OMEGA News - OMEGA - West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association

Details: Press; July 17, 2018

The "Every Child Deserves A Loving Home Campaign", conducted by the West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association

(OMEGA), raised $75,083 between April 13 and Mother’s Day, May 13 to help children across the state dealing with crisis in the family.

"There are so many children across West Virginia in need of services and adoption and this tremendous effort by our convenience and independent grocery store members – and the public – will help significantly," said Traci Nelson, President of OMEGA. "Funds will go to the Children’s Home Society of West Virginia, which does an incredible job of assisting children and families in need throughout the state."

Details: Press; September 27, 2017

The West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association (OMEGA), the trade association which represents the state’s convenience stores, independent grocers and petroleum marketers, has appointed Daniel Hall Director of Government Affairs & Membership Development Coordinator, representatives announced.

“Daniel’s legislative experience, knowledge of our issues and passion for the industries OMEGA represents make him the perfect choice to lead both our government affairs program and membership development initiative,” said Traci Nelson, president of OMEGA.

Nelson said in addition to OMEGA, Hall will manage the government affairs and membership development programs for the West Virginia Trucking Association, West Virginia Wholesalers Association and the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia; all of which are managed by OMEGA.

Hall, a native West Virginian, served two terms in the West Virginia House of Delegates before being elected to West Virginia State Senate. During his legislative tenure, he served as chairman for several committees and ultimately as Senate Majority Whip. Prior to joining OMEGA, Hall worked as a State Liaison for the National Rifle Association of America.

Details: Press; August 22, 2017

Charleston, W.Va. (August 22, 2017) - The West Virginia Oil Marketers & Grocers Association (OMEGA), the trade association which represents the state’s convenience stores, independent grocers and petroleum marketers, has appointed Traci Nelson president of the organization, representatives announced.

“Given her more than 20 years of experience working with OMEGA and its membership, there is no one more qualified to lead the organization than Traci,” said OMEGA Chairman Joe DeFazio. “She knows our issues, understands trade association management and for those reasons, was a unanimous choice to lead us into the future.”

Nelson said, “I’m humbled by the faith and trust of the OMEGA Board in giving me this opportunity. There was no greater mentor than Jan Vineyard, who led the organization so capably for the past two decades. She set a high bar and I plan to do my best to live up to it in terms of advocating for our issues and serving our membership.”

Nelson has worked for OMEGA since 1995 and has held the role of Member Services Coordinator since 2006, when OMEGA took over management of the West Virginia Trucking Association (WVTA). OMEGA took over management of the West Virginia Wholesalers Association (WVWA) in 2013 and the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia (IIAWV) in 2014.

As president of OMEGA, Nelson also manages the day-to-day operations of the WVTA, the WVWA and the IIAWV. Nelson is also serving her third term as president of the West Virginia Society of Association Executives (WVSAE).

For additional information, contact Traci Nelson at (304) 343-5500, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Details: Press; May 31, 2017

Charleston, WV (May 30, 2017) – The West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (OMEGA) is heartbroken to announce the death of Jan Vineyard, the organization’s long-serving president, on Tuesday, May 30 from complications with a recent illness.

Vineyard, a lifelong West Virginian who was raised in Nitro, was incredibly passionate about the industries she represented and the people that worked in them. She was a leader in West Virginia’s business community and a respected lobbyist known to all who held political office over the past nearly three decades. She was an advocate for children suffering from disease and crisis in the family, having led fundraising efforts over the past fifteen years raising nearly $3 million for a variety of state organizations.

“It is unthinkable that Jan is no longer with us and it is an understatement to say she will be greatly missed by so many of her family members, friends and colleagues,” said Joe DeFazio, chairman of the OMEGA board of directors. “On behalf of the Boards of Directors of OMEGA, the West Virginia Trucking Association, the West Virginia Wholesalers Association and the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia, we extend our thoughts and prayers to Jan’s husband Gary, her son Craig, and her entire family.”

Jan began her career with Ashland Oil following graduation from Marshall University. It was during this time that she learned the gasoline and petroleum products industry.

In 1993, she was hired to manage the West Virginia Petroleum Marketers Association and the West Virginia Association of Convenience Stores. Three years later, Jan led the merger of these two groups to create the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association, Inc.

Through Jan’s leadership and entrepreneurial spirit, OMEGA entered into a joint venture with the West Virginia Trucking Association in 2006 to manage the organization. In 2013 and 2014, respectively, OMEGA entered joint ventures with the West Virginia Wholesaler’s Association and the Independent Insurance Agents of WV, Inc. to manage those organizations, as well.

For additional information, contact Bryan Brown at (304) 546-5500.

Details: Press; April 28, 2017

wvomegtax

Dear Governor Justice,

I'm writing to you on behalf of the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association (OMEGA WV) in regards to the upcoming Special Session and budget.

For our industry, border stability is our number one issue. Because of the products we sell – gasoline, tobacco, sugary drinks, etc. – we must remain competitive on our borders. Unfortunately, it appears as if our industry has been under constant attack with tax increases proposed throughout the session on all of these items.

The proposed eight cent increase in the gas tax (flat and variable) would make ours significantly higher than all our border states except Pennsylvania.

For reference, I’d like to give you an idea of what the recent tobacco tax did to our border retailers. For border locations, overall tobacco sales were down a minimum of 15% (Huntington), 24% (Princeton), 22.5% (Wheeling) and 24% (Martinsburg).

Gasoline purchases account for approximately 5% of consumer spending in any given year. This increase would also place a huge burden on the citizens of West Virginia who choose to purchase inside our state.

The creation of the Commercial Activities Tax (CAT) would hit our industry especially hard because our businesses are high gross sales with low net margins. Normally, when the price increases our margins decrease. If it becomes a necessity to implement this tax, we request that fuel be exempt.

As mentioned above, our industry provides many products to our citizens and any tax increases will greatly affect our businesses and possibly reduce the number of jobs that we are able to provide to our citizens because of loss of border sales.

Below are graphs showing our current tax rates compared to our neighboring states:

om tax 2017