Conference 2014
Ron Fong, president and CEO of the California Grocers Association (CGA), spoke with The Shelby Report’s VP-West, Bob Reeves, during the CGA Strategic Conference Sept. 21-23. It was the conference’s third year in Palm Springs, and “I think it’s the best one this year,” Fong said. “A little over 850 attendees, which is better than […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
A Light At The End Of The WIC Moratorium Tunnel?
by Ron Fong, CGA president/CEO For The Shelby Report California continues to suffer under an indefinite moratorium on new WIC vendor authorizations. The issue remains one of the most critical facing California’s retail grocers. The California Grocers Association (CGA) has taken a multi-pronged approach in an attempt to help the California WIC Department and the […]
Posted in, California Perspective, West
Relationship Building Critical During Busy Legislative Sessions
by Ron Fong/CGA president and CEO Special to The Shelby Report The California Legislature is in full swing and despite talk of legislators taking it slow and not introducing a number of bills, this session is shaping up to be one of the busiest in quite some time. California Grocers Association (CGA) staff is sifting […]
Posted in, California Perspective, West
Proposed Bills Would Make Grocers Public Health Educators
Lawmakers continue to struggle with priorities as California’s unprecedented “top two” June primary election approaches and lawmakers face voters in newly drawn districts. Uncertainty about political futures has created an odd climate in Sacramento, with more than 2,000 bills introduced in 2012—many of which are rumored to be destined for the trash heap as soon […]
Posted in, California Perspective, West
Redistricting Creates New Problems
For the first time, California’s once-a-decade reapportionment process is being undertaken by an independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission. The Commission, created in 2008 by voter-approved Proposition 11, is a 14-member panel charged with redrawing California State Assembly, Senate, Board of Equalization and Congressional districts to reflect population changes noted in the 2010 U.S. Census. In prior […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Banning the Bag: The Sequel Coming to a Store Near You
Every summer you can bet on two things coming from California: A blockbuster story hitting the movie screen and blockbuster legislation. Last year’s story was Assembly Bill 1998, a statewide bill to ban plastic bags and require a charge for paper bags. Grocers made the difficult decision to support the bill because we knew that […]
Posted in, California Perspective, Guest Contributors, West
Help Us, Mr. Attorney General — Our Industry Is on the Ropes
CGA President Ronald Fong continues his series of open letters to our newly elected state constitutional officers. This issue’s letter is addressed to California Attorney General Kamal D. Harris. Dear Attorney General Harris, California is the nation’s leader in many things and most of them are admirable. But our state’s increasingly anti-grocery regulatory and litigation […]