This football season will be a challenge for me as I work to control my gag reflex every time I see Brett Favre in a purple uniform. Aside from purple making him look far less manly, it is odd to see someone that has been the leader of “my team” now leading a team that I hate with the white-hot fire of ten thousand suns. Some Viking fans probably feel just as queasy watching their long-time enemy and realizing that a former Packer is the only hope they have of winning the trophy named after a former Packer head coach.

People may have had similar reactions to the announcement that ACE and the Renewable Fuels Association have teamed up to create the “BYOethanol” campaign (pronounced like “bio ethanol,” but BYO stands for “blend your own”) to inform marketers about the opportunities available to them by installing blender pumps. ACE and RFA will unveil the BYOethanol tradeshow display this month at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show, a joint meeting of the nation’s largest petroleum groups.

We recently sent 37,000 Blending Fuels magazines to retail station operators nationwide, and our website – byoethanol.com – is up and running. The site brings together the shared expertise of ACE and RFA, and will become the site marketers frequent when they have questions about ethanol – anything from equipment to taxes to RINs, to pump funding to marketing ideas. While that information has always been available, byoethanol.com will put it all in one place. These pieces and an aggressive educational event schedule will combine to give retailers the tools they need to offer more ethanol options to consumers, and to have more independence from their oil company suppliers.

Vince Lombardi said that “success demands singleness of purpose.” ACE and RFA have different constituencies, and occasionally, a difference of opinions on issues. But there is no difference in our opinions that blender pumps offer the best chance for greater use of ethanol and that educating marketers on the economics of higher ethanol blends is the most effective way to grow the market. E10 didn’t go nationwide because we bought pumps for people – it went nationwide because petroleum marketers could “do the math” and understand ethanol’s value.

The tendency in tough times is for teams to destroy themselves, battling each other rather than the opponent. At ACE, the bottom line is this – if you promote ethanol, whether you are the most high profile player in the league or the lowliest benchwarmer, you are our friend. We are teammates. We all have different jobs, but one purpose. If we can work together, we will be successful.