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Promoting and Advancing Petroleum Marketing, Retail Grocery, and Convenience Stores in West Virginia

Driving Local Business and Community Growth Across West Virginia

Our Purpose and Commitment

OMEGA is a West Virginia-based organization dedicated to supporting and advancing the business interests of the state’s petroleum marketing, retail grocery, and convenience store industries.

As a network of over 225 locally owned businesses, OMEGA actively promotes cooperation, advocates for favorable legislation, and provides education and resources to its members. With over 50,000 employees, OMEGA members significantly contribute to the state’s economy, generating more than 10% of all state taxes and supporting local communities through scholarships, charitable donations, and civic involvement.

OMEGA is committed to fostering industry growth while serving West Virginians with essential services like fuel, food, and convenience.

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Join a Community that Champions, Connects, and Elevates!

Your Essential Connection in West Virginia

OMEGA offers three types of membership: Convenience Store Members, Petroleum Marketer Members, and Grocer Members, all of which play a vital role in providing fuel, food, and essentials across West Virginia. As a liaison with state and national agencies, OMEGA works closely with organizations like NACS, PMAA, FMI, and the N.G.A. to advocate on behalf of its members.

We keep members informed through newsletters, legislative updates, an online resource hub, and educational seminars. Additional member benefits include access to the Encova Workers’ Compensation Discount Program and participation in our annual Trade Expo and fundraising efforts for children’s charities. OMEGA is here to support, advocate, and enhance the success of our industry members.

Connecting with others through communication is a hallmark of Gary Cottingham’s managerial style. His nominators cite his authentic communications that combine the big picture, effective storytelling and encouragement of feedback.

<div> <p paraid="1576037094" paraeid="{59d0d7bc-74d5-4d8d-a6d1-78b2b6033ff4}{160}"><strong>Category&nbsp;B:&nbsp;Gary Cottingham <br /> The GIANT Company, Chambersburg, PA&nbsp;</strong></p> </div> <div> <p paraid="147997818" paraeid="{59d0d7bc-74d5-4d8d-a6d1-78b2b6033ff4}{190}">It&rsquo;s&nbsp;fitting that Gary Cottingham is a youth baseball coach who helped his team win a state championship. This store manager&nbsp;understands the importance of being a team player, keeping your eye on the ball, seeing&nbsp;opportunities&nbsp;to take a new&nbsp;base and&nbsp;strategically&nbsp;calling&nbsp;plays&nbsp;to score points and win, whether it&rsquo;s by a bunt or grand slam.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5 paraid="348020794" paraeid="{59d0d7bc-74d5-4d8d-a6d1-78b2b6033ff4}{216}">A Winning Momentum</h5> <p paraid="348020794" paraeid="{59d0d7bc-74d5-4d8d-a6d1-78b2b6033ff4}{216}">At the helm of a store in Chambersburg, PA,&nbsp;Cottingham&nbsp;and his team hit 7.9%&nbsp;comparative&nbsp;sales growth in 2019&nbsp;while also driving item&nbsp;growth&nbsp;by 5.2% and&nbsp;customer growth by 5.4%.&nbsp;Also last year,&nbsp;his&nbsp;store&nbsp;knocked&nbsp;it&nbsp;out of the park with a record sales week&nbsp;in produce, seafood,&nbsp;beer&nbsp;and wine,&nbsp;floral&nbsp;and&nbsp;pharmacy&nbsp;and&nbsp;double-digit&nbsp;comparable sales improvements in&nbsp;deli, bakery and floral.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="1675217879" paraeid="{d7289cf5-478b-4d6d-a35e-ad65950674b7}{35}"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/image-1-giant-direct-launch-3.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=10d9defd_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="image-1-giant-direct-launch-3" title="image-1-giant-direct-launch-3" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" />Continuing&nbsp;the winning&nbsp;momentum, he&nbsp;has&nbsp;led the company in&nbsp;customer&nbsp;count, total&nbsp;sales&nbsp;and percentage of store sales for the new&nbsp;GIANT DIRECT&nbsp;service&nbsp;that allows customers&nbsp;to shop online for pickup or delivery.&nbsp;He is one of&nbsp;those&nbsp;store managers&nbsp;who&nbsp;loads&nbsp;groceries&nbsp;into your car,&nbsp;gives&nbsp;your kids an&nbsp;apple&nbsp;or&nbsp;banana while&nbsp;they wait&nbsp;with you&nbsp;and&nbsp;tucks in a note from the store team into a&nbsp;small&nbsp;token&nbsp;gift.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <h5 paraid="204650661" paraeid="{d7289cf5-478b-4d6d-a35e-ad65950674b7}{127}">A Hallmark Managerial Style</h5> <p paraid="204650661" paraeid="{d7289cf5-478b-4d6d-a35e-ad65950674b7}{127}">Connecting with others through communication is a hallmark of Cottingham&rsquo;s managerial style.&nbsp;His&nbsp;nominators&nbsp;cite his authentic&nbsp;communications&nbsp;that combine the big&nbsp;picture,&nbsp;effective&nbsp;storytelling&nbsp;and&nbsp;encouragement&nbsp;of feedback.&nbsp;In customer&nbsp;interactions,&nbsp;Cottingham turns any&nbsp;negative&nbsp;feedback that his store receives &ndash; and such&nbsp;complaints&nbsp;are&nbsp;infrequent&nbsp;&ndash; into an&nbsp;opportunity&nbsp;to talk with&nbsp;shoppers&nbsp;and resolve their issues, preferably in person.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="843295137" paraeid="{d7289cf5-478b-4d6d-a35e-ad65950674b7}{187}"><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/image-3-pulse-meeting-with-team.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=3af3755b_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="image-3-pulse-meeting-with-team" title="image-3-pulse-meeting-with-team" style="float: left; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" />Meanwhile, through&nbsp;weekly&nbsp;meetings&nbsp;with the store&rsquo;s leadership team, which often include team-building exercises, he drives action through collaboration.&nbsp;He&nbsp;created a store newsletter&nbsp;that outlines important information and transparency, resulting in an&nbsp;above-average total&nbsp;store&nbsp;engagement&nbsp;of 80&nbsp;%. Moreover, 94% of his staff&nbsp;reported&nbsp;that they have a clear&nbsp;understanding&nbsp;of company&nbsp;objectives.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="1529391513" paraeid="{d7289cf5-478b-4d6d-a35e-ad65950674b7}{245}">He has been recognized for his results and skills.&nbsp;His peers&nbsp;chose him to serve as the lead for the&nbsp;company&rsquo;s&nbsp;Store&nbsp;Managers&nbsp;Council, where he leads a team of high-performing&nbsp;store managers&nbsp;to help solve&nbsp;challenges&nbsp;and effect change. In addition, he&nbsp;is&nbsp;a key-carrier trainer for new&nbsp;hourly&nbsp;team members&nbsp;interested in&nbsp;having total store&nbsp;responsibility.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="881291262" paraeid="{657d5ad8-faeb-45e4-bb10-33c5bfac6eee}{48}">Diversity&nbsp;initiatives&nbsp;are important to Cottingham, who serves on a new&nbsp;business&nbsp;resource group&nbsp;for team members&nbsp;called MOSAIC.&nbsp;&nbsp;His&nbsp;priorities&nbsp;extend&nbsp;to&nbsp;the community, where&nbsp;he&nbsp;served&nbsp;as&nbsp;vice&nbsp;president&nbsp;of the National Black MBA in&nbsp;Harrisburg&nbsp;and&nbsp;has&nbsp;coordinated&nbsp;programs and&nbsp;scholarship&nbsp;opportunities&nbsp;for&nbsp;teens and&nbsp;young adults. He also led the&nbsp;revamp&nbsp;of a park in an inner-city Harrisburg&nbsp;neighborhood&nbsp;with 500&nbsp;community&nbsp;volunteers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="123417318" paraeid="{657d5ad8-faeb-45e4-bb10-33c5bfac6eee}{136}">You might say that&nbsp;Cottingham&nbsp;steps up to the plate&nbsp;every&nbsp;day&nbsp;with a winning attitude.&nbsp;</p> </div> <div> <p paraid="1356945683" paraeid="{657d5ad8-faeb-45e4-bb10-33c5bfac6eee}{162}"><menu><span style="font-size: 24px;">&ldquo;Passionate, purposeful, empathetic, strategic, and inspirational are just a few words that Gary Cottingham embodies. Gary approaches every day with the expectation that he will achieve greatness through his team.&rdquo;&nbsp;</span></menu></p> </div>

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Supporting West Virginia Communities

OMEGA members play a vital role in West Virginia, supporting communities through substantial tax contributions and a wide-reaching presence across the state. With over 55% of the population living in border counties, our members are dedicated to serving both local and regional needs. Beyond business, we’re proud to give back, having contributed over $3.1 million to children’s charities since 2003, reflecting our commitment to making a positive difference.

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OMEGA Members Receive a 3.4% discount

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