pennsylvania food merchants association, pennsylvania convenience store council, food merchants, convenience store, food merchants association, pennsylvania, food

Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association/Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council is a statewide trade association with more than 1,600 supermarket and convenience store members, operating more than 6,500 retail food stores throughout Pennsylvania and parts of the mid-Atlantic. Pennsylvania Coupon Redemption Services, Inc. (PCRS), also a wholly-owned PFMA subsidiary, is the nation's largest coupon clearinghouse operated by a state trade association. More than 800 retailers in Pennsylvania and adjoining states entrust their coupon processing needs to PCRS. The corporate office is located at: 1029 Mumma Road, Wormleysburg, PA 17043. A group of independent retailers met in Erie, Pennsylvania on October 29, 1952 with a plan to start a statewide trade association. They officially accepted a charter from the National Association of Retail Grocers (NARGUS) at that meeting. The new group was named the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association. In 1984, the Pennsylvania Convenience Store Council was developed to meet the growing needs of the convenience store industry. PFMA offers many member services, including legislative representation, conferences, seminars, certification programs, industry publications and member insurance programs. In addition to those services, the Association operates business subsidiaries that help generate revenue for Association services. Merchants Express Money Order Company (MEMO) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PFMA. Retailers act as agents of MEMO through the sale of money services products to their customers. MEMO currently offers its products to a variety of retailers in 32 states. Our membership represents all segments of the retail food industry, including locally-owned stores of all sizes, convenience stores and regional and national chains. The mission of the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association is to improve the public image, effectiveness and profitability of companies in the retail and wholesale food distribution industry.
 

 
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Conference

REGISTER TODAY!
The 2008 PFMA Annual Conference will be held June 3-4, 2008 at the Harrisburg Hilton in Harrisburg, PA. Click here for the Conference mini-site.

Honor Your Company's American Heroes
PFMA and PCSC invite you to join us in honoring the food industry's heroes at the annual conference dinner on Tuesday, June 3, 2008. (More)


General

Do You Need Recall Information?
Get updates on the latest recalls... (More)

$8 Million in Educational Improvement Tax Credits Still Available For PA Businesses!
Every year, thousands of Pennsylvania businesses earn tax credits for making donations to scholarship organizations to ensure children get the level of education they need to succeed. This year’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program received a big show of support from the state legislature when they enacted an increase in the available tax credit fund by $16 million, bringing the total program to $75 million... (More)

Update Your Breakroom FMLA Posters
On January 28, 2008, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was amended to extend leave protections to the families of U.S. Armed Forces members. All employers, regardless of size, are required to post the most recent FMLA poster... (More)

UPDATE YOUR PFMA CONTACT INFO. FOR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION PURPOSES
PFMA is currently working on a VERY important project. We are working to update our membership database to include member fax numbers and email addresses. Having this information will allow PFMA staff to contact you in case of a foodborne illness outbreak or safety alert, pandemic update, travel advisory or to provide other crucial information that you will need in case of emergency... (More)

PFMA Members Can Find Out How to Start Their Own Composting Programs
Retailers were educated on how starting a composting program within their stores can save money at the Food Waste and Composting Workshop held on June 21 at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Find out more.. (More)

PFMA Loss Prevention Committee Communicates Major State-Wide Retail Crimes to PA Police Departments
The PFMA Loss Prevention (LP) Committee is comprised of fellow LP and security professionals who are interested in sharing crimes, ideas and increasing awareness amongst the countless law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania with the common goal of minimizing crimes against state retailers. Grocery and convenience store LP and security representatives from across the state first met in March 2002 to form the group... (More)

PA Department of Revenue Calls for Voluntary Payment of Use Tax
The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has launched a campaign to increase business taxpayers' awareness of reporting and paying state Use Tax. Those businesses that do not disclose a Use Tax may be audited... (More)

Retailers Must Comply with the Pennsylvania Directory Act - Cigarettes are being Seized!
Under the Pennsylvania Directory Act, which was passed into law in December 2003, only cigarette brands that are registered on the Directory may be sold in Pennsylvania. The Directory is posted on the Attorney General’s web site... (More)

Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness - A Planning Resource For The Grocery Industry (FMI)
(More)

Legislative Key Votes
Interested in seeing how your legislators voted on the hot issues? Click on the following “PDF icon” file for an overview of the issues as well as vote tallies on how your state Senators and Representatives stood on issues such as the latest minimum wage vote, business tax cuts, and meth legislation.

Food Safety Information

Food Employee Certification Regulation Finalized
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture adopted Food Employee Certification final regulations on August 7, 2004. The regulation implements minimum food safety training requirements for food establishments within the state. (More)

EBT News

Food Stamp Program Outreach Tool Kit Available for Retail Stores
FSP Outreach Tool Kits are available for download at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) web site... (More)

EBT Retailer Training Guides Available
(More)

Interested In Becoming an Authorized Food Stamp Program Retailer?
(More)

Submitting Multiple Vouchers; Changing Bank Info.
Retailers can now contact JP Morgan to submit multiple manual Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) voucher requests and change banking information. (More)

Damaged EBT Card/Retailer Letter
If you find that customers are repeatedly coming in with damaged EBT cards that do not scan properly, you can provide the customer a letter encouraging them to obtain a replacement. (More)

WIC Program Information

WIC Quarterly Prices
The Pennsylvania WIC Program has published its maximum allowable and competitive Price lists for the first calendar quarter of 2008: January 1, 2008 through March 31, 2008 for the various retailer types. Please be aware that the list of high cost counties has been changed to include many more PA counties. Your stores must have the minimum inventory of WIC items priced at or below the Competitive Price levels... (More)

WIC ECR Vendor Specifications
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Other

ST. JOHN DISCUSSES BEER SALES ISSUE
ON NPR RADIO SHOW

Randy St. John, PFMA senior vice president, discussed the beer sales issue on NPR's Radio Times with Marty Ross-Coane following his testimony before a House Liquor Control committee hearing in Philadelphia. (More)

Pennsylvania State, County and Local Level Food Regulation Information

Visit our legislative/regulatory page for other hot issues.

 

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Today is May. 9, 2008

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June 3, 2008
PFMA/PCSC Annual Conference

June 10, 2008
Central Penn FoodPAC Golf Outing

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