9_Pioneer_ExPress_Jul09

Retailer

www.pioneer.ca

ExPress

Spring 2009

Pioneer Petroleums Honoured for Conservation Work Pioneer Petroleums received the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) Conservation Partner Award for 2008 in recognition of Pioneer’s “significant contribution” to the organization. The Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper presented the award to Pioneer’s Director of Marketing, Geoff Hogarth on behalf of the O.F.A.H. at a gala in Mississauga on March 21st, 2009.

Harper presents Prime Minister Stephen off Hogarth with the Director of Marketing, Ge tner Award on behalf O.F.A.H. Conservation Par on March 21, 2009. of Pioneer Petroleums

Pioneer has been helping to support conservation by partnering with the O.F.A.H. since 2007. The O.F.A.H. is the largest nonprofit conservation-based fishing and hunting organization in Ontario with over 100,000 members. “Pioneer is a communityfocused company that we’re proud to work with,” said Robert Pye, O.F.A.H. Member Services Manager. “Their corporate philosophy of encouraging individuals to help improve the environment is a natural fit for the Federation.”

Pioneer Gift Cards Go Green As part of Pioneer’s moves to go “greener”, all new gift cards will be made of 100% recycled Earthworks™ card stock. Earthworks card stock, provided by Keystone Plastics is made from plastic recovered from recycling efforts that would otherwise have made their way to landfill. The Earthworks process conserves natural resources and energy by reducing the demand for virgin PVC. “We rely on partners like Keystone Plastics to help us move to products that are better for the environment wherever possible,” said Geoff Hogarth, Director of Marketing for Pioneer.

“Keystone introduced this green alternative and worked closely with us to make our cards environmentally leading edge. They’re helping us take another step in our pursuit of more eco-friendly choices and we’re thrilled. ” “We congratulate Pioneer in doing its part to help to reduce the millions of pounds of PVC material which enters our waste stream each year,” says Dan Silc of Keystone Plastics. The Earthworks logo will appear on the back of all new Pioneer gift cards made of recycled PVC card stock.

Retailer ExPress

Spring 2009

Conservation Month: The Story Behind the Salmon Restoration Project On May 21st, busloads of Ontario elementary school students released Atlantic Salmon as part of a Pioneer-supported environmental education program. This large scale restoration effort began several months ago in 80 schools across Ontario where the children raised the salmon in their own classroom hatcheries. It is all part of a historymaking conservation endeavour that began in 2006 as an initiative of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (O.F.A.H.) and its conservation partners including Pioneer.

based volunteer conservation work,” said O.F.A.H. Executive Director, Mike Reader. More than 1,200 schoolchildren participated in a field trip this spring as a result of Pioneer sponsorship of this O.F.A.H. initiative. Many head office employees and a few station retailers helped out during the day on May 21st to release the Atlantic Salmon with the kids.

The program is an extension of Pioneer’s ongoing commitment to the environment and a Atlantic Salmon are an original powerful and fun way to engage Lake Ontario species that was one kids in helping to protect Pioneer staff at Pioneer Day in Bronte Creek. of the first species in Canada to the environment. In addition be wiped out as a result of human to supporting the Salmon development in the late 1800’s. In addition to restoring the Restoration project, Pioneer promoted May as Conservation Atlantic Salmon to Lake Ontario tributaries, the children also Month at our sites, raising awareness for the project and participated in stream restoration projects and learned about running a popular nature-themed colouring contest for the importance of healthy waterways during the five-month children. A random draw will be held this June to determine hands-on lesson. two winners for a prize of a mountain bike and helmet each.

Watch for their names in a future edition.

“We are proud to be supported by Pioneer, a forward-thinking company that hasn’t forgotten its roots - a company that clearly You can learn more about the Atlantic Salmon Restoration shares the Federation’s interest in supporting local community- Project at www.bringbackthesalmon.ca.

Minden Site 242 Nominated for Chamber Award Nemy Gowani and her team at Site 242 of Hwy 35 in Minden were nominated for the Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award for their excellence in community relations, customer service and reliability, high standards of employer relations and significant business achievement.

Congratulations to Nemy and the team at Site 242.

Site 242 in Minden.

Pictured with Nemy (kneeling) are from left to right, Ray An grove, Lynne Ku smenko, Tina Jackson, Elisabeth Solt ermann, Faye Knapp, Ly nda Stanley an d Anita Hayes.

(Absent: Marie Stickwood, Ree ma Gowani.

www.pioneer.ca

Give Us Your Green Ideas

W

e’re looking for your ideas on how we can reduce Pioneer’s impact on our environment. From simple conservation techniques to big ideas, we’d like to hear them all. This is your chance to share your ideas. What are you currently doing to conserve energy, reduce waste or recycle at your site? Maybe you’ve noticed something that could be improved or maybe you have a big idea that could impact the entire company and should be investigated. We’d love to hear it and share it with others!

Fax your ideas to 905-639-2490 or send an email to info@pioneer.ca with Green Ideas in the subject line. Be sure to include your name and site

number. We’ll share your ideas and suggestions in an upcoming Retailer ExPress. Let’s all work together for a greener Pioneer.

Colormark Ltd Hitting the Mark with Pioneer When Pioneer’s POS signage company, Colormark Ltd., told us they had a new environmentally friendly product available, we knew that it was worth checking out. Colormark established themselves as innovators in “green” printing long before it became fashionable by researching and developing their own line of environmentally-friendly screen printing inks nearly 25 years ago. As we strive to find new ways to reduce Pioneer’s environmental impact we will continue to count on the expertise of Colormark, one of our long-term vendor partners.

People familiar with screen printing know that it has a somewhat “spotty” reputation when it comes to the environment. Even today many screen printing inks contain heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and barium. Not so with Colormark! Their screen inks contain absolutely no environmentally hazardous chemicals or resins. More than 25 years ago Colormark hired their own federally certified chemist to help them research and develop safer products and processes. To this day they remain one of a few screen printing companies in North America to have this expertise on staff. “We don’t use any material that poses a health or environmental hazard,” confirms Colormark’s Steve Duffy.

Colormark’s development of an energy-saving UV curing system for screen inks, their zero toxicity and organic pigments, and their unique screen production facility that uses no solvents – another industry first – earned Colormark a 2007 Canadian Environmental Printing Award.

The next step for Pioneer and Colormark is the introduction of new biodegradable pole signs. Steve Duffy knew that Pioneer would be interested in this new option. “As a credit to Pioneer, they are genuinely interested in these practices,” explains Steve. “They have always been interested in utilizing best practices when it comes to the environment and they move quickly to implement them.”

Pioneer’s new biodegradable pole signs will degrade completely in landfill leaving no byproducts or toxins. The new pole signs will start to appear at Pioneer sites later this year.

“Colormark is simply the type of company that we are proud to be associated with,” said Geoff Hogarth, Director of Marketing for Pioneer. “We’ve worked together for more than fifteen years. They take that extra measure to do the right thing, both for their employees and the environment. Those are values we respect and we’re proud to work with them.”

Retailer ExPress

Spring 2009

Give What You Can Pioneer’s customers donated a record total of $121,178 during the Give What You Can campaign that ran from April 6th – 19th. Pioneer added its own gift of $29,822 bringing the total to $151,000. That means that Pioneer and our customers have donated a whopping $993,000 to Children’s Hospitals in Ontario since 1985.

Thanks to our wonderful customers and our employees for continuing to make Give What You Can such a resounding success. These gifts make a very real difference to the thousands of children who require the specialized care of a pediatric hospital.

Give What You Can supports: > > > > >

A special shout-out to th e Top 3 sites:

1. Site 161 at Hwy #31 in Winchester raised $6,225.41. Retailer is Ben F Henry.

2. Site 22 at 151 King Ge orge Rd in Brantford raised $5,555.66. Retailer is Randy Kitchen.

3. S ite 203 at 336 Landsdown e St. E. in Peterborough raised $5,41 1.49. Retailer is Vlad Gretchanliiski.

A special thank you goes ou t to the Hamilton Spectator and Co rus Radio for their media partne rship.

Children’s Health Foundation (London) - $20,000 McMaster Children’s Hospital (Hamilton) - $65,000 The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) - $36,000 University Hospitals Kingston Foundation Children’s Program - $10,000 Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) - $20,000

Nawrooz and his Team Quadruple Donations!

Give It Up For Brantford

“Community support was FANTASTIC,” says Aubrey Dinsmore (Site 84, Paris) pictured far left here with Randy Kitchen (Site 22, Brantford), Tigger Qeblawi (Site 231, St. George), Dianne Klein and Fred Brown (Site 21, Brantford). Customers in Brantford donated $14,667.76 during the Give What You Can campaign for Children’s Hospitals. Pioneer Marketing Director, Geoff Hogarth said he was “floored by the generosity of the Brantford community.”

Retailer Nawrooz Tawfiq of Site 147 in Guelph recently found out that his special needs son will be receiving treatment at one of the hospitals supported by the Give What You Can campaign. However, long before his own family needed some of the specialized care of a children’s hospital, Nawrooz was a strong supporter of the Give What You Can campaign. “I know it is very important for the kids,” says Nawrooz.

At his former Site in Harriston, Nawrooz tripled the amount of customer donations over three campaigns from $500 to $1500. Now he and his team are working the same magic at his new site. Since 2007, customer donations at his new site have grown from $300 in 2007 to more than $1,200 this year. Well done Nawrooz! We wish you and your family all the best.

www.pioneer.ca

Food For Life – Delivering Food Where It’s Needed Most Pioneer is a proud sponsor of Food for Life Canada, a Haltonbased charity that collects safe and nutritious food and gives it to those in need in the community. Food for Life has picked up and delivered quality day old and surplus foods to other charities and outreach programs since 1995.

“Pioneer generously sponsors the Food for Life vehicles through their donation of gasoline,” says Charlotte RedekopYoung, Executive Director of Food for Life, which is the largest food recovery program in the Region. “This support is essential in assisting Food for Life in the collection of surplus food from grocery stores and restaurants. Pioneer’s contribution to Food for Life helps hungry individuals and families in Halton eat and live better.”

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The surplus food is subsequently delivered to over 40 social service agencies and 25 neighbourhood outreach programs in Halton Region seven days a week. In 2008 Food for Life delivered $825,000 worth of perishable food to those in need in Halton.

Refresh Foods (a Food for Life Canada program) displays their new hybrid truck at Pioneer Petroleums head office (pictured above).

Site 279 Hamilton Site 279 on Upper Paradise Street in Hamilton has been renovated and joined the Pioneer network as a Snack Express this past January. Jegan (Jay) Sinnathamby, who has been employed at the location for many years, has joined the Pioneer crew as the Site Manager/Retailer.

Customers want convenience.

Pioneer delivers!

Prepaid solutions offer tremendous value to consumers and represent an important part of your operations. Pioneer retailers have been offering prepaid cellular and long distance cards as an integral part of their offering for many years. In Canada, 62% of the population has cell phones and 20% of them are on prepaid plans. Market research has shown that prepaid customers top up their cellular phone on average of twice per month. That’s a market opportunity of close to 5 million customers representing 10 million monthly purchase transactions. That means a large number of Pioneer customers buy phone cards either here or somewhere else.

Let’s make sure customers know that Pioneer is a convenient spot for them to top up their cell phones!

Besides prepaid cellular phone cards, Now Prepay also offers long distance and gift cards from the most popular selections and brands, giving Pioneer retailers the opportunity to offer consumers additional prepaid solutions. Merchandising racks attract attention and generate awareness to the prepaid category. Complemented by in-store POP, merchandising is provided to increase impulse purchase. Ensure that the display rack is located in a high traffic area, that cards are neatly arranged, well-stocked and complemented by in-store POP. Follow those guidelines and customers will remember your site as a dependable and reliable place to purchase prepaid products time and again.

Retailer ExPress

Spring 2009

Pioneer’s Energy Saving Expertise Presented at Dublin Conference Pioneer Petroleums’ Bob Reid was invited to Dublin Ireland this past March to share Pioneer’s experience in petroleum site energy conservation with Bob Reid industry peers.

Bob’s presentation was made at the NACS Insight Conference during a day dedicated to high profile issues affecting global convenience retailers and oil companies.

Bob, Pioneer’s Director of Development and Construction, told conference delegates that limiting and controlling utilities is helping Pioneer reduce our environmental footprint while also helping to offset the higher operating costs. “It requires commitment from all levels of the company from the CEO down to the part-time employee,” explained Bob. Delegates learned about various products and technologies that Pioneer has implemented including the use of motion sensors, hot water on demand, remote controlled energy management

Site 201 - Ajax

Site 201 at Hwy #2 & Harwood Avenue South in Ajax is new to the network. Teri Carrasco is the site manager and her husband, Neil, runs Site 186 in Port Perry. Site 201 opened in mid April.

Ajax. e South in nu ve A d o o Harw Site 201 on

systems and LED lighting.

Pump desig n in Ireland .

“Although LED is not the only way to achieve energy savings, it has far out-performed Pioneer’s other initiatives to date,” said Prepared food display.

Bob. “LED requires a large investment but it can result in energy savings as great as 80% for forecourt lighting.”

Bob also told delegates that preventative maintenance of HVAC and refrigeration units are key to significant energy savings. “It’s an area in which employees play a huge role by performing maintenance regularly and flagging trouble before it becomes more serious,” Bob explained.

During the four day conference the delegates toured petroleum convenience stores in Dublin and Kilkenny to study what other retailers are doing. “Hot prepared foods and fresh foods are a very big part of the walk-in trade there,” said Bob. “It was an opportunity to learn and share with others in the industry and it was an honour to be asked to present.”

Bonus Bucks for HOAP HOAP, Home Ownership Affordability Partnership, is a unique solution to affordable housing that helps lower income families realize the dream of home ownership, revitalize neglected homes and neighbourhoods while training students to have marketable job skills in the construction and renovation industry. HOAP is a program supported by the REALTORS®Association of HamiltonBurlington (RAHB), City of Hamilton, Scotiabank, and Threshold School of Building and funded by the generosity of individuals and businesses in the community, including Pioneer.

Pioneer customers can help a family realize the dream of home ownership by transferring their Bonus Bucks to HOAP. They can simply pick up a Bonus Bucks card, register it online at www.pioneer.ca and transfer their Bonus Bucks to HOAP as often as they like.

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Merchandised Sites

Our Ready for Business awards winners represent the best of the best among Pioneer’s Retailers. These Retailers met and surpassed our strict standards for service excellence and compliance.

Tanveer Muneer, Site 263, Stouffville Score: 97.2%. Award: $2,000

Charlee Boukhers, Site 194, Hamilton Score: 98.6%. Award: $2,000 Niyamat Gowani, Site 242, Minden Score: 98.2%. Award: $2,000 Leonid (Lenny) Shligold, Site 100, Hornby Score: 98.0%. Award: $2,000 Rita Godard, Site 251, Kapuskasing Score: 97.9%. Award: $1,000 Choon Kyoo Kim, Site 262, Barrie Score: 97.7%. Award: $1,000 Randall Horne, Site 237, Pelham Score: 97.5%. Award: $1,000 Joe Abouchala, Site 35, Toronto Score: 97.5%. Award: $1,000 Aubrey Dinsmore, Site 84, Paris Score: 97.4%. Award: $1,000

Amanda Jarvie, Site 193, Cayuga Score: 101.3%. Award: $5,000 Vlad Gretchanliiski, Site 203, Peterborough Score: 100.9%. Award: $3,000 Sue Badour, Site 239, Amherstview Score: 100.7%. Award: $3,000 Karen Jury, Site 191, Hagersville Score: 100.5%. Award: $3,000 Ben F. Henry, Site 161, Winchester Score: 100.3%. Award: $3,000 Steve Jakubickas, Site 1, Hamilton Score: 99.5%. Award: $3,000 Rick Barrie, Site 241, Hanover Score: 99.3%. Award: $2,000 Bibi Jagannath, Site 45, Stoney Creek Score: 99.2%. Award: $2,000

(left to right, front to back): Karen Jury, Amanda Jarvie, Sue Badour, Vlad Gretchanliiski, Steve Jakubickas and Ben F. Henry.

(left to right): Leonid (Lenny) Shligold, Niyamat Gowani, Bibi Jagannath and Rick Barrie.

(left to right): Joe Abouchala, Randall Horne, Aubrey Dinsmore, Rita Godard and Choon Kyoo Kim.

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Yehia El-Ahmar, Site 13, Welland Score: 97.6%. Award: $3,000 5360 So uth

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Leo Daigle, Site 19, Dundas Score: 96.8%. Award: $2,000

David Harmouche, Site 112, Mississauga Score: 95.8%. Award: $1,000 Tom Hadala, Site 12, Hamilton Score: 95.8%. Award: $1,000

Kamil Ibrahim, Site 225, Windsor Score: 95.0%. Award: $1,000

Traditional Sites

Naheda Misheal, Site 44, Stoney Creek Score: 100.5%. Award: $2,500 Igor Goloubev, Site 150, Oak Ridges Score: 100.1%. Award: $1,500 Alex Shligold, Site 25, Mississauga Score: 99.9%. Award: $1,500

(left to right): Tom Hadala, Tanveer Muneer, Leo Daigle and Kamil Ibrahim.

Janice Glanville, Site 144, Hamilton Score: 98.1%. Award: $1,000

Francine Poirier, Site 226, Val Caron Score: 95.9%. Award: $1,000 Mustafa Arik, Site 184, Hamilton Score: 95.9%. Award: $1,000 (left to right): Mustafa Arik, Naheda Misheal, Alex Shligold, Igor Goloubev and Francine Poirier.

2008 Ready For Business Final Pool Winners Each of the following recipients was awarded an equal $464.29 share of the $6,500 for the 2008 Ready For Business pool in the over 95% club. Some recipients are also recognized in other awards categories.

Ali Choueib (Site 244) Shane Livingstone (Site 233) Brigitte St-Aubin (Site 197) Glen Dickinson (Site 38) Randa Alhelou (Site 23) Oscar and Roma Cerda (Site 243) Gopal Kataria (Site 232)

Rod Holmes (Site 234) Kelly Fox (Site 209) Fred Brown (Site 21) Randy Kitchen (Site 22) Boris Romanovsky (Site 245) Alex Lioudkevitch (Site 235) Frank Troisi (Site 7)

Head Office Welcomes …

Retailer ExPress

Winter 2008-2009 Mandy Lipnicky – Mandy joined Pioneer last December working in Data Control. Mandy, along with Melanie Mullins, looks after the information coming from the sites.

Mandy Lipnicky

Galina Nikitina

Kelly Nelson

Laura Woods

Keri Inouye

Pam Ismail

Julie Stinson -- Julie is now officially Manager of the Data Control Department.

Galina Nikitina – Galina joined Pioneer in January as a software developer in the IT department. She is responsible for the full life cycle of systems projects and for providing user support regarding functionality, data analysis and resolution of production related errors on internal applications.

Kelly Nelson – Kelly joined Pioneer in February as the new “GTA West” RBD District Manager, looking after all the RBD sites outside the GTA except those in Northern Ontario. “There is such a pool of experience to pull from here,” says Kelly. “The entire team is really helpful and it’s made the transition really enjoyable.”

Laura Woods – Laura has been with us since March. She is responsible for Accounts Payable -- Fuel. “I love the atmosphere here,” says Laura. “It’s a great team to work with.”

Keri Inouye – Keri joined Pioneer at the end of December 2008 as a Financial Analyst. She is responsible for account analysis and provides assistance with period end procedures.

Pam Ismail – Pam joined Pioneer on April 20th as our new Legal Services and Contract Administrator. Pam, who is a Certified Law Clerk, will be managing legal documentation and processes related to real estate transactions and operating agreements.

www.pioneer.ca

The Retailer ExPress Spring 2009 edition A publication for Pioneer Retailers and Head Office employees.

Send us your Pioneer stories.

Editor: Geoff Hogarth geoff@pioneer.ca Assistant Editors: Kim Hoang kimh@pioneer.ca

Dirty Dog Wash –

Wendy Eveleigh wendy.eveleigh@ pioneer.ca

Site 276 on Fourth Avenue in St. Catharines joined the Pioneer family on April 19th. The site launched with a new convenience store and new pumps including diesel, but it is the five bay car wash that really makes this site stand out – four bays for vehicles and one for the dogs!

Tel: (905) 639-2060 Fax (905) 639-2490

St. Catharines

Co-owner Jawid Fakiri says that it is an idea that has taken root in the United States but so far there are only a couple of specially equipped doggie washes in Canada. The pet wash area comes with a variety of soaps — including one that can get rid of skunk spray odour. Now when the Lincoln is dirty, the Labrador can get a wash too!

Congratulations to Jawid and his partner Ahmed Hoteit and welcome to Pioneer.

ite 276. g bay at S in h as w g The do

Site 276 on Fourth Ave . in St. Catharines. © 2009 Pioneer Petroleums.

All rights reserved.