Jeff Lenard is vice president of industry advocacy for NACS (National Association of Convenience Stores). As lead spokesperson for the association, he conducts hundreds of interviews each year with the media about motor fuels sales, trends or new products and innovations at the nation’s 149,000-plus convenience stores. Lenard also annually conducts media training sessions to share tips and techniques with industry executives. He has appeared numerous times on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC, BBC and the network morning and evening news programs.
Convenience stores sell the majority of gasoline purchased in the country — approximately 80 percent of all fuel sold in the United States. In 2012, U.S. convenience stores had $700 billion in sales – more than the sales of the country’s restaurants ($665 billion) or supermarkets ($584 billion – 2011 data) and far greater than drug stores ($222 billion – 2011 data, not including prescriptions). Overall, convenience store sales in 2012 were one out of every 22 dollars of the entire $15.66 trillion U.S. gross domestic product.
Prior to joining NACS in 1999, Lenard served as manager of communications and marketing for the Washington, D.C.-based Petroleum Technology Transfer Council. He also served communications positions in New York City for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Lenard earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A. in marketing from Syracuse University.
