Tobacco use banned at 6 NAPA campuses

MAT-SU — Tobacco-free is good for business, at least that’s what Jim Ruda is banking on.

Ruda owns six NAPA stores in Southcentral Alaska — Eagle River, Palmer, Big Lake, Valdez, Wasilla, Glennallen — and as of April 1, all of their campuses are tobacco-free.

He said that means no tobacco use is permitted anywhere on NAPA property by customers or employees.

“I’ve been thinking about it for years,” he said of the change.

The stores themselves have long been smoke-free. But employees and customers could still smoke in the parking lot. The ban includes all tobacco products and includes e-cigarettes, Ruda said.

No one is telling NAPA employees they must quit smoking, he said. But a few employees have told him the change is just the push they needed to quit smoking, Ruda said.

The company’s health insurance provider offers access to a quit line, counseling and patches to help tobacco users kick the habit.

And, so far, he said all of the feedback from employees and customers has been positive.

“Everyone has just rallied around it,” Ruda said.

He said his motivation isn’t to save money on the health care costs he pays for employees. Ruda said he just values happy, healthy workers and wants to keep the ones he has now.

“Try so hard to find good people,” he said. “We’ve got very good people in all the stores.”

Ruda started out behind the counter at an Anchorage NAPA store in 1986. Since then, he’s worked at nearly every job in the shop — from outside sales to store manager. He purchased the Big Lake NAPA in 2001 and has acquired the other five in the past 13 years.

As a further investment in keeping his workforce content, Ruda said he is offering to pay a portion of health club fees for his staff, too.

NAPA is well-known in the Mat-Su Valley for its generous support of local sports teams and community events, such as the annual Wheels of Hope program.

Ruda said giving back to his community is just part of the deal.

“We wouldn’t be here if the community didn’t support us,” he said.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.