ARLINGTON, VA — June 15, 2007 — Food Industry Alliance of New York State President and CEO Jim Rogers received 2007 Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Donald H. MacManus Association Executive Award this week at the Washington Public Policy Conference. The award was presented in recognition of his extraordinary leadership in public affairs.




Rogers was honored for making major contributions to the industry’s campaign against excessive credit card interchange fees educating the public and policymakers. In 2006 and 2007, for example, he helped convince the state assembly to consider six interchange bills, including measures to require Visa and MasterCard to fully disclose their fees and operating rules and to prohibit these fees from being charged on the sales tax portion of credit card purchases.




Rogers has blocked numerous attempts to expand the New York bottle law, advocating the need for greener solutions such as curbside collection of all recyclable materials. In addition, he is a long-time crusader for giving consumers the convenience of purchasing wine in supermarkets.




Currently, Rogers serves as Board chair of the Food Industry Association Executives. Previously, he worked for the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, National Restaurant Association and FMI.




FMI honors an association leader annually with the Donald H. MacManus award, now in its 17th year. The award’s namesake served the industry for many years as executive director of the Rocky Mountain Food Dealers Association and as FMI’s first Western Region director. He also served in the Colorado State Senate, rising to the position of democratic whip.




Hinkle Recognized for Originating Idea to Ban Interchange Fees on Sales Taxes


Past Kentucky Retail Federation President John Hinkle was recognized at the conference for originating the concept of prohibiting interchange fees on the sales tax portion of credit card purchases. In early 2006, he convinced the Kentucky state assembly to consider legislation that would institute this ban. Legislation modeled after this measure has since been considered in Florida, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New York and Washington.




     Many state lawmakers find the idea of assessing these fees on sales taxes unacceptable, viewing the practice as a tax on a tax. This concern often leads them to take a closer look at the broader interchange issues.

Contact:

Bill Greer

202-220-0667

wgreer@fmi.org