Training and other services for alcohol and tobacco retailers

Click here for the 2010 Retailer Training Schedule

Why take the training?

Alcohol and tobacco retailers need and want to avoid selling their product to underage patrons and others that may misuse the product because:

-it can be dangerous for the patron

-it can put the store at risk for fines and other penalties

-retailers want to do the right thing.

HCCA promotes and supports the implementation of these services to help retailers create and enforce safe sales practices:

Alcohol Retailer Training for Stores (Off-Premise Retailers) Registration and Bars and Restaurants (On-Premise Retailers) Registration:  A four hour state certified training is offered periodically in southern Kennebec County to managers and clerks of local businesses that addresses the following topics:

  • Identifying minors and VIPs
  • Intervention to prevent a visibly intoxicated patron from driving
  • How alcohol is ingested and metabolized by the body
  • What alcoholism is and how alcohol affects the body
  • False ID detection and carding policy
  • The importance of good written policies
  • The Liquor Liability Act

HCCA staff people schedule, register participants for, and provide on-site support for these regular events.

The CARD ME Program:  A self guided assessment and action-planning manual for store managers who want to identify ways to strengthen policies and practices that support legal sales of alcohol.  Managers are provided, face-to-face, a brief overview of the manual and the self-assessment process.  Managers then, on their own, determine the areas of policy and practice that they want to change.  In a follow-up conversation with the CARD ME representative, the manager identifies any ways in which they used the manual and the process to change policy and/or practice.

An optional Mystery Shopper service is available to managers who would like a CARD ME program representative to attempt the purchase tobacco or alcohol.  The Mystery Shopper assesses compliance with the store's purchasing policies, and reports out to the clerk and the manager whether or not policy was adhered to.  Note:  this component will be added to the program in the Spring, 2009

HCCA staff people provide on-site support to stores that want to participate in this program.  Contact Neill Miner to request this service.

 

The NO BUTS! Program:  A comprehensive approach to avoiding the sale of tobacco products to minors, including model policies, staff training materials, signs and handouts to educate the public about the law and store practices.  Instructional materials provide a clear, step by step process for establishing, and documenting compliance with the program.

Retailers that participate in the NO-BUTS! program can earn compliance credits that can reduce the severity of penalties assessed for violations of state law related to tobacco sales.  This is an important incentive to participate in this program, since there is regular, state-wide assessment of store compliance.  To order materials and get started using the No BUTS! Program, click here.

HCCA staff people provide information on-site to stores that want to participate in this program.  Contact Neill Miner to request this service.


Our local service area includes: Augusta, Chelsea, Farmingdale, Fayette, Gardiner, Hallowell, Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, Mount Vernon, Pittston, Randolph, Readfield, Richmond, Vienna, Wayne, West Gardiner, Windsor, Winthrop.

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