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TOBACCO BUSINESS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
electric
ALLEY
at press time—about how to talk to
their congressional and senatorial
representatives in a way that would
most benefit their business and the e-cig
industry moving forward.
“We told them to leave regulatory
discussion out, but rather, explain their
business case: what they need to grow
their business, what’s important in their
area/state, the economic impact of their
business including how many people they
employ, how many buildings they bought
or own, how an increase in taxes might
negatively affect them, and anything that
adds to the economic environment around
them,”Cabrera explains. “We teach them
to convey the business in the language
[that] legislators and staffers need to hear
it in so they can take the action to help
those businesses. It’s basically a personal
touch, but quantified—legislators need
our member businesses to be broken
down into numbers.”
While this will be the first Washington
fly-in for SFATA, it is not intended to be
the last. “If the e-cig arena continues to
be as heated as it is, we will probably do
another one in February or March,” says
Cabrera. She envisions doing them twice
a year moving forward.
Cabrera reports that SFATA is “making
great strides” and is “much farther along
than we even hoped to be by now,”with a
wide range of industry support and e-cig
businesses from all sectors—retailers,
distributors, importers and even some
manufacturers—all reaching out for
information. In fact, this is exactly why
SFATA was formed.
“When SFATA was conceived, it was
because there was such diversity in the
marketplace and there wasn’t anybody
advocating for the industry as a whole,”
explains Cabrera.
Eventually, when it comes time for
SFATA to make its regulatory voice
heard, it will not be one that is irrational
or against e-cig regulation entirely.
“We need to preserve this industry
and the businesses that are part of this
industry,” Cabrera says. “We’re fighting
for reasonable regulation that doesn’t
restrict access and innovation. We’re very
level-headed over here.”
TB
“We’re
fighting
for
reasonable
regulation that
doesn’t
restrict
access and
innovation
.”
