The National Council of Chain Restaurants today issued the following statement from Executive Director Rob Green on the introduction of the Corn Ethanol Mandate Elimination Act

If a deal is not reached today, we support the decision to move the ILWU-PMA negotiations to Washington and we call upon the president to personally engage in the discussions until an agreement is reached

The National Retail Federation congratulates the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) for finally coming to an agreement on a new labor contract.

The National Retail Federation issued the following statement today from President and CEO Matthew Shay on Walmart’s announcement that it will increase wages of approximately 500,000 full-time and part-time associates.

Playing it safe and planning ahead, Americans this year are planning to stash away their tax refund into savings. According to NRF’s Tax Returns Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 47 percent of those expecting a refund plan to put their money into savings, the highest percent in the survey’s history. Nearly two-thirds (65.7%) of those surveyed are expecting a refund this year. 

With recent high-profile data breaches and the growing need to deliver a unified and differentiated customer experience, retail CIOs agree that security and digital innovation are top priorities for 2015. 

The National Retail Federation appreciates the administration's attention to the West Coast ports.

Retailers commend the White House and President Obama for providing solution-based leadership around the significant threat posed by hackers and other cybercriminals

Retail sales are projected to increase 4.1 percent in 2015. Online and other non-store sales are set to grow as much as 10 percent.

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to rise 10.1 percent this month over the same time last year even as West Coast ports come closer to a possible shutdown due to the lack of a contract with dockworkers, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.