By Roger Holmes, Celsius Tannery, ASA Board of Directions Member

So why would I give the American Suntanning Association one single dime of my hard-earned money?

For years, as we grew our professional indoor suntanning business, we watched every line item of our expenses. But we spent most of our time focused on key performance indicators such as membership per person average, income by unique customer, by equipment, equipment type, product and even by salon square footage, just to name a few.

But, about eleven years ago, after attending an industry meeting in Washington, DC, my financial priorities changed. At that meeting and for the next several years, I learned about FDA’s reclassification of indoor tanning equipment, I heard about the CDC’s attacks on our industry, I discovered an EPA program called “Sun Wise” that was teaching school children to abstain from all sunlight exposure, and I was shocked and dismayed with the implementation of the punitive 10% tan tax which was added to the Affordable Care Act.

It was then that I decided that protecting my business from federal and state government legislation, regulations, and unfair taxes was as important to my business as any of my salon’s income or expenses.

Click here to read the entire article in the latest issue of Smart Tan Magazine online.