The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association (PFMA) has new representation on its board of directors. The association appointed Bill Crosby, VP of operations for Acme Markets, and Bob Holmes, area sales director for Supervalu, to its board.
“We are delighted to welcome Bill and Bob to the PFMA Board of Directors,” said Alex Baloga, PFMA president and CEO. “Both individuals are recognized business leaders, are incredibly talented and bring a wealth of experience to PFMA. We are fortunate to have them on our team, advocating for the interests of our members.”
Crosby is responsible for Acme’s South Philadelphia and suburban locations, including portions of Delaware County, the Main Line, Chester County, as well as Delaware, Maryland, south central New Jersey and the Jersey Shore.
Holmes has more than 40 years of industry experience, beginning his Supervalu career in 1986 as a zone sales manager with the company’s Shop ’n Save banner stores in the Pittsburgh market. He later held account manager and perishable manager positions for Shop ’n Save and County Market stores. For the past seven years, Holmes has served as director of territory sales for the Shop ’n Save stores as well as other independent grocery stores in western Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania passes anti-skimming law
In other association news, anti-skimming legislation that was one of PFMA’s top legislative priorities of 2018 has been signed into law by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. House Bill 1918—sponsored by state Rep. Kristin Phillips-Hill—criminalizes and establishes stiff penalties for thieves using tools to steal others’ credit card information.
“When I first started working on this bill, I was asked why this legislation was necessary,” Rep. Phillips-Hill said. “Possessing these devices was not illegal at the time, even though they have no use other than for criminal, deceitful and deceptive purposes. My legislation gives law enforcement one more tool to use in prosecuting these thieves.”
With the signing of this bill, Pennsylvania joins 30 other states that have enacted similar legislation. Anyone convicted of using or possessing a scanning or skimming device now faces a third-degree felony for a first offense and a second-degree felony for a second or subsequent offense.
“Our goal is to protect consumers,” said Baloga. “We are doing everything we can to combat credit card skimming. It’s a long-standing fight and we have several partners. This (law) is a step in the right direction.”
PFMA, a statewide trade association, advocates the views of nearly 800 convenience stores, supermarkets, independent grocers, wholesalers and consumer product vendors. PFMA members operate more than 3,200 stores and employ more than 150,000 Pennsylvania residents.
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