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NMA Leadership Meets with ABC Supervising Agent in Charge Melissa Ryan
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Rony Georges, Arkan Somo, Basil Zetouna, Firas Soro, Tony Konja, Melissa Ryan, Molly Sylvester, Marlon Oram Mansour, Sam Attisha, Steve Mattia, Wisam Moshe
n November of 2021, the Neighborhood Market
Association’s Board of Directors held a special meeting with Department of Alcoholic Beverage
Control’s (ABC) Supervising Agent in Charge Ms. Melissa Ryan. This meeting had many purposes: to introduce the ABC to the new NMA leadership, to discuss issues facing NMA members, and to learn about new focuses of the ABC. The NMA’s leadership expresses their utmost gratitude to Ms. Ryan and ABC staff for their continued commitment to work with the NMA, educating retailers with updates in legislation and departmental rules that help keep retailers compliant with laws and our communities safe. Ms. Ryan highlighted the importance of continuing to protect communities through education and by administering preventive programs that comply with California’s alcoholic beverage laws. Keeping communities safe is a collaborative effort that involves everyone. One of the many issues discussed during the meeting were the proactive involvement of ABC towards
Ilicensees in areas of compliance. We addressed the challenges small businesses face when competing with larger chain retailers in overly aggressive pricing. The question of to-go cocktails and mixed drinks delivery and how it would affect small businesses was discussed. Also, the NMA Board brought up issues of online third-party delivery services with regards to potential issues of youth access to alcohol products. Ms. Ryan wanted to stress one major point to NMA retailers: for the sale of alcohol online, retailers MUST ship from their licensed premises. They cannot ship the alcohol from their non-licensed warehouses. The NMA truly appreciates the time taken by the ABC leadership to address the issues our members regularly face. The meeting was very helpful, and the NMA Board was extremely pleased with the information provided to help NMA members comply with the law. Not only will the NMA Board apply what we've learned to our own businesses, we will also ensure that our members are well informed for their businesses as well.
