Successful companies invest in the education and excellence of their employees. Over the years NACS has helped its members recognize and develop future convenience retail leaders through the NACS Scholarship and the NACS Internship Programs.
The Convenience Store Foundation for Education & Research is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides educational opportunities for the convenience and fuel retailing industry.
NACS has established an internship program honoring former NACS staffer, Teri Richman, to perpetuate her passion for growing young talent, exploring new ideas and bettering the industry.
Richman joined NACS in 1982 as its first in-house federal lobbyist and played a critical role growing not just NACS' advocacy efforts, but also reshaping and growing the industry's research and technology base. Over the course of her 20-plus years at NACS, she was involved in nearly every major industry issue and initiative, from defeating beer-gas bans in the mid-1980s, to improving store security in the late 1980s and early 1990s, to introducing technology standards in the mid-1990s, to fighting outrageous credit card fees with the founding of the Merchants Payments Coalition in 2005. Richman died in December 2009 at the age of 54 after a long battle with cancer.
Many of the current leaders of the convenience store industry got their start at the store level. Through hard work and commitment to learning, these individuals followed the career paths of the industry to positions of senior leadership. The NACS Scholarship in memory of Jim Yates and David Erickson was created to recognize and to support industry employees who demonstrate the potential and the determination to someday hold positions of senior leadership in the industry. Click here for more information or to apply for the NACS Scholarship in Memory of Jim Yates and David Erickson.