Update from the Executive Director: Summer/Fall 2024 Edition

PCA | August 28, 2024

This is my first issue writing the editor’s note as the permanent Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association. I am deeply honored and grateful to the board of directors, staff, and general membership for having the confidence in me to lead the organization, the premium cigar industry’s advocacy agenda, and the epicenter of cigar commerce at the trade show in New Orleans in 2025.

The premium cigar industry and association are now in a vastly different situation than when I started with the organization. Then, we were facing a (presumably) imminent demise through arbitrary government regulations, a fractured membership, and waning resources. Today, we are an organization growing with new members, exhibitors, partnerships, and programs in a period of regulatory and legislative stability. We are working with many partner organizations, constantly improving and communicating to find common ground to protect and defend our passions and your livelihoods. We are in a much better predicament now than five years ago because of a dedicated staff and your support as members committed to our mission. Don’t worry; we have no plan to rest on our laurels and get comfortable.

My leadership style is extremely aggressive and unyielding when it comes to the promotion of our membership and the advocacy for your interests. My background growing up in the school of “government affairs” has given me a unique perspective and a deep appreciation for all that it takes to be a premium cigar retailer or manufacturer. We are no longer constantly on the defensive, and our tone has changed and hardened after three successful battles against the Food & Drug Administration. I am also a small business owner and understand the pain points and ups and downs of running retail and hospitality operations. You can rest assured that when I speak on behalf of the organization and industry, I will do so with careful deliberation with certainty, purpose, and adherence to the mission of “protecting specialty tobacco retailing.”

It is my duty and obligation to prepare the organization for the next set of challenges and grow the association and its resources to effectively overcome them, whether it is a generational smoking ban at the local level or a national tax increase. Furthermore, we have a responsibility as the most powerful voice in Washington, DC, in the largest premium cigar market in the world, to export our research, arguments, and data to our brothers and sisters of the leaf elsewhere in the world who are facing governmental overreach. For small business retailers and our manufacturer partners, I intend to fulfill that obligation and work to increase member benefits, grow membership participation, and continue to improve the tradeshow and other industry events.

In my two months on the job working with the board of directors and staff we have some achievements to highlight:

• Hiring of a new Director of Tradeshow and Events
• Reorganization and streamlining our sponsorship offerings and sales process
• Rollout of an employee 401k program
• Launching a site visit for the 2025 trade show
• Hosting major political events in Milwaukee, Louisville, and Chicago
• Launching a petition against generational smoking in Massachusetts
• Working to expand cigar bar legislation and signing it into law in North Carolina
• Undergoing a Capital Improvement Program to our Washington, DC Office

These are just a few of the many projects that our team is working on this summer. You will also notice a steady stream of research and content posted across our communication channels, and you may even have one of our staff members show up at your shop, lounge, factory, or facility. Along with many of the PCA staff, I will be traveling the country during the summer and fall to meet directly with our membership so that we can better service your interests, listen to feedback, and generate ideas for new programs to help you run your business.

I look forward to meeting many of you during these travels and hope to be one of the most accessible and approachable Executive Directors who have led the association.

I know that during the course of my tenure, we will achieve major successes and address and overcome challenges. I hope the next five years will be as good as the last five years for the premium cigar industry. Even though we encountered some severe turbulence, we followed a flight path and arrived at our destination here today. Our next journey awaits us.

– Contributed by Joshua Habursky, Executive Director of the Premium Cigar Association (PCA). You can reach him at joshua@premiumcigars.org.