This past week, State of North Carolina passed an Appropriations Bill which was signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper. In part of the bill, there is language that creates a 30 cent tax cap on the sale of premium cigars. The Premium Cigar Association and North Carolina Premium Cigar Association wasted no time in […]
The 96 Billion Dollar tobacco tax proposal that was a part of the Build Back Better Act has been removed. The Build Better Back Act is a human infrastructure plan that includes parts of President Biden’s American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan. The bill had contained language that would have resulted in over 1,000% […]
The Premium Cigar Association (PCA) has announced that Ryan Parada has officially joined PCA as the full-time manager of government affairs. Parada had been working as a contractor over the past year for the PCA. Parada’s role will involve focusing on grassroots and political operations including Premium Cigar PAC, assisting both federal and state government […]
Each week, I have the opportunity to produce the news segment for KMA Talk Radio. On the Cigar Coop “blog,” we will now post replays of the shows the week following the date the show is aired. On August 21st, Scott Pearce, Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association was our special guest. I was […]
Each year, I select one company to be “The Company” at the Trade Show. For 2021, that honor was given to Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust. The idea was to pick one company that would essentially “kick butt” at the Trade Show. There was no doubt Dunbarton was going into the Trade Show with the most […]
At the 2021 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show, we caught up with the PCA’s Executive Director, Scott Pearce. This conversation with Scott Pearce took place just after a media press conference and just before the start of the third day of the Trade Show. Scott gives his insights on how the first two days […]
For the second Trade Show in a row, the final day of the show had very slow foot traffic. However, that wasn’t where the drama came from. Instead, the manufacturers themselves created all the drama that has become associated with a trade show. It’s no secret that the PCA Trade Show has seen a dramatic […]
The cigar media, attendance, and annual PCA jinx are my takeaways from the third day of the PCA 2021 Trade Show. The start of Day Three saw cigar media gather for a press conference hosted by PCA Executive Director Scott Pearce, outgoing PCA President John Anderson, and incoming PCA President Greg Zimmermann. Of the 80 […]
On the second day of the 2021 Premium Cigar Association (PCA) Trade Show there is a potpourri to do some post-game on. This includes thoughts on attendance/foot traffic, after-hours gatherings, the weather, and a checkpoint on Cigar Coop. First up let’s tackle attendance and foot traffic . A few years ago, I vowed to never […]
At the 2021 PCA Trade Show, three new board members were announced: Jay Davis, Blue Smoke of Dallas Mary Szarmach, Smoke Friendly Todd Johnson, The Cigar Shop There was an open call for nominees and PCA retailers were allowed to vote for their candidate of choice. The board members are selected for a three-year […]
