December 2014 Retailer Update

DIVISION OF PUBLIC HEALTH
1 WEST WILSON STREET
P O BOX 2659
MADISON WI 53701-2659
Scott Walker
Governor
State of Wisconsin
608-266-1251
FAX: 608-267-2832
TTY: 888-701-1253
Department of Health Services
dhs.wisconsin.gov
Kitty Rhoades
Secretary
Date:
December 29, 2014
To:
Wisconsin WIC Vendors
From:
eWIC Team
Re:
eWIC Information
eWIC Rollout
The WIC Program will begin eWIC pilot testing in Sauk County in late February 2015. Adams
and Juneau County will be added to the pilot area in March. Full rollout will begin in June in
southwest Wisconsin and continue through the end of September. See the rollout map with the
planned dates for detailed information. All vendors in that rollout area must be prepared to
accept both paper checks and eWIC cards through December 2015.
Is your store eWIC ready?
Jim Chilcoat and Steven Jeantet from CDP (our eWIC contractor) are available to help you
determine if your electronic cash register system is ready for eWIC. Before you upgrade or buy a
new system, contact Jim or Steven to discuss your plans to assure that they will meet eWIC
requirements. You may want to check with your business office first if there are several stores
under the same ownership.
Telephone
Cell Phone
Email
Jim
502-695-1999 or
866-237-4814
859-779-5332
[email protected]
Steven
405-496-9192
405-496-9192
[email protected]
Contact the state WIC office at 608-266-6912 if you need additional assistance.
Approved Products List
The WIC Program will specify all Universal Product Codes (UPC) and Price Look-Up codes
(PLU) for items that may be purchased in the WIC Authorized Product List (APL). When the
barcode on the item is scanned or a PLU is entered, the system will check to see if it is listed in
the APL. Only items included in the APL are allowed.
State WIC staff collected UPCs for WIC approved foods at many store locations in the past
couple of months. We are not able to visit all WIC authorized stores and need your help to
create the most complete list possible. Please review the list on the WIC Vendor Assistant and
send an email to [email protected] with any missing product(s). It would be most helpful if
you can identify any private label product lines that we may have missed.
Wisconsin.gov
Training
All vendors must attend training before accepting eWIC cards. Training will be offered 2-3
weeks prior to participants receiving eWIC cards in each area. A more specific schedule will be
provided at a later date. Additional training materials such as a training toolkit and webinars will
be available starting in January 2015. WIC-specific training will be held at local agencies in your
area. You will receive specific training dates and times 6-8 weeks prior to your training dates.
Enclosed you will find an eWIC promotional poster. Please post this in employee common areas
to inform your staff about eWIC.
The following information will be available online at the WIC Vendor Assistant at
https://www.wicvendorwi.org. By having this information online, it will be available in a more
timely manner. The training materials will be available on CD at a later date, by request only.
o Vendor Toolkit to prepare for eWIC transition
o Webinars to train owners, managers, and cashiers
o Updated vendor forms and publications
To receive updates when new information is added, please sign up at
https://www.wicvendorwi.org.
• eWIC Retailer Updates
o January, February, and March Retailer Updates contain basic and important
information about eWIC.
o The May Update contains information about Wisconsin’s eWIC Contractors.
o Future updates will include current information in preparing your store for eWIC.
Enclosures:
eWIC Rollout Map and Schedule
eWIC Promotional Poster