A fund-raising golf tournament that will benefit the Special Olympics of York County, PA, is scheduled for August 4th.
It will take place at the Hickory Heights Golf Course in Spring Grove.
This is the ninth year that the event has been sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Drycleaners Association, which has already raised over $15,000 throughout the years, making it the second largest contributor to the Special Olympics of York County fund.
The Special Olympics is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to making the dreams of handicapped athletes come true.
In the last two years, CPDA has managed to raise $3000, but this year, they hope to do even better.
"I have raised the bar this year," said Dale Kaplan, who is the tournament's chairman. "I want to raise $5,000 this year."
The tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. Entry into the tournament is $80 per golfer, which includes lunch and a barbecue dinner where awards and prizes will be given out.
Also available are Tee sponsorships for $150 per hole, which give businesses a chance to promote their names on signs while contributing to a worthy cause.
CPDA has also extended their sponsorship levels to include Gold Level ($1,000), Silver Level ($500) and Green Level ($250).
"Cleaners get such a bad name. This is a good way for cleaners to be proactive and give something positive to the community," Kaplan said.
For more information, contact Dale Kaplan at (717) 234-3388 or Jim Tirpok at (301) 791-6120.
Recently, the MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners announced that the Maryland small business environmental fund is available for business.
David Norford, executive director of MAC, said of the news: "MidAtlantic was there from the first to the last during the legislative and regulatory process that put the program in place. This is another tangible result of our representation of IFI/MidAtlantic members in Maryland."
MAC's announcement came on the heels of a similar one that had informed members that the Virginia small business environmental compliance fund was ready to offer loans up to $50,000 for businesses with fewer than 100 people.
"Although the application mechanisms are quite different than those in Virginia, we believe that the Maryland fund will serve to offer yet another financial possibility assisting IFI/MidAtlantic members to comply with air pollution regulations," Norford added.
The Maryland loan program will also have a maximum loan amount of $50,000, but it will be restricted to businesses with 25 or fewer full time employees, according to Maryland Small Business Assistance Program Director Andrew Gosden.
The loan is also restricted to the purchasing of equipment for air pollution control.
An application package is available by calling the MAC office at (800) 235-8360 or sending e-mail to: macla@3n.net.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management recently awarded environmental stars to three more Indiana drycleaners, recognizing them for making an extra effort to protect the state's environment and public health.
The new plants that were awarded higher status in the program included: Nu Yale Cleaners in New Albany, Jeffersonville, Floyds Knobs and Sellerburg earned a 5-star award; Don's Cleaners in Evansville and Newburgh achieved 5-star status; and OK Modern Cleaners in Bluffton garnered a 3-star recognition.
"Protecting Indiana's environment is everyone's job, whether at home or work," said Lori F. Kaplan, commissioner of IDEM. "An ever-growing number of Indiana drycleaners are going above and beyond minimum environmental compliance for their industry to protect Indiana's environment, and in doing so, they set an example for others to follow."
Kaplan also added, "People want a drycleaner that pays attention to their laundry needs, but more and more Hoosiers want a drycleaner that pays attention to the environment. That's where IDEM's 5-Star Environmental Recognition Program can help environmentally-conscious Hoosiers."
The 5-Star Environmental Recognition Program, which began in October of 1995, examines participating drycleaners who implement practices that go beyond the minimum standards set by environmental rules and regulations.
Such drycleaners persevere to uphold high environmental standards by engaging in practices such as installing innovative equipment or achieving high solvent mileage.
In order to earn stars, applications from participating cleaners are reviewed by IDEM representatives, a committee of cleaners and local government officials. All 4- and 5-Star applicants are required to have a site visit by IDEM.
A complete list of drycleaners who have earned stars is available on IDEM's web site at www.state.in.us/idem/ctap.
The Michigan Institute of Laundering and Drycleaning recently announced its plans for summer.
On June 24 and 25, spotting experts Dennis Schmitt and Tom Swink of Linderman's Cleaning, Inc., will be at Jan's Professional Cleaners in Clio, MI for the "2000 Spot Right" seminar series.
On Saturday, June 24, a class for beginners will take place from 5 to 9:00 p.m.
There will be two classes on Sunday, June 25. From 8 a.m. to noon there will be an intermediate course and there will be an advanced class later in the day from 1 to 5:00 p.m.
Cost for each seminar is $85 for members and $125 for non-members. A package for all three seminars will be available at a cost of $230 for members and $350 for non-members.
MILD also will be holding its 87th Annual Meeting and Summer Convention from July 28-30 at the Crystal Mountain Resort in Thompsonville, MI.
The convention will be offering a silent auction and a 1950s party, plus a wide variety of educational topics are scheduled to be discussed.
Some of this year's programs include: "The Growing Family Business" by Fred Meijer of Meijer, Inc.; "Hiring and Retaining Employees" by Carolyn Schwass of CJS Consulting; "Environmental Solutions" by Tom Miller of New Millennium Environmental Services; "Why Comply?" by safety and environmental compliance consultants Jan and Henry Parker; "Dry Cleaning Rules Update" by Edlen Dickinson, Karl Johnson, Joseph Jaskowski and Edward Gutowski of the MDEQ Dry Cleaning Program and "What Your Banker Sees" by Peggy Mitchell of Southern Michigan Bank & Trust.
For more information about any of MILD's summer events, contact them at (517) 337-2909 or visit their website, located at www.mildmi.org.
The Minnesota Cleaners Association recently announced that Governor Jesse Ventura signed legislation on April 4 that will make positive changes to the drycleaner cleanup fund for the state.
The first change will be to move the date that environmental fees are due from July 1 to Oct. 1.
MCA, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Department of Revenue all supported the postponed deadline, believing it would be more convenient for drycleaners to contribute to the fund in the fall, when business is much better than it is in summer.
The date change will also make accounting easier for MPCA and the Department of Revenue because the July 1 deadline hovered at the start of the state's fiscal year.
Another change that the signed legislation will procure involves the reduction of the amount that MPCA is required to collect to maintain the fund.
Based on five years of experience with the fund, MPCA stated that the fund's goal of $800,000 was not necessary and that $650,000 is more appropriate. This will reduce the pressure on MPCA to raise fees in the near future.
For more information, contact Eric Ewald, MCA's executive director, at (651) 290-6266.
The event will take at 5:00 p.m. and will be preceded by an MCA board meeting that is scheduled from 3 to 5:00 p.m. on the same day.
Both events will take place at the Hotel Sofitel, located at 5601 W. 78th St. on the Bloomington strip, next to the Radisson South.
Ms. Scalco will address attendees on the current state of the industry. Some questions that she intends to answer include:
The presentation will be accompanied by a computerized slide show and a four-course dinner. Dress is formal or business casual.
Cost for the event is $45 for IFI/MCA members and $65 for non-members.
For more information, call MCA at (651) 290-6267.
According to the National Cleaners Association-International, results from an informal "how's business" survey given to its membership indicated an estimated 10 to 20 percent business drop for many mid- to low-price cleaners during the first quarter of the year.
However, higher priced cleaners did not report a drop in business volume, leaving many to speculate on what might cause such a trend.
Some fingers have pointed toward home drycleaning products which have infiltrated the consumer market in the past year.
Procter and Gamble has lead the charge with Dryel, reporting sales figures of $45.7 million in its first six months. Combined with other products on the market such as Clorox FreshCare, Dry Cleaner's Secret® and Custom Cleaner, the potential for "home drycleaning products" to affect the industry exists.
While "home drycleaning" packages do not eliminate a household's need for drycleaning services, they certainly might reduce the frequency of consumer visits to drycleaning plants.
Another reason for dropping figures could be attributed to the rising trend of casual wear. Drycleaners stand to lose business simply because consumers often associate casual garments with home laundry.
In an effort to offset the downslide in business, NCA-I has developed a poster and hang tag campaign to promote the notion that casual wear should be professionally cleaned.
NCA-I's posters will feature a casually-dressed couple with blank faces. The poster is purposefully designed that way to encourage onlookers to imagine themselves in the picture.
The tag lines accompanying the picture will read "Look Crisp, Sharp and Comfortable" and "Professional Care for Your Casual Wear."
Hanger tags will also feature a man and a woman wearing casual clothes next to one of the aforementioned taglines.
At the bottom of each tag will be a space for cleaners to add their store name, address, phone number and e-mail address.
Members will be introduced to the promotional endeavor in the June edition of NCA-I Bulletin.
For more information, contact NCA-I at (212) 967-3002.
Two special Steam Plant License Renewal seminars will be offered by the North East Fabricare Association this summer for Massachusetts drycleaners.
NEFA will work in conjunction with the Steam Engineering Institute to offer continuing education courses for engineer's license renewals. Each course will cover the Mass General Laws and related subjects to qualify candidates for license renewal.
The course is designed to meet the continuing education requirements for operators and persons in charge of high pressure boilers up to 250 horsepower.
One six-hour session will take place on June 17 in Springfield, MA. The other will be on July 8 in Worcester, MA. Both courses will be on a Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding at 4 p.m.
Some of the things beings covered by the course include: initial installation and inspection; steam boiler operation; boiler feed water treatment; combustion testing; routine operation; annual inspection and authorized repairs.
The courses will be taught by instructor Paul Logan, who holds several licenses, including First Class Stationary Engineer-Mass., Certified by Mass. Department of Education, Secondary School Instructor in Steam Engineering and is a Technical Instructor --NIULPE.
He has three years of active experience in the U.S. Naval Reserve where he provided the operation and maintenance of steam power equipment. Logan has over 29 years experience operating and supervising boilers, turbines, and related power plant equipment.
Cost for the course is $135 for members and $175 for non-members.
For more information, contact the NEFA office at (800) 442-6848.
On May 1, the Neighborhood Cleaners Association-International filed an Article 78 in State Court, requesting for a judicial review of the Department of Environmental Conservation's ruling concerning the Department's ruling that "unrelated services" make a drycleaning plant in a stand-alone building a co-located facility.
After months of seeking an administrative solution with the New York State DEC, NCA-I's National Board of Directors voted at its spring meeting to initiate a lawsuit on the matter.
According to an article in the June NCA-I Bulletin, the decision was based on NCA-I's belief that the DEC had "gone way beyond the bounds of the regulation's intent" and could use the words "sufficiently unrelated" to encompass virtually anything. In such cases, drycleaners who are clearly in a stand-alone facility might be denied stand-alone status and be forced to install vapor barrier enclosures in their plants.
NCA-I is currently urging all drycleaners in stand-alone buildings to contact the association and inform it of what services their plant currently offers.
Even plants who currently only provide services limited to drycleaning, shirt laundry and minor tailoring will be affected because the plant's future growth capability will become restricted.
The Southwest Drycleaners Association will be presenting four problem garment seminars throughout Texas in June.
Popular industry speaker Jane Zellers will bring her informative and entertaining seminar style that will focus on "How to 'Spot' Problem Garments at the Counter."
The seminars are specifically designed for drycleaning counter personnel, owners and managers.
The first seminar is scheduled for Monday, June 12 at the Harvey Hotel, located at 7815 LBJ Freeway in Dallas, TX.
Zellers will be presenting in Waco, on June 13 at the Hilton Hotel, located at 113 S. University Parks Dr.
On Wednesday, June 14, a session will be offered at the Crown Plaza, 2222 West Loop South in Houston and another presentation will take place the next day at 611 NW Loop 410 in San Antonio.
All four events are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and run until approximately 9:30 p.m.
In the seminar, Zellers will be discussing a variety of topics, including: how to make each customer special; how to deal with problem garments; how to stop a problem before there is one; how to identify stains; how to deal with constant complainers; how to keep customers coming back; and your importance to the success of the business.
The event will cost $35 for members and $50 for non-members.
Driving directions to the seminar locations are available by calling the following numbers: (972) 960-7000 for Dallas; (254) 754-8484 for Waco; (713) 961-7272 for Houston; and (210) 377-4601 for San Antonio.
For other information, contact SDA at (210) 826-4684.
At the Big Show 2000 in March, SDA announced the association's newly-elected officers and directors.
Darrell Sawyer, CPD, is the new SDA president. Joining him in office are: 1st Vice President Allan P. Johnson III; 2nd Vice President Pat Godo; and Sgt.-at-Arms Sonny Kahn.
Three drycleaners were added to the Southwest Drycleaners Association's Board of Directors.
Jess Culpepper, a third generation cleaner, comes from a family that has been in the drycleaning business since 1911. He has received his Certified Environmental Drycleaner and Certified Professional Drycleaner certifications from IFI and previously served on SDA's Board of Directors for seven years.
Also a holder of CED and CPD certifications, Louis E. Schickel, is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of New York. His properties include three freestanding drycleaning and laundry plants in Little Rock.
Chrissy L. Sledge has owned and operated a One Hour Martinizing franchise since 1981. She also opened another plant in 1983 and a shirt laundry in 1987. Sledge also holds a real estate license in the state of Texas.
The South Eastern Fabricare Association reported that its Southern Drycleaners Show, held the last weekend of April, was a record-breaker with attendance well ahead of the three-day total of the show held in 1998.
"It was refreshing to see the drycleaners turn out for a regional trade show," said Everett Childers, executive director of SEFA.
A unique feature of the exhibition was the Korean Pavilion which was filled with exhibiting Korean owned companies.
Featured speakers at the morning seminars, in addition to Childers, were Bill Fisher, CEO of the International Fabricare Institute; Sam Choi, vice president of Asian Affairs at IFI; Pamela Yellen of the Prospecting and Marketing Institute; and Dr. Jim Schreiner, associate chemist at Adco, Inc.
Topics ranged from the state of the industry, to marketing, to cleaning in today's environment and pricing for prosperity.
In addition to the those speakers, there were talks on government regulations in the exhibit hall area along with spotting demonstrations by Donna Freese of Adco.
During the formal board of directors meeting on Saturday morning, the presidency of SEFA was assumed by Ed Robinson from Columbia, SC. The Chairman of the Board position was assumed by the outgoing president, Barry Morgan of Brunswick, GA.
Greg Myers is the new executive vice president. Bubba Dean is vice president, Alabama; Perry Bullard is vice president of South Carolina; and J. C. Strickland is vice president, Georgia.
Childers said a lot of equipment was purchased by the more progressive drycleaners. Stuart Ilkowitz of Trevil America, John Tipps of Clean Concepts and Cliff Ferber of European Finishing Equipment told him it was one of the best regional trade shows they have attended.
"It appears the time for European Finishing concepts is taking hold in the US," Childers said.
Chart Industries had its CO2 machine on display and Banner Machinery is again showing its Cindy Lou sleeve finisher at the trade shows. With an eye on the hot weather approaching, cleaners were buying cooling units sold both for people and equipment.
"Union was doing a land-office business with both petroleum and perc machine sales." Childers reported, noting also that "the Morris and Eckels booths were busy as was the Gulf States booth. John Phillips had an attractive display for the Seitz Chemicals and Laidlaw, Caled and Fabritec were all represented. Alan Phillips of Zero Waste spent time with regulatory agency personnel discussing the treatment of contact wastewater."
On March 28, over 200 coin laundry owners, vendors and distributors gathered in Downey, CA, for the first general meeting of the Southern California Coin Laundry Association.
The event was hosted by the Southern California Gas Company. Attendees enjoyed a complimentary dinner and educational program.
"This was the first step toward improving profitability and market conditions in the area," remarked Julie Hoheb, president of SCCLA.
"Those who attended the meeting received a privileged glimpse of the energy and compelling information that can be generated by these types of gatherings," Hoheb added.
Attendees had plenty of topics to learn about. CPA and coin laundry expert Richard Weisinger was on hand to discuss calculating the real cost of a load of wash from an expense standpoint.
Another speaker at the event was John Vassiliades, executive director of the CLA insurance program. Vassiliades examined a profit and loss statement for an average coin laundry and demonstrated the impact of vend price changes on store profitability.
Rounding out the educational sessions was Brian Wallace, CLA executive director, who talked about the nature of competition in the coin laundry business, as well as the importance of demographics, when examining a coin laundry site.
SCCLA was created by local members of the national Coin Laundry Association who sought a forum to share information and to work together towards a more prosperous industry. The organization will serve Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.
For more information about the event, contact SCCLA at (310) 374-0249.
The California Cleaners Association recently announced that industry experts Bill Bishop and Darcy Moen will be added to the educational sessions at the upcoming Fabricare 2000 show, scheduled for Aug. 25-27 in Long Beach, CA.
"Our industry is constantly evolving and these educational seminars are so valuable to anyone involved in drycleaning today," said Jackie Smith, president of CCA.
Bishop, who is director of operations for the Golomb Group, will deliver the seminar "Are You Making the Money You Should Be?" The session is designed to give attendees the secrets to finding, capturing and keeping customers in the current competitive marketplace.
Moen, the longest running regular columnist for Fabricare Canada, will present a discussion of the use of computers and databases as marketing tools.
CCA also announced that it has opened the doors for nominations for the 2000 Dry Cleaner of the Year award, which will be presented at Fabricare 2000.
Each year, CCA presents the award to an individual drycleaner who personifies an "extraordinary commitment to forwarding both the Association and the industry."
"The Dry Cleaner of the Year award represents the highest honor bestowed on a CCA member," Smith said. "We encourage all association members to nominate those persons who are so vital to our industry."
The deadline for nominations is July 15, 2000. To nominate a member, or find out more about Fabricare 2000, call the CCA office at (916) 443-0986.
Copyright © 2000, National Clothesline Maintained by: Hal Horning