Finally! Treasury Starts Releasing CERTS Grant Funding
GNJMA sent a member alert out August 13th to share the good news about CERTS. Treasury has started contacting motorcoach companies that have been approved as recipients for the Grant program and sending them grant agreements for signature. After signing your grant agreement, Treasury states grantees should expect payment in 1-3 business days.
According to their updated FAQs, Treasury wanted to get the initial notices out this week to help facilitate getting the funds to motorcoach operators as soon as possible. The updated guidance also states that they are planning to potentially do a second payment to “top off” your grant award as remaining funding allows. The initial award is expected to represent 80% of what your total reward will be. Yesterday, Treasury, published several updated documents to their website that you will want to check out.
ABA shared the following facts regarding the CERT Grant, and we are passing those along to you:
Industry Revenues Lost (2019 vs. 2020) (includes motorcoach, school bus, passenger vessels):
- Overall lost revenue of $8.7 billion ($17.7B – $9B, CERTS program funding oversubscribed by about 4:1).
- Submitted Applications: 2,062, overall: 78% motorcoaches (1608); 11% school bus (226); 10% passenger vessels (206); and less than 1% pilotage (22)
- Roughly 1,500 applications were “approved”; and 1,300 companies have been sent grant agreements so far. Once reviewed and a determination of eligibility is made on the remaining applications, the successful grantees will receive notices and grant agreements. Treasury expects to complete the remaining reviews within 3-4 weeks.
If you have questions about your grant agreement or the status of your applications, you can contact Treasury at (877) 398-5862 or email CERTS@treasury.gov.
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Motorcoach Professional Awards Submissions |
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The annual Motorcoach Professional Awards honors employees that demonstrate excellence and professionalism in the industry. The deadline is quickly approaching, September 1st.
This is a great way to honor those who are stand-outs at your company. Award recipients receive gifts, giveaways and recognition in front of their peers and friends.
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Group Leader Marketplace Registration |
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GNJMA is hosting the return of its annual Marketplace and Group Leader Appreciation Day on October 7 at Resorts AC in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Marketplace, one of the largest such events in the East, is returning after the annual event had to be canceled last year due to pandemic restrictions. Deadline is September 1st. Reserve a booth today!.
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Bridgestone America Acquiring Azuga |
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GNJMA Member, Bridgestone Americas is acquiring Azuga Holdings Inc., a fleet management software provider, for $391M to improve fleet safety.
Azuga has developed a fleet management platform with GPS tracking and accident reduction services to improve road safety and reduce fuel consumption and vehicle wear and tear. Bridgestone Corp. plans to leverage Azuga's robust fleet data capture platform to advance the development of Bridgestone core tire products and AI solutions. Read more...
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A Word About Atlantic City Parking |
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GNJMA members receive special pricing for parking in Atlantic City. We recently had to work through some kinks with new management. These issues have been resolved. We are still parking at the New York Avenue lot. Previously, it was communicated that this location would be changing. It has not changed yet. If you have any issues, please contact Pattie Cowley to alert her. Thank you!
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- At a recent UMA Town Hall, FMCSA's Loretta Bitner Shares Update With Operators: In Spring 2020, the FMCSA allowed bus and motorcoach operators to voluntarily revoke their operating authority to reduce costs as their revenues plummeted during the pandemic. "Now that people are starting to get back to work and things are picking up, you may want to renew that operating authority," said FMCSA's Loretta Bitner, adding that the reinstatement fee can be waived for passenger carriers that voluntarily revoked their authority.
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Register for Upcoming GNJMA Events |
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Atlantic City Coalition Build - Online Briefing August 26 |
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Join GNJMA and Busing on the Lookout on August 26, 2021, for a virtual 90-minute briefing on commercial sexual exploitation and find out how the casino, transit, and bus industries can partner with law enforcement to help end human trafficking in Atlantic City.
The goal is to get as many casino and bus reps to attend this very important meeting.
The following GNJMA members are already registered: Caesars Casino Hotel, Harrah's, Resorts Casino Hotel, Tropicana Casino. Get details and register today!
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Register for GNJMA Annual Fall Events!
We hope you can join us October 6-7, 2021 at Resorts in Atlantic City! Ready to Register? Click on the links below...
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Northeast State & Regional Association Joint Meeting
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GNJMA members have been invited to join several northeastern motorcoach associations at a joint meeting in Massachusetts on September 9th.
The associations involved are Connecticut Bus Association (CBA), New England Bus Association (NEBA), Pennsylvania Bus Association (PBA), Bus Association of New York (BANY), Mass Bus, and us.
Registration for our operator member is $25.00. Hope to see you there!
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Reminder of General Industry Events |
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Brake Safety Week Set for August 22-28 |
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During Brake Safety Week, commercial motor vehicle inspectors emphasize the importance of brake systems by conducting inspections and removing commercial motor vehicles found to have brake-related out-of-service violations from our roadways. At the same time, many motor carriers work to educate their drivers and maintenance service providers on the importance of brake system safety. Get more information.
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New Jersey Historic Bus Festival September 18 |
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Get featured and get some FREE Marketing! Share with us your story, any special news, such as company anniversaries, etc. Each Monday, we send an email to our entire membership and post to our website and social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn) using the hashtag #MemberMondays, along with your company's social medial handles.
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Member Alerts are sent out to our Members as needed. Here is a sampling of what has been sent recently:
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Stay Up-to-Date on the Benefits of Membership
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Login to the GNJMA Member Portal and review all the benefits through your GNJMA Membership! You can also make changes to your member records there, too. Contact us for help with logging in or navigating the site.
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Stay Connected!
GNJMA maintains active Social Media platforms. In addition to the emailed communications we send to you, we share information to our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. We encourage you to LIKE US, FOLLOW US, and ENGAGE with us! #gnjma
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