Most people see red whenever a piece of vital machinery breaks down, but Richard Mosena sees a challenging project. His company, Mosena Enterprises, Inc., specializes in the rebuilding of industrial machinery -- mostly equipment for the laundry and drycleaning industry.
For almost ten years, Richard has been sort of an "equipment performance artist" (for lack of a better term), because he has utilized extreme precision when transforming broken-down equipment (that others have given up on) into dependable machines that often outlive their newer counterparts.
"What makes my operation unique is the style by which we rebuild," said Mosena, who can often be found working long hours at his 16,000 sq. ft. facility in Franklin, VA.
"We tear machines down in their entirety, into all of their parts, and thoroughly go through everything. The parts of machines are processed -- cleaned, inspected, rebuilt or replaced, then painted as parts before assembly takes place."
Richard uses three principle colors for certain parts of the machines he works on so that he can prove that the machinery was completely dismantled. "If you were to walk into a plant that had one of my machines in it, you would notice it," he explained.
Richard stands by his work and he is constantly searching for ways to improve the rebuilding process so that he can give customers the best possible product.
"You cannot make any money off of equipment that is continuously breaking down," he said. "And, as hard as it is to get good employees now, the efficiency and looks of the machinery can be a contributing factor in employee satisfaction."
High quality and attention to detail are largely the reasons why Mosena Enterprises, Inc., have supplied rebuilt equipment for businesses in 29 states and three foreign countries.
Long before Richard even knew it, he had a calling to work with tools and machinery.
Richard's father, who was a design engineer with Alcoa Aluminum, passed along a lot of his practical skills to his son. "My father was always into renovation projects like installing furnaces or rewiring the house," Richard said. "He would tell people that I had a 'gift' for taking things apart to see how they worked."
Richard's mother also had her share of projects, such as gardening and, interior decorating. Richard learned from his parents the value of pursuing an interest. "Both of my parents were inspirational and supportive about work and stressed the importance of doing something that you enjoy," he recalled.
One thing that Richard enjoyed to do while growing up in Knoxville, TN, was to be active in the Boy Scouts. It was there that Richard began using tools to shape the way things worked around him.
"I grew up loving to be around water -- fishing, camping, and quite frankly, working," Richard said. "Some of my favorite experiences began with the Boy Scouts. At age 15, I was accepted as a counselor at Camp Pellissippi in Norris Lake in charge of the Axe Yard. I had no idea the impact this would have on my life."
Being in charge of the Axe Yard meant teaching fellow scouts how to safely use and care for knives and axes. During those days, Richard learned from a scoutmaster how to "make a maul and wedge out of Dogwood, and how to fell a tree with an axe."
Richard applied the knowledge he learned immediately. Since he was responsible for building all of the campfires at the camp gatherings, he set forth to eliminate all of the dead pine trees from Camp Pellissippi.
"I had commandeered the camp's old two-ton truck and stockpiled logs for my future campfires," he recalled.
A t the end of that summer, Richard's mother had asked him if he could cut down some locust trees in the family's side yard.
"I noticed the next door neighbor watching me preparing to cut down these 60-foot trees between his house and ours, so I drove sticks in the ground to mark their final resting place," he said. "I was on target and a career was launched at age 15."
Word-of-mouth quickly spread and it wasn't long before Richard's first business endeavor, Mosena Tree Removal Service, was in full swing.
"My only tools were a double bit axe, two Sears and Roebuck hand saws, and some manila rope," he said. "Out of necessity, I learned to climb by hand at first, then one day my father took me to Klein Tools where we bought a harness, Esterlon ropes and spikes."
In the next two years, Richard, armed only with hand tools, spent much of his time after school climbing, trimming, topping and cutting down trees. However, his relatives got together and bought him his first power saw, a Poulan 71, and he has been upgrading his tools ever since.
Richard's love for nature and trees propelled him to pursue a degree in Forestry from the University of Tennessee. As his knowledge of tree care increased, so did the scope of his company, which became Mosena Tree Specialists.
"I not only cut down trees, I repaired them, and talked many of my customers out of cutting down their trees," he said. "I was employing fellow classmates and we did all kinds of surgical work on trees."
Richard expanded his education in other ways, too. He hiked (about 1,100 miles) in the Smoky Mountains, to learn about nature first-hand. He also picked up welding skills in Maryland during a seven-year stint with the Army Reserves.
After returning to Knoxville, years later, Richard took a break from Forestry school and decided to fit a truck with a winch and a special body for hauling logs. He also purchased a wood splitter and a John Deere bulldozer, ready to overhaul his business to a grander scale and take on bigger trees.
"To watch a 130-foot tall, four-foot diameter oak tree go crashing its way down the side of a mountain fostered emotions of excitement, as well as sadness," he recalled.
Later, after Richard had gone back to school and received his degree in Forestry, he moved to Franklin, VA, to become a logging contractor for Union Camp Corp. "I trained for nearly a year and a half, working on ten different operations," he said. "The name of my company became R.L. Mosena Logging, Inc. Now, I was cutting down forests instead of trees."
At this time, Richard's knowledge of machinery continued to grow, mostly out of necessity so that he could overcome his equipment's mechanical problems that inevitably occurred.
"I learned to rebuild diesel engines, troubleshoot and repair hydraulic systems, powershift transmissions, winches, truck components, etc.," he said. "You name it and it happened: truck wrecks, trailers breaking in half, machines catching fire, heavy equipment stuck in unbelievable places, flipped upside down, etc."
There never seemed to be a shortage of problems in the logging business and Richard found out that he didn't even have to be in a forest to encounter danger.
One such incident happened over 18 years ago on the day before Richard married his wife, Dawn, who is an RN working in an intensive care unit.
"A close friend of mine from Tennessee was helping me move my logging operation to a new location," he remembered. "We were dragging a lowboy with my tree shear in tow and stropped in front of a rail crossing. I noticed a train coming, but decided we had time to cross. About halfway across, the lowboy hung on the track.
"To witness what transpired, you would have believed we rehearsed it. Without words, we unhooked the chains and lowered the ramps. Robert jumped in the truck. I jumped on the tree shear. He jammed the truck in gear and I pushed with the tractor. As we cleared the track, a 160-car coal train bellowed past."
Richard has always preferred a challenge and he often overcomes problems with creative solutions, whether it is building his own equipment or innovating a new logging style to increase production. One time, the workmen's compensation office inspected his unique method of "nighttime logging" to determine if safety procedures were being followed.
"To their surprise, I had light 60 feet up in treetops, on all of the equipment, and a secure safety policy in effect," he said. The inspector witnessed this and told Richard, "Mr. Mosena, you can log whenever you want to."
Ironically, Richard didn't want to log for very much longer. As the business became increasingly difficult due to labor shortages, smaller timber, recession concerns and a lack of appreciation from new mill management, Richard decided to make a change.
"Necessity once again formed a new business venture -- equipment sales," he said. "I changed the name of the company to Mosena Enterprises, Inc., and started working behind our house in the country."
Richard first began to rebuild laundry and drycleaning equipment when a local cleaner inquired about his services. "I found a machine for him and repaired it. Things just spread from there," Richard said. "I realized that there was a need for what I was doing, and people liked the approach I took towards rebuilding the equipment."
That approach keeps Richard's future lined up with new challenges, and he is busy enough to want to spend more time with his wife and two kids.
Still, one thing is for sure -- his trade will never be boring. "In any given workweek I can be a salesman, a painter, a mechanic, a parts manager, an electrician, and the list goes on. And it is not so much the product that makes it interesting, rather the whole process of meeting interesting people and producing something of value for them that also represents your sense of pride."
Rynex Holdings Ltd. has appointed Hans W. Gutsch as president and vice chairman and Jeffrey Battiston as senior vice president for sales and marketing.
Gutsch held managerial positions with Compaq Computer Corp. for 11 years, during which time the company grew from 2,000 to 70,000 employees. He was responsible for the acquisition and integration of Tandem and Digital corporations and served as a board member of Digital Equipment as a transition company.
Recently he joined Eye Ticket Corp. as president and vice chairman. That company implements iris recognition and technology in ticketing check-in , boarding, sport and event admissions and aviation access control. He has also worked at Wang Laboratories, and the Eaton Corp. Gutsch holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Stuttgart.
Battiston, a third -generation cleaner and the first cleaner to use Rynex solvent in a retail setting, will oversee and coordinate the worldwide sales and marketing efforts for Rynex. After more than two years and a half-million pounds of garments cleaned in the solvent, he decided to leave his family's 20-store chain to promote Rynex to the general drycleaning industry.
"It was not an easy decision," Battiston said. "However, based on my experience, I believe Rynex will revolutionize our industry."
Two key factors in his decision, he said, were the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of "something this big," and the new Rynex r-series machine which eliminate guesswork and difficulties that come with using the solvent in a converted perc machine.
Battiston said the new machine will mean "push-button simplicity for the operator and greater and faster acceptance of Rynex in the industry."
Battiston is a graduate of International Fabricare Institute drycleaning courses, is a Certified Environmental Drycleaner and a Certified Professional Drycleaner, is a former member of the board of directors of the North East Fabricare Association and past president of the New England Sanitone Licensees Group. He serves as Connecticut state director of the Fabricare Legislative and Regulatory Education group.
Battiston will maintain an office in Avon, CT, and can be reached by phone at (860) 674-9449. The company's main headquarters remain in Woodbury, NY. The Rynex web site is www.rynex.com.
On-Site University has opened an East Coast campus in Groton, CT. Billed as On-site's flagship university, the facility offers more space and is located just two hours from New York and Boston and is also near family entertainment, dining, first class hotels and the Foxwoods Casino, the largest casino in the world.
As at the West Coast University, attendees receive in-depth and hands-on training using the On-Site system with a variety of window treatments along with lamp shades, upholstery and oriental rug and spot and stain removal on all fabrics using the On-Site spotting tool and solutions.
Weekend classes will be offered beginning June 10 and weekday classes will begin June 22. Both the East and West Coast schools are open only to original On-Site owners and new purchases; there is a limit of two people per company.The new classes will also have training on top treatments, cornices, valences, box pleats, swags, cascades and balloons.
For more information, call (800) 233-27452.
Alliance Laundry Systems has named Dave McAllister as manager of customer service and Tom Searl as OPL national accounts manager.
McAllister, who previously was field service manager for Alliance's regional parts and service managers, will now lead the technical service, technical training, warranty administration and parts sales functions for Alliance Laundry Systems.
He has been with the company's technical service department for 10 years. His plans include using technology solutions for product support and training, including offering technical information on the company web site, interactive training CDs and searchable parts CDs.
Searl, who has been with the company for nine years, will be responsible for identifying and managing sales to on-premise laundry chain accounts in the United States and Canada for Alliance's UniMac and Speed Queen brands
He has held positions in technical service and marketing and most recently was regional sales manager for UniMac sales.
Steve Hietpas has been promoted to regional sales manager for UniMac and will manage the distributor network in the central United States and Canada. He has been supporting the UniMac sales staff for more than three years as an OPL sales specialist.
Kevin Hietpas is the new national sales manager for Huebsch. He brings a marketing and sales background to the job, including experience with Alliance Laundry Systems in field sales and, more recently, product development.
Hamilton Engineering Inc. has established Super Laundry in Santa Fe springs and Hayward, CA, as its stocking master distributor for California. The partnership is designed to help coin laundry owners obtain properly sized and California Air Quality Management district (AQMD) certified new or replacement water heating systems.
Recently enacted laws require that new purchases of water heaters of 400,000 BTU/hr and above be certified by AQMD for low NOx emissions. Conventional atmospheric water heaters as sold in the past can't meet the standards, Hamilton said. Existing water heaters that do not meet the code will be phased out over the next six years.
Hamilton Engineering Inc. has been manufacturing and supplying this type of certified equipment -- as one of its many designs -- for more than 10 years the company has trained all of the sales and service personnel at Super Laundry in sizing, application and installation and service of this newer type of equipment. Super Laundry will provide a free CompSize sizing and hot water requirement for any store owner upon request.
For more information contact Hamilton Engineering at (800) 968-5530 or visit the company's web site: www.hamiltonengineering.com.
Continental Girbau has promoted Joel Jorgensen to sales and market development manager where he will be responsible for developing sales in key market segments in the United States and Canada.
He joined Continental Girbau in 1997 as sales manager covering the central and western United States. Previously he held various sales management position with he commercial laundry industry.
He will now oversee all company advertising and public relations,c customer relations and training functions and will continue to manage Continental's distributor and national account customers within the States and provinces of the central United States and central Canada.
Continental Girbau is the largest of seven company-owned subsidiaries of Girbau S.A. based in Spain.
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