Associations

Gardendale, Ala. – Independent grocer cooperative ROFDA, the Retailer Owned Food Distributors & Associates, has appointed Park City Group director of business development Christina Romas to its seven-member advisory council. ROFDA’s advisory council was created to provide the organization’s leadership team with input, information and feedback representing the interests of ROFDA’s associates and suppliers in support of its mission.

Washington, D.C. -- The National Retail Federation (NRF) is urging Congress to pass legislation that would require online and remote sellers to collect state and local sales taxes, telling a House committee that lawmakers should level the playing field between local retailers and out-of-state competitors. David French, senior VP of the NRF, told the House Judiciary Committee in a letter that legislation is needed to end the sales tax disparity.

National Retail Federation SVP David French told the House Judiciary Committee in a letter this week that legislation is needed to level the playing field between local retailers and out-of-state competitors, as the NRF continues to push Congress to pass legislation that would require online and remote sellers to collect state and local sales taxes.

Washington, D.C. -- Import volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 12.4% in March 2014 as retailers begin to stock up for the spring and the summer season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Hackett Associates.

Washington, D.C. – The National Retail Federation (NRF) calculated retail employment was down 6,700 in February 2014, yet up 205,500 year-over-year. The biggest job losses were seen in electronics and appliance stores, and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores.

Foster City, Calif. – Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. are teaming up to create a new group that will focus on improving payment system security. The group will include banks, credit unions, retailers and initially focus on adoption of EMV (Europay, MasterCard, Visa)-compliant card technology in the U.S. in advance of the October 2015 liability deadline.

The group will also study tokenization, or the replacement of customer account numbers with unique digital payment codes, and also cooperate with other industry groups.

National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay and chief economist Jack Kleinhenz issued a response to the organization’s February jobs report.

“While there are signs of modest momentum in the economy, now is not the time to play partisan politics with the recovery by forcing federal mandates on retailers and small business owners like an increase in the minimum wage,” Shay said. “Such policy decisions could hamper economic growth and actually drive up the unemployment rate.”

Charles W. H. Matthaei, chairman at Roman Meal Company, died Feb. 26. Matthaei headed the family-owned company for nearly 70 years.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation has submitted an official statement for a hearing on data security being held by the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, reiterating the retail industry’s commitment to protecting Americans’ financial information.

Atlanta -- The requirements of the 2013 revision of an energy standard recently published by ASHRAE and IES will result in buildings that could achieve 6% to 8% more efficiency than buildings built to the 2010 standard.

Published in October 2013, ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of buildings except low-rise residential buildings.