Speaker 1: It's Nightside with Dan Ray on WVZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Dan Watkins. Boy, that temperature is really plummeting.
Speaker 2: We have lost like eight degrees since the sun went down.
Speaker 2: Whoa baby? Actually not at ninety two degrees at nineh
Speaker 2: eight at night. Let me tell you tough, tough, tough. Okay,
Speaker 2: tell you something else that is tough. There was a
Speaker 2: contract given out by the Conwealth of Massachusetts, actually by
Speaker 2: the I guess the Transportation Board. We'll get the specifics.
Speaker 2: Joining me is Eric slip Cup. He's the president and
Speaker 2: CEO of a big important Massachusetts company called Global Partners.
Speaker 2: It's a fortune five hundred company, might even be a
Speaker 2: little bit bigger than that. Eric Slifko, Welcome to Nightside.
Speaker 2: How are you, sir?
Speaker 3: Good Dan, how are you well.
Speaker 2: I'm probably not as upset as you are, but I'm
Speaker 2: a little concerned about this, which is why I've asked
Speaker 2: you to join us tonight. First of all, Global Partners,
Speaker 2: your Fortune five hundred company, that's a big deal. I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't how many Fortune five hundred companies we have
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts, but you're one of the bigger companies here
Speaker 2: in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Correct, correct, and we've been here Dan since nineteen thirty,
Speaker 3: not as a fortune five hundred company, but when my
Speaker 3: grandfather and grandmother started a storefront for retail home heating oil,
Speaker 3: and my dad went in the business in the fifties
Speaker 3: and a little later his brother came in. I came
Speaker 3: in the business in eighty seven, and my two sons
Speaker 3: se just joined the business in the last few years.
Speaker 3: So we're four generations here in Boston. It's where we
Speaker 3: have all grown up. It's where all our children are,
Speaker 3: it's where I went to school and Austin I call
Speaker 3: our home. Massachusetts is our place and it has always
Speaker 3: been our place.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Right now you're a wealthy and based company. As
Speaker 2: I understand that you're soon going to move to Newton.
Speaker 2: How many employees do you have? That's always an.
Speaker 3: Important number, you know, about a total about five thousand employees,
Speaker 3: about seventeen hundred in the state of Massachusetts. We spend
Speaker 3: over about one hundred and twenty five million in state
Speaker 3: taxes here and we're rooted here. And a lot of
Speaker 3: our business over time has grown and has gone into
Speaker 3: different states and different parts of the country, but we're
Speaker 3: rooted here.
Speaker 2: So when we think of you as a as an
Speaker 2: energy company. Is that still the backbone of the company,
Speaker 2: you know, selling energy products?
Speaker 3: It is just at the highest level. We have fifty
Speaker 3: four terminoals from Maine down to Florida and into Texas
Speaker 3: with about twenty two million barrels of storage capacity. We
Speaker 3: have seventeen hundred gas stations that we own, lease or supply.
Speaker 3: We currently have the Connecticut Turnpike and we operate the
Speaker 3: gas stations and convenience stores there as well as well
Speaker 3: as for the sites here in Massachusetts where we have
Speaker 3: full leases on them and the rest of the mass
Speaker 3: Turnpike as well, where we operate the gas and operate
Speaker 3: the sea stores there. And we have for probably about
Speaker 3: a decade or so. Over the last oh, I don't know,
Speaker 3: I'd say seven or eight years, we have created something
Speaker 3: called All Town Fresh and my dad, I'll be a
Speaker 3: little personal here, my dad had a heart attack. My
Speaker 3: grandfather had a heart attack. Food I think is important,
Speaker 3: and All Town Fresh we have created a very sort
Speaker 3: of clean food eco system where our guests can come
Speaker 3: in and enjoy healthier for you options. So if you've
Speaker 3: got your kids in the car, you can get the
Speaker 3: bad stuff. If you want it, but you can also
Speaker 3: get really clean, healthy food if that's your choice. Now
Speaker 3: we have go ahead. We have about and we have
Speaker 3: about three hundred UH SEA stores that we own and
Speaker 3: operate as well.
Speaker 2: What type of stores did you say.
Speaker 3: Sea stores and restaurants, convenience stores.
Speaker 2: And restore when you so, when you said sea stores,
Speaker 2: I wasn't. I was thinking, are we talking about the ocean? No?
Speaker 2: With so convenience stores?
Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, convenient Yeah, convenience. But but one of the
Speaker 3: things that we've started to do is over the last
Speaker 3: decade is put food into all of those locations and
Speaker 3: make sure that we're providing sort of the highest and
Speaker 3: best guest services that we possibly can.
Speaker 2: So you do you have UH stores and plazas on
Speaker 2: the Connecticut Turnpike, and you have four locations in Massachusetts.
Speaker 2: They're not on the pike, as I understand?
Speaker 4: That?
Speaker 2: Is that correct?
Speaker 5: Are they on that that? That is correct?
Speaker 3: So we're talking about twenty four and four five side yep,
Speaker 3: And then you're you're talking about Barnstable and you're also
Speaker 3: talking about Beverly as well.
Speaker 2: Okay, so no, none, nothing either on the pike or
Speaker 2: on one twenty.
Speaker 3: And on the Pike and on the pike, we actually
Speaker 3: operate the gas and we and we operate the convenience
Speaker 3: stores on the Turnpike as well. So currently where we're
Speaker 3: already there and you know, we're already there operating these sides.
Speaker 3: So there's it's a total eleven of them that we're
Speaker 3: we're in there and we're currently operating. Okay, so we
Speaker 3: have mixed yeah.
Speaker 2: Okay, I just I just think that I'm I don't
Speaker 2: to confuse people. So you have currently a presence on
Speaker 2: the pike both in terms of selling gas and food.
Speaker 2: Are you in all of the eleven plausas? I think
Speaker 2: there's eleven plazas on the pike? Is that correct?
Speaker 5: Correct? Correct?
Speaker 3: And those are the ones on the pike?
Speaker 2: Okay, great, okay, so you're you're in effect the incumbent
Speaker 2: on the pike.
Speaker 3: Well, there there is a master lease. McDonald's has a
Speaker 3: master release. So McDonald's has a master release and they
Speaker 3: and they chose us actually part way through because they
Speaker 3: had somebody there that left and they needed and they
Speaker 3: needed our assistance, and so we decided to operate the
Speaker 3: same thing happened those Barnstable, Beverly and the Bridgewater sites
Speaker 3: the same thing happened. There was an incumbent there, the
Speaker 3: incumbent left. It was if I if I can remember correctly,
Speaker 3: I think it was a Burger King franchisee who had
Speaker 3: won it, and they ended up giving up and we
Speaker 3: came in to bail out those locations for the state,
Speaker 3: and we've been running them for about seven years.
Speaker 2: Okay, so you've been a good citizen, You've been a
Speaker 2: great employer, a great Massachusetts company. I got to take
Speaker 2: a break. There has been now an opportunity for, as
Speaker 2: I understand it, a thirty five year lease for all
Speaker 2: the locations on the Turnpike. And just to set the stage,
Speaker 2: you appears to me, as I read the materials that
Speaker 2: you've sent, you had the most competitive bid, meaning the
Speaker 2: most competitive bid which would return the most benefit to
Speaker 2: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. And yet you have lost out
Speaker 2: on the selection process to a company not from New England,
Speaker 2: not from the United States, but from across the pond
Speaker 2: in Ireland. Which is why I'm having you on tonight
Speaker 2: because you have sent a very direct I might add,
Speaker 2: in a very well written letter to the Governor of Massachusetts,
Speaker 2: and we're going to talk about what your complaint is
Speaker 2: you feel at this point that this that this process
Speaker 2: has been unfair. Uh, and you're going to talk about it,
Speaker 2: and we're going to invite people to join the conversation
Speaker 2: as for the for the balance of this hour, I
Speaker 2: hope everybody will be willing to join in and chime
Speaker 2: in because this is one that I think the governor
Speaker 2: has to pay attention to. She's the only person who
Speaker 2: can turn this situation around. And this is a situation
Speaker 2: which is going to cost potentially cost Massachusetts revenue over
Speaker 2: the next thirty five years. You're actually ponying up or
Speaker 2: committing more funds than the company from Ireland, and yet
Speaker 2: they have been designated as the winner. Six one, seven, two, five,
Speaker 2: four ten, six seven. We're going to shine a spotlight
Speaker 2: here and you make the decisions. We're coming back with
Speaker 2: my guest, Eric Sliffler. He's the president sliff Cup, President
Speaker 2: and CEO of Global Partners, a big Massachusetts company that
Speaker 2: at this point has been pushed to the side. Back
Speaker 2: on Nightside right after these messages.
Speaker 1: It's Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news Radio.
Speaker 2: Eric, you sent this letter to the governor earlier? Was
Speaker 2: it earlier this week or last week. It was last Thursday, Okay,
Speaker 2: So so you know she's had hopefully a chance to
Speaker 2: see it. Whenever we talk about numbers on radio, it's
Speaker 2: very difficult. So why don't you explain to my to
Speaker 2: me and threw me to my audience, why your offer
Speaker 2: is my best offer for the state of Massachusetts. This
Speaker 2: is a thirty five year state contract that, as you're right,
Speaker 2: has been awarded to a foreign owned, private equity backed company,
Speaker 2: while a fourth generation Massachusetts based employer who are for
Speaker 2: the state, nearly nine hundred million more in guaranteed rent
Speaker 2: is passed over. Break it down first, Eric, This to
Speaker 2: me is astonishing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we think it's astonishing too. You know, honestly, I
Speaker 3: do not understand how the Mascot commissioners could land where
Speaker 3: they did. Now they have an RFP criteria.
Speaker 2: That RFP is a request for proposal, it's the invitation.
Speaker 2: Just so that again, I want my audience to follow this.
Speaker 2: So I don't mean to interrupt you, but I just
Speaker 2: want to make sure that you and I might understand that.
Speaker 2: But I want everyone in my audience to know that
Speaker 2: the state is obligated to send out a request for proposal.
Speaker 2: Anyone can apply. How many companies applied.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna guess for four, okay, fair.
Speaker 2: Enough, Okay. So it's not the type of project that
Speaker 2: every Tom, Dick and Harry who has a pickup truck
Speaker 2: can apply for. You've got to be a pretty substantial
Speaker 2: company to apply, and you got obviously qualify. Go ahead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And this is you know, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 3: this is a big deal. You know. One of the
Speaker 3: things too, that's a little bit more unique is we
Speaker 3: also have the terminals that supply these facilities as well,
Speaker 3: and we're also supplying those terminals cargoes and barges, and
Speaker 3: then we send it out by trucks to supply to
Speaker 3: apply each location. And I don't believe any of the
Speaker 3: other bidders actually own those assets in the markets to
Speaker 3: supply these assets.
Speaker 2: So essentially, I don't mean to interrupt here, but I
Speaker 2: just want to put it into language that everybody understood.
Speaker 2: You do this thing, as we would say, from soup
Speaker 2: to nuts, your whole shooting match.
Speaker 1: Go ahead, yep.
Speaker 3: Okay. So this is the eye popping number, Dan. We
Speaker 3: have a guaranteed rent number guaranteed can't be can't be
Speaker 3: any less of one point five billion dollars over the
Speaker 3: thirty five years. It's a lot of money our competitor,
Speaker 3: depending on how they count, because their bit is not firm,
Speaker 3: it's not guaranteed risk rent and it has risk associated
Speaker 3: with It could be six hundred and twenty three million
Speaker 3: on the low end and it could be nine hundred
Speaker 3: and ninety four million on the high end, but that's
Speaker 3: no guarantee. It's just in the range. So there's nothing
Speaker 3: firm on that. So what I would say to all
Speaker 3: the listeners, and this is the most important thing. You know,
Speaker 3: the state could be leaving one hundred million dollars on
Speaker 3: the table at a beer minimum, they're leaving five or
Speaker 3: six hundred million on the table. And given where we
Speaker 3: are today as a state and all of the priorities
Speaker 3: that we have, and look we're local, we do spend
Speaker 3: a lot of money on charity. We invest in the community.
Speaker 3: You know, our people here go to work every day
Speaker 3: to help others and not just spend money, but spend
Speaker 3: time in the field, building houses, doing all sorts of things.
Speaker 3: So we know that it's important for the state to
Speaker 3: have as much money as it possibly can. Well, here
Speaker 3: it is they've walked away for between five hundred and
Speaker 3: a billion dollars five hundred million and a billion dollars
Speaker 3: that could be used to do good in the state.
Speaker 3: Never mind, it could be used for transportation too. Right.
Speaker 2: This decision was made by what is called the Massachusetts
Speaker 2: Department of Transportation Board. Okay, So who appoints who? I
Speaker 2: don't need the names, but are these full time state employees?
Speaker 2: A are they, you know, political appointees who get designated
Speaker 2: to be on this board.
Speaker 3: They are appointed by the governor, and there is eleven
Speaker 3: board members, and they come from various places throughout the state.
Speaker 2: Okay, And you want to assume that they're legitimate and
Speaker 2: they're honest people, and I'm willing to make that assumption.
Speaker 2: But somehow, some way they did not get a clear
Speaker 2: I can't imagine if they had this clear view. Now
Speaker 2: you mentioned in the letter to the governor, I'm going
Speaker 2: to put it on you. You say this gap that
Speaker 2: you're just talking about, these numbers aren't close. This gap
Speaker 2: is astounding. Despite this, Mascot's chief developpment officer misled the
Speaker 2: mas DOT board by stated were very close. Now very close,
Speaker 2: of course, is a subjective judgment. It's like me saying
Speaker 2: the rid Sox are very close to winning the World Series.
Speaker 2: We will know whether they win the World Series or
Speaker 2: not sometime by the end of October. But I can
Speaker 2: say that's very close. I don't see how when there's
Speaker 2: a difference of a potentially nine hundred million dollars that
Speaker 2: that's very close. How could this chief Development officer come
Speaker 2: to that conclusion because I'm assuming, as the title would reflect,
Speaker 2: a chief Development officer understands financial development. That's what a
Speaker 2: chief development officer does.
Speaker 3: Yes, you would assume that that's what the development officer does.
Speaker 3: We had a meeting with the Development officer where he
Speaker 3: confused gallons and revenue and he had difficulty describing what
Speaker 3: they both meant to the state. And so he certainly
Speaker 3: is the one who led the meeting. We had a
Speaker 3: public meeting where we had three hundred people showed up
Speaker 3: on our behalf to support us and to get the message, yep,
Speaker 3: And to get the message and to get the message out.
Speaker 3: And even after we spoke for you know, people spoke
Speaker 3: for ninety minutes, many of them spoke in favor, and
Speaker 3: you know, the boards would have just went on It's
Speaker 3: merry way. I would you know what I would what
Speaker 3: I would hope for is I would strongly urge the
Speaker 3: mas DOT commissioners to look at this and to do
Speaker 3: what's right for the state, for the people of the commonwealth.
Speaker 3: You know, almost a billion dollars in thirty five years.
Speaker 3: What do we know is going to happen, that there's
Speaker 3: going to be an increase?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 3: And tophies right by example? Okay, well, here is almost
Speaker 3: a billion dollars that could have went to the roadways
Speaker 3: to keep those rates lower that are now going to
Speaker 3: have to Yeah, that are now going to have to
Speaker 3: be increased because of it. And so you know, I
Speaker 3: don't I don't think that they've done their job. I
Speaker 3: don't think they've represented the people of the commonwealth. I
Speaker 3: think they never provided us with a side by side
Speaker 3: comparison of our offer and apple Green's offer, and and
Speaker 3: and frankly, you know, to the board they didn't do
Speaker 3: that either, right, So I think that's uh. I think
Speaker 3: that's an egregious error. And and they only in the
Speaker 3: public meeting they only gave apple Green's numbers, right, they
Speaker 3: didn't say that.
Speaker 2: I see something in your letter which would which bothers
Speaker 2: me even more. You said that you wrote quote to
Speaker 2: make matters worse. When question by a board member about
Speaker 2: the reliability of your competitors' numbers Apple Green, this development
Speaker 2: officer opened his response stating he wanted to focus on
Speaker 2: the recommendation and not talk bad about the other bidders,
Speaker 2: and then he stated that he found the the numbers
Speaker 2: from Applegreen more reliable. How can he make such a
Speaker 2: decision that a set proposal is more reliable that theirs
Speaker 2: was more reliable than yours. You're the only company that
Speaker 2: operated convenience stores and fueling stations. You have all of
Speaker 2: this experience. This is you wrote a really good letter.
Speaker 2: So far, no response from the governor, I assume correct.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, we're operating locations today. Yeah, we're operating
Speaker 3: him in another state in Connecticut as well. This is
Speaker 3: our business, right, and we have lots of stations in Connecticut,
Speaker 3: and we have lots of stations in Massachusetts, you know,
Speaker 3: and so, but more importantly than that, the thing that
Speaker 3: hurts the most is we are local, and you know,
Speaker 3: and you know we chose and have partnered with Commonwealth Kitchen, Okay,
Speaker 3: Jen Fagel, and you know she supports these local entrepreneurs
Speaker 3: who I've been really fortunate enough to meet over time
Speaker 3: who want to do food and she helps to get
Speaker 3: them organized and support them on the way out the door.
Speaker 3: They have sixty five million dollars a year revenue there.
Speaker 3: I mean, this is a real business she's created. And
Speaker 3: because we're local Jen, who is by the way, an
Speaker 3: amazing person, we partnered with her because we knew this
Speaker 3: was best for the States. So, you know, there's a
Speaker 3: whole bunch of things here that don't feel right.
Speaker 2: Let me from Eric, let me do this because I'm
Speaker 2: into my newscast here, So let me let me give
Speaker 2: you a chance to breathe for a second. You've answered
Speaker 2: all my questions. I think that I think there. You know,
Speaker 2: there's a prime e facia case here, uh to to
Speaker 2: take another look and make sure make sure that everything
Speaker 2: adds up and then at a minimum, at a minimum,
Speaker 2: have the governor involved in this, and then have the
Speaker 2: board take a fresh look. Again. This is not like
Speaker 2: we're taking we're picking a company from New Hampshire, Connecticut.
Speaker 2: We're picking a company from another country, uh and another
Speaker 2: another continent. Actually, And I'm not here to hurt Applegreen.
Speaker 2: I'm here, Uh. I know nothing about their company. Uh,
Speaker 2: but but it seems to me that that on the surface,
Speaker 2: your numbers, and I've looked at the numbers that you've
Speaker 2: provided in this letter to the governor. She has to
Speaker 2: pay attention to the numbers. I can I can read numbers,
Speaker 2: and I can read letters, and I can read URRFPS.
Speaker 2: So let's let's open up phone lines. We'll go to
Speaker 2: phone lines, see what what the people in Massachusetts think.
Speaker 2: Six one, seven, two, five four thirty six one seven,
Speaker 2: nine three one thirty. My guest is the president and
Speaker 2: CEO of Global Partners, e Waltham based Massachusetts company, hundreds
Speaker 2: of employees here in Massachusetts, thousands of employees around the country.
Speaker 2: Eric Sliffcomb, the president and CEO, is my guest. You
Speaker 2: can ask him any question you want. Will be back
Speaker 2: on night Side right after this.
Speaker 1: Night Side with Dan Ray. I'MBZ Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2: My guest is Eric Slipcup, He's the president and CEO
Speaker 2: of Global Partners.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: We're going to go to phone calls and see what
Speaker 2: people have to say about this. I mean, you may
Speaker 2: look this as another deal, another Massachusetts deal, But I'm
Speaker 2: tired of this stuff and I want openness and I
Speaker 2: would like to see. Has the ever been an explanation
Speaker 2: given to you in writing that says, gee, thank you
Speaker 2: for your application, but we've decided to go in a
Speaker 2: different direction. We found that, uh, you know, your RFP
Speaker 2: was was lacking in this area. I mean, if if
Speaker 2: you applied to go to a college, or someone applies
Speaker 2: to go to goes to a college, they have a
Speaker 2: sense of what their their board scores are. If you
Speaker 2: if you're applying for a job, you have a sense
Speaker 2: of how qualified you are. You're extraordinarily qualifying, and your
Speaker 2: numbers I think pretty clearly more advantageous to come Wealth
Speaker 2: of Massachusetts. No one ever came to and said, you know,
Speaker 2: we've got a problem with with how you've handled things
Speaker 2: in the past. There's no explanation here. It's just they win,
Speaker 2: you lose.
Speaker 3: That's you know that, said Dan. I mean at the
Speaker 3: public meeting, we stated our case given the information that
Speaker 3: they had had let out, but shorder of that, they
Speaker 3: simply took a vote. It almost didn't matter that the
Speaker 3: numbers were a billion dollars and they sat up there,
Speaker 3: took a vote, all gave a vote and went with
Speaker 3: apple Green.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 3: Plain and simple. That's all. Nothing else, right, they'll.
Speaker 2: Go they've gone that way. Let's see what Let's see
Speaker 2: what the the listeners think here. They're they're the most
Speaker 2: important constituency that I have. Let's go. First off, Uh
Speaker 2: going to go to Peabody and we're going to talk
Speaker 2: with Sal in pvty. Sal you were first up this
Speaker 2: hour with Eric Slifka, President and CEO of Global Partners.
Speaker 5: Go ahead, Sal, Hey, Dan, how you doing? I'm doing
Speaker 5: this is yeah, a long time listener, Thank you very much.
Speaker 5: You know what what is really happening here? It makes
Speaker 5: no sense at all. So I'm listening to this guy,
Speaker 5: Mike Irvin. He's excellent, by the way, on critical issues.
Speaker 5: And he said the guy running the meeting didn't even
Speaker 5: know the difference between gallons and dollars.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm not sure. I'm not sure who Mike
Speaker 2: urban is. First of all, the person who's my guest
Speaker 2: is Eric Slifka, President and CEO of Global.
Speaker 5: This guy, Mike, does you know he talks about critical
Speaker 5: issues impacting us as?
Speaker 2: Uh? Who is he? I have no idea If you
Speaker 2: want to tell.
Speaker 5: Me anyway, I don't. He's got like a YouTube channel.
Speaker 2: Oh well, if he's got a YouTube channel, Look, do
Speaker 2: me a favorite. And I'm being on a cell. I
Speaker 2: have no idea who he is. If you said to
Speaker 2: me Roger Clements said this, I at least would know
Speaker 2: who Roger Clemens would be, probably if Roger's talking about baseball.
Speaker 2: But I don't know who this fellow is. So let's
Speaker 2: just let's get the response to your comment from the
Speaker 2: fellow who's in the midst of this and I think
Speaker 2: knows a lot about it, Eric slifk, Eric, go right ahead.
Speaker 3: So so Sal, good to meet you, Thanks for calling in. Look,
Speaker 3: it's it's a billion dollars, uh more than what their
Speaker 3: alternative that they chose is. And that's the problem, right,
Speaker 3: And and they've I think they've completely shirked their responsibilities
Speaker 3: and they did not go with the company that throughout
Speaker 3: that request for proposal the five areas. You know, we
Speaker 3: we shined in every one of those areas. We we
Speaker 3: scored great and but they haven't told us, and they
Speaker 3: haven't told us why, and so we don't know other
Speaker 3: than the dollars or a billion dollars off that's huge money, huge, absolutely.
Speaker 2: Well, Sal, I appreciate you, cal If you talked to
Speaker 2: Mike the fellow you mentioned, tell that. Dan Ray says, along, Okay, I.
Speaker 5: Will I will do that. No, thanks you very much,
Speaker 5: thanks for having me. I appreciate it, and you know,
Speaker 5: I really it really would be nice for the state
Speaker 5: to come clean on this, and uh again, be nice
Speaker 5: for that.
Speaker 2: It would be nice for the state to come clean
Speaker 2: on this and come clean on everything. We need more transparency.
Speaker 2: This is what ton Ton the government has always talked
Speaker 2: about transparency, explained to us.
Speaker 5: If there's a reason she had Dan no real quick.
Speaker 5: Didn't she run on transparency.
Speaker 2: Amongst other things? Yeah? Absolutely. Everybody says I'll be the
Speaker 2: most transparent whatever, and then when they get in into office,
Speaker 2: it's tough to find them. You ever buyd fight.
Speaker 5: Its driving me crazy. But anyway, look, I'll let you
Speaker 5: guys go. Let's see what you called. I appreciate it.
Speaker 5: Thanks you, great night, Thanks sir.
Speaker 2: All right, six ten thirty. I got a couple of
Speaker 2: lines at six one, seven, nine thirty if you want
Speaker 2: to get in. We got to take a quick break here,
Speaker 2: coming right back on night Side.
Speaker 1: You're on night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2: All right back to the phones, were go going to
Speaker 2: talk with law and in Atedinburgh. Lauren, you're next on
Speaker 2: Nightside with Eric Slifka, the president and CEO of Global Partners.
Speaker 6: Go ahead, Lauren, Hi, thanks for taking my call.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know where Lauren went here, Rob, She
Speaker 2: must have probably pushed the button wrong. So we'll come
Speaker 2: back to Lauren in a moment, and let's go to
Speaker 2: Phil in Boston. Phil, you're next on Nightside. Phil. Right ahead,
Speaker 2: How you.
Speaker 4: Doing the holdings above my pay grade? The bottom line
Speaker 4: is this wasn't a mass pike supposed to be free.
Speaker 4: After all the bills are played off.
Speaker 2: That's that's a pride that goes back to the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 2: I think so and bill Well. Bill Well did a
Speaker 2: lot of that. He took down tolls for you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he tried, Yeah, yeah, Dann this I got there.
Speaker 4: I'm like this, this fella, I don't know the guy.
Speaker 4: He's the guy. I apparently he's educated, he's lived here,
Speaker 4: whose whole life. He can probably just spart a cloudlessky
Speaker 4: and no one is gonna snow out and he'll be
Speaker 4: he'll be order an extra rock iceerers for the guys
Speaker 4: that come in there, I mean, and they gut why
Speaker 4: why don't these people get together, okay, and transparency, transparency
Speaker 4: and send them to island for a few days, over
Speaker 4: the country years and see what they do. How do
Speaker 4: they operate? Are they good? Are they good? If this
Speaker 4: guy's going go to what and it's going on one
Speaker 4: of his facilities that are operating somewhere while we go
Speaker 4: over there. And then you mentioned the graand versus the
Speaker 4: pound or the mead, they're gonna be a different systems.
Speaker 4: They're gonna be a needed and a European dollar, English
Speaker 4: dollar versus.
Speaker 2: Do Sorry, well, Phil, I think you raised points. And
Speaker 2: again sometimes I think if it's a close call, the
Speaker 2: home team should have the advantage, of course, okay, And
Speaker 2: this to me isn't a close call, and the home
Speaker 2: steam is still getting the short end of the stick apparently,
Speaker 2: so you know. And by the way, if someone from
Speaker 2: Apple Green wants to come on and discuss it with
Speaker 2: me tomorrow, they're more than welcome. I just hope the
Speaker 2: governor takes a good, hard, honest look at this. And
Speaker 2: I don't think that's too much to ask just.
Speaker 4: To make a shop if I leave, if it's almost
Speaker 4: like going to a pizza shop and they say well,
Speaker 4: do you want to cook pizza or do you want
Speaker 4: the cold pizza? If you got to ring on a freeze,
Speaker 4: well let me you can take the frozen pizza. That'll
Speaker 4: be good for me. Had more money, get the cook piza.
Speaker 4: I mean, come on, all right, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2: All right, all right, I'll let you right, okay, Well.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank Hey, Hey Dan, Yes, right ahead, Hey Dan,
Speaker 3: I just want to point one thing out. You know,
Speaker 3: following on Apple Green's history. You know, Apple Green had
Speaker 3: won the State of New York's Turnpike bed. Okay, they
Speaker 3: had a two hundred and sixty million dollars over on
Speaker 3: fifty eight percent of the total project cost, and they
Speaker 3: acts the task payers to bail them out in New York.
Speaker 3: So that's that's their history of the most recent deal
Speaker 3: that they've done.
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, and look, and you can.
Speaker 3: Have problems, but fifty eight percent, yeah, overrun, that's like unbelievable.
Speaker 2: Let me keep rolling here, Okay, let me go to
Speaker 2: Ruby in Foxborough. Ruby, you are next on Nightside with
Speaker 2: my guest Eric.
Speaker 6: Thank you for taking my Callome. I want to thank you, Dan.
Speaker 6: I want to sut what this is slipped I said
Speaker 6: earlier It's like, this is a company that's been around
Speaker 6: for four generations, nearly one hundred years. They're very local.
Speaker 6: I frequent the All Town Fresh in Easton, and not
Speaker 6: only for the great food, fresh food, but they also
Speaker 6: it's a wonderful place to be and they're also extremely charitable.
Speaker 6: This family and this company has done so much. And
Speaker 6: you know that because when you're in the store, they're
Speaker 6: donating food to the food pantry, they're having coffee with cops.
Speaker 6: They host the community, you can get gift cards for
Speaker 6: your kids hockey games. The thing is, the sense that
Speaker 6: I get is that they meet the people where they're at.
Speaker 6: So they're generous on the big scale, which we know
Speaker 6: and because they're one of the most generous companies in
Speaker 6: the state, but they're also generous at the local level.
Speaker 6: They meet the people where they're at. They take care
Speaker 6: of everybody in the community, and that's what brings people together.
Speaker 6: And I think that's important, this kindness, this especially now
Speaker 6: more than ever, I think this matters. And I don't
Speaker 6: know if you could put, you know, quantify that in
Speaker 6: this process, but I think it's worth noting and it's
Speaker 6: a huge factor.
Speaker 2: And and again, their bid according to the numbers that
Speaker 2: I've looked at. Uh. Not only is the competitive bid,
Speaker 2: is the best bid in terms of Massachusetts and they
Speaker 2: have experienced So Ruby is a tough one. This is
Speaker 2: a tough one to understand.
Speaker 6: And they and I know people who have received free
Speaker 6: home heating oil. So they take what they have and
Speaker 6: then they give it away and they donate it and
Speaker 6: they take care of their communities. And I really think
Speaker 6: the governor is making a giant mistake because here's a
Speaker 6: local company that's taking care of its neighbors. You have
Speaker 6: somebody coming in who wins a bid from a foreign country.
Speaker 6: They don't know the people, and this company knows the community,
Speaker 6: it knows everybody.
Speaker 2: Ruby made You made the points, you made them well.
Speaker 2: But I got to grab one of the call here
Speaker 2: before before the hour is over.
Speaker 6: Thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2: Thank you, good night. Let me go to Ruth. Ruth,
Speaker 2: go right ahead.
Speaker 7: Hi, Eric, my name is Ruth, and first I want
Speaker 7: to express my condolences on the loss of your uncle.
Speaker 7: And really my call is to echo what Ruby said.
Speaker 7: This is one of the most philanthropic families in the state,
Speaker 7: and they do good and they never say no, and
Speaker 7: and it's also a fourth generation company, so they know
Speaker 7: what they're doing. So I just like my purpose of
Speaker 7: calling was to say what Ruby said, but I'm just
Speaker 7: echoing it.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. I appreciate that, Ruth,
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Let me get one, Thank you, Ruth.
Speaker 2: One more call in here if I can. John and Marshfield,
Speaker 2: you're under the wire. I give you about twenty seconds.
Speaker 8: Go ahead, John, Okay, Dan, how you doing it? Listen? Eric,
Speaker 8: I feel your pain because I am a taxpayer in
Speaker 8: Massachusetts and my thought on this would be this is
Speaker 8: kind of what you get when you have a one
Speaker 8: party system in our states. So I hope the governor's
Speaker 8: paying attention. But she wasn't paying attention with our electric rates?
Speaker 6: Was she?
Speaker 5: Did?
Speaker 8: I think you had a show on that.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well there's again there's all sorts of questions here,
Speaker 2: and let's try to get some answers. And again I
Speaker 2: offer if Apple Green wants to come on to tomorrow
Speaker 2: night and discuss the comparative bids or at any point,
Speaker 2: they will be more than welcome. John. I appreciate you call,
Speaker 2: and I agree with you. One party, stay with Hill.
Speaker 8: Luck Eric, good luck. All right, thank you, Eric.
Speaker 2: Is there any way that my audience, and I only
Speaker 2: have a few seconds left, can help you out?
Speaker 1: Here?
Speaker 2: Can? What would you suggest? Contact the Governor's office.
Speaker 3: Contact the Governor's office, go to www dot globalppasn'peter dot com.
Speaker 3: So www dot globalp dot com. There'll be a red banner.
Speaker 3: Click on the banner and you can write the letter
Speaker 3: to whoever you choose there. But more importantly than that,
Speaker 3: I want to call out the board of mass dot
Speaker 3: and I want them to release the bidst right they
Speaker 3: if they're so certain about their choice, they need to
Speaker 3: release the details of the bids and get this over
Speaker 3: with and show us that we're right or we're wrong.
Speaker 3: I'm ready to step up and do what it takes.
Speaker 3: They ought a too, don't hide, be straight and stand
Speaker 3: up and.
Speaker 2: Let's let's have some transparency. Eric, I appreciate the call.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your time tonight. And again, I'm honest. If
Speaker 2: Applegreen wants an equivalent hour any night this week or whenever,
Speaker 2: we'll do it. We'll do it. And but I suspect
Speaker 2: they won't call. We'll see what happens if Eric, keep
Speaker 2: us in touch on this and let us know how
Speaker 2: it works out. Thank you so.
Speaker 3: Much, you gotta Dan, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Good night. When we get back, we're going to talk
Speaker 2: about the Middle East cease fire, no cease fire now
Speaker 2: a ceasefire one of the results. We got lots of questions.
Speaker 2: Hopefully you've got comments coming back on Nightside