In September, the National Seminars Group will lead several Management Skills Workshops in an effort to help managers motivate their workers to go the extra mile.
Each one-day workshop will cover dozens of issues faced by managers, including topics such as how to handle difficult employees, the best way to find and hire good people, how to overcome employee resistance to change, how to command respect, confronting unwanted employee behavior, coaching for higher performance and other management issues.
"Management Skills For First-Time Supervisors" is scheduled to take place in Virginia on the following dates: Sept. 6 in Arlington; Sept. 6, Norfolk; Sept. 17, Fredericksburg; Sept. 18, Charlottesville; Sept. 20, Roanoke; and Oct. 18 in Sterling.
In Maryland, the same workshops will take place in Frederick on Sept. 12; Annapolis on Sept. 13; Hagerstown on Sept. 25; and Rockville on Sept. 27.
Pennsylvanians can attend the seminar on Sept. 13 in Pittsburgh, Sept. 24 in Johnstown or Sept. 26 in Erie.
This program will also be available on Sept. 10 in Washington, D.C.
Another workshop, called "Communicating With Tact and Skill for Managers and Supervisors," will be more directed at helping those in charge open the lines of communication with their staff using diplomacy.
This seminar will be in Maryland on the following dates: Annapolis on Sept. 14; Hagerstown on Sept. 26; and Rockville on Sept. 28.
In Virginia, the seminars are scheduled for: Arlington on Sept. 7; Norfolk on Sept. 7; Charlottesville on Sept. 19; Roanoke on Sept. 21; and Sterling on Oct. 19.
Those in the Pennsylvania area can catch this educational opportunity on Sept. 14 in Pittsburgh or Sept. 27 in Erie.
The same seminar will also be in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 11.
Cost for each seminar is $99 per student.
More information can be obtained by calling (800) 258-7246 or visiting the company's web page on the Internet at www.natsem.com.
National Seminars Group, a division of Rockhurst University Continuing Education Center, Inc., is one of the nation's leading providers of continuing education, reaching more than 7 million professionals in a 14-year period. Each year, the company provides more than 6,000 seminars and conferences in the United States and Canada.
The Wisconsin Fabricare Institute's Fall Conference and Golf Outing is fast approaching, and, as usual, an eclectic range of educational seminars will be par for the course.
Scheduled for Sept. 14-16, the event will take place at the Radisson Hotel in La Crosse, WI.
Full registration will cost members $135 and will include admittance to all of the weekend's educational and social activities except for the Saturday round of golf at Forest Hill. The 18 holes plus cart and lunch will cost participants $45 each.
Non-members may pay $150 to attend and spouses will receive a discounted rate of $105.
The weekend will kick into gear on Friday at 3:30 p.m. with a session of certification and recertification testing for two hours. Afterwards, guests can register in the lobby between 6 and 7 p.m. before boarding on the La Crosse Queen for a dinner cruise from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. A WFI hospitality, featuring live entertainment, will take place in the Radisson lounge after the cruise.
On Saturday, the business sessions begin at 9 a.m. with "Where Are Energy Prices Headed? What Can I Do to Save Money?" by Paul Schueller of Franklin Energy Services.
Schueller's discussion will be followed by "The Most Common Consumer Complaints Against Drycleaners and How Best to Deal With Them!" by Ed Harness, an attorney for the Better Business Bureau. The seminar will end around 11:30 a.m.
Later in the day, at 12:30 p.m., registered golfers for the golf outing will tee off at the Forest Hills Golf Course. In the evening, a cocktail reception with The Rosewood Trio will begin at 6:45 p.m., followed by a banquet dinner from 7:30 to 9 p.m. where golf prizes for the day's tournament will be awarded.
On Sunday morning, the business sessions will commence from 9 until 11:30 a.m. WFI will hold a general membership meeting with updates on the association's activities.
Afterward, Mark Fontaine, a compliance specialist for OSHA, will present "New Regulations From OSHA -- They're Coming Soon!"
IFI Director Dan Martino will moderate a panel, alongside Jan Barlow, Jeff Fitzgerald and Tom Swink, to discuss "What Was Hot; What Was Not at the Clean Show."
Hotel rates for the Radisson Inn are available at a rate of $97 for single, double, triple or quad occupancy for convention-goers who mention that they are affiliated with the WFI Fall Conference. To make reservations, call (608) 784-6680.
For more information, contact WFI at (414) 529-4707.
The Indiana Drycleaning and Laundry Association is gearing up for its annual meeting and golf outing, scheduled to take place on Sept. 14 at the Valle Vista Golf Course in Greenwood, IN.
The Valley Vista Golf Course, which has been voted as one of the "Top 200 Places to Play" in the U.S., according to Golf Digest magazine, is located a mile west of I-65, just 15 minutes from downtown Indianapolis.
Registration for the event will begin at noon with a shotgun tee time start scheduled for 1 p.m. Prizes will be rewarded to the first and second place teams and there is a closest to the pin contest on a par three hole. The awards will be presented at about 5:30 p.m. after the completion of the scramble format.
Following the golf awards presentation will be the association's annual dinner and meeting, which is open to everyone. A dinner buffet will be catered by the Valle Vista Country Club.
Following the annual meeting and election of officers will be presentation by guest speaker Roy Gardner, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at Indiana University. Gardner is a worldwide economic expert who presently has research grants with the National Science Foundation and the Political Science, Italian German Science Foundation.
Registration forms for the event can be obtained by contacting the IDLA office at (800) 401-0703.
Also on the horizon for IDLA is a marketing seminar by Pamela Yellen, CEO of the New Mexico-based Prospecting & Marketing Institute, Inc.
"How to Flood Your Dry Cleaning Business With More Quality Customers Than You Can Handle!" will take place on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. Yellen will reveal many of her cutting-edge marketing strategies that are designed to be effective and affordable for drycleaners.
Cost for the seminar is $59 for IDLA members and $69 for non-members. If more than one attendee from the same plant attend together, a $10 per person discount will be granted.
Space is limited, so early registration is highly recommended. For more information, contact Rick Armstrong at the IDLA office.
The Mid-America Fabricare Association has officially launched a new web page, located at www.mafahome.com.
In addition to keeping members informed of industry news and upcoming events, the site can also be used as a directory resource. Visitors can access a complete roster of members, who are organized by cleaner name, city and phone number.
Also on the site is a directory of allied trade representatives located throughout Kansas, Illinois and Missouri.
Site visitors will have the option of clicking to a link page, which offers links to a variety of industry-related associations and organizations.
On the web site, one of the current news items that members can read about is a successful Missouri cleaners' campaign that sought to oppose the collection of retroactive surcharges in regards to Missouri's statewide clean-up legislation and, thus, change the collection date officially to April of this year.
The campaign was a joint effort by MAFA, allied members and hundreds of Missouri drycleaners who sent hundreds of letters to the director of Missouri's Department of Natural Resources, Hazardous Waste Program and Missouri's Clean Air Program.
Cleaners and solvent retailers noted the difficulty of collecting past surcharges and the absence of a uniform collection method, pointing out that it would be severely difficult for them to face retroactive surcharges that would be used to build equity for the state's clean-up law.
Instead, it was recommended that the effective surcharge date be changed to April 2001, to which the state consented.
For more information, visit MAFA's new web site or e-mail Executive Director Mark Bartnett at Msb487@aol.com.
A wide variety of topics will be covered at the Iowa-Nebraska's Drycleaners and Laundry Association's fall seminar, scheduled to take place from Oct. 12-14 at the DoubleTree Hotel at 1616 Dodge St. in Omaha, NE.
On Saturday, Oct. 13, David Rohan will discuss energy use as it relates to drycleaners. Rohan, a licensed mechanical engineer in Nebraska, is currently the director of Gas Acquisition and Supply of the Metropolitan Utilities District.
Also on Saturday, Jane Rising, manager of Training and Instruction at the International Fabricare Institute, will speak on "Problem Garments," the first of three seminars she will give at INDLA's fall seminar.
Rising has been with IFI since 1985 and has an extensive background in the area of textiles. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in home economics with a major in fashion design from the University of Hawaii.
She will be delivering a second seminar on wetcleaning on Saturday afternoon at NuTrend's plant, located at 3144 N. 84th Circle.
On Sunday morning, she will present a session on "Customer Service."
In addition to Rising's "Customer Service" seminar on Sunday, INDLA will also feature Dr. John Dumonceaux, who will present "Celebrate You," a humorous presentation that encourages attendees to establish a personal commitment to action and growth.
Dr. Dumonceaux was a high school teacher, coach and administrator for 16 years until he changed to healthcare, where, for the last 13 years, he has been the vice president of Human Resources. He is also a member of the National Speakers Association.
Ron Kantor, president of Leather Rich, will be offering a special presentation of "Who Wants to Feel Like A Millionaire?" on Saturday night, following the evening's banquet. Based loosely on the popular ABC game who "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," cleaners will have a chance to win $1 to $200 by answering questions dealing with drycleaning, fabrics and other aspects of industry knowledge.
The total cost for the full three-day registration is $95 for members and $135 for non-members. For information, call INDLA at (515) 225-3654.
Attendees can make their own room reservations by Sept. 24 at the DoubleTree Hotel by calling (800) 222-8733.
In an effort to offer convention-goers cutting-edge, business-building seminars, the Neighborhood Cleaners Association will be bringing a diverse offering to TexCare 2001, scheduled to be held on Oct. 13 and 14 at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, NJ.
"It is a principal part of our mission to help NCA members increase their revenues through a variety of business building techniques," said Nora Nealis, Executive Director of NCA. "To that end, we have created a series of unique seminars, each of which is designed to help cleaners achieve ever great success."
On the scheduled agenda, Don Desrosiers will speak about the marketing role of shirts and how to make it a profitable aspect of each cleaner's business in "Shirts For Profits."
"Diversification Dollars and Sense" will offer cleaners ways to expand their revenue streams for their business. Presenting the seminar will be Ed Boorstein, who will speak about cleaning for the chemically sensitive; George Torpe, who will discuss on-site cleaning of draperies, furniture, walls and speciality items; Arthur Weiss, who will focus on fire restoration; and Ed Roth, who will speak about tuxedo rentals.
Russ Petrozzi will cover "The Importance of Image," explaining how quality packaging can significantly increase sales.
Fabricare Canada columnist Darcy Moen will also be on hand to speak on generating more income from existing customers with "Getting Everything You Can Out of Existing Customers."
NCA political liaison Don Halperin is also scheduled for "The Practice of Preventive Politics," which underlines how cleaners can enhance their image and become a powerful force in government.
A panel of speakers representing both old and new solvent is also planned for the event.
Accompanying the educational sessions will also be a variety of entertainment opportunities, including a Saturday night karoake event and a live stage show of Beatlemania.
More information on TexCare 2001 can be obtained by calling the NCA office at (212) 967-3002 or visit www.nca-i.com where a downloadable PDF file for attendees who wish to pre-register is available.
The Korean-American Cleaners Association of New Jersey held its Eighth Annual Golf Outing on August 15. The event is a fund-raising effort aimed at acquiring enough money to purchase a building for "Drycleaners Education Center."
More than 120 golfers participated at High Bridge Golf Club, located at High Bridge Hills, NJ.
Prizes were awarded to the top golfers as follows:
Medalist: Charley Chung
Men's Team A: First place, Shinjong Kang; second place: Junki Kim; third place: Taesik Kim; fourth place: Hyechul Park; fifth place: Yongil Kim.
Men's Team B: First place: Byongkuk Cho; second place: Wanhee Nam; third place: Yongkak Choi; fourth place: Chuljung Yoon; fifth place: Harry Stamateri.
Women's Team: First place: Jonghwa Woo; second place: Jones Yonghee; third place: Yongae Han.
Longest Award: Dongho Yum, Ms. Minkyong Oh.
Closest Award: Yonghwang Lee, Taesik Kim, Ms. Jonghwa Woo.
Lottery Award: Munjae Im.
Good play Award: Jaekyong Song.
Costume Award: Pyongjong Kim.
The oldest award: Antoi Davis.
IFI Award: Jisang Lee.
Mike Achin of Laidlaw Corp. will present a spotting and wetcleaning seminar for the Eastern Massachusetts Drycleaners Association on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
The program will be at the Occasions Banquet Facility in Norwood, MA. A buffet will be served. Tickets are $15 in advance or $25 at the door.
For more information or to make a reservation, call (508) 384-3715.
Time is running out for those who wish to register for the North East Laundry Association's 89th Annual Meeting and Fall Conference.
A registration form with full payment must be submitted to NELA by Sunday, Aug. 20.
This year's event, which will be held from Sept. 20-23 at the Stoweflake Resort & Conference Center in Stowe, VT, will cost $170 each for NELA associate members and spouses. Non-members pay $220 per person.
The costs cover afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast daily (including meal taxes and gratuity), cocktail receptions, and all educational and entertainment sessions.
Those who wish to participate in Friday afternoon's golf tournament at the Stowe Country Club may register for an additional $85. There is also a Saturday afternoon tennis tournament that costs $25 per person for registration.
The weekend won't be all fun and games, however; educational seminars include: "Developing Your Site on the Web" by George Ferencz, manager of E-Services for the Textile Rental Service Association; "Maximizing Creativity" by John Horton, the corporate education sales leader for Milliken & Company; and "Labor and Employment 2001" by Jeffrey L. Hirsch, a partner in the Boston and New York law firm Robinson and Cole.
NELA will also hold its annual meeting and election of officers and board of directors.
Room reservations for the Stoweflake Resort and Conference Center are available at a rate of $309 per night, plus state tax and a service charge. Additional guests or spouses are charged $45 each per room.
For more information about the convention or reserving hotel rooms, call NELA at (781) 834-4672.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is poised to retract its enforcement forbearance for drycleaners discharging to septic systems, the North East Fabricare Association has reported.
Since 1978, when the Title V regulations came into place, it has been illegal for drycleaners to discharge commercial wastewater to a septic system. This discharge prohibition includes discharges from all laundry and wetcleaning operations.
Since the inception of the Massachusetts DEP's ERP program, the department has had a non-enforcement understanding in regards to this discharge, but that appears to be ending September 15.
After that date, all cleaners will be required to notify the DEP, through the annual ERP Certification filing, of their non-compliance and include a "Return to Compliance" form.
This is an extremely serious threat to all drycleaners on septic systems, NEFA said. Under the current regulations there are only three possible options:
None of these solutions are viable for most cleaners, NEFA noted, and the enforcement directive could force many cleaners out of business.
NEFA said it is working with the Neighborhood Cleaners Association to change the DEP's action.
The Neighborhood Cleaners Association will kick off its annual Coats for Kids drive with festivities at Randi's Cleaners in Mineola, NY, on Sept. 24.
Elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, will help get the drive underway. Also participating in the ceremony will be school groups, religious leaders and other political figures.
The drive itself will run from Oct. 15 through Dec. 31.
Participating NCA members will collect donated coats, clean them at no charge and see that they are distributed to children who need them.
In the 16 years that NCA and its members have conducted the coat drive, more than 100,000 coats have been collected and distributed. Last year approximately 900 cleaners participated in NCA's Coats for Kids drive, including cleaners in greater Philadelphia (Delaware Valley), western New York and greater Albany, as well as metropolitan New York.
This year, NCA's Coats for Kids Committee is working to expand the program, reaching out to celebrities, politicians, and TV and radio stations to help spread the word.
To assist in the program's expansion NCA has asked allied trades companies to join the effort through donations to help with publicity. The logos of contributing companies will be included on a new Coats for Kids poster which will be displayed in NCA member stores beginning in October.
Arthur Epstein of Randi's Cleaners in Mineola is chairing the Coats for Kids Committee this year. More information is available from NCA (212) 967-3002.
Texas cleaners are no longer required to pay taxes on internal and external wrapping, packing and packaging supplies.
Recently, an amendment was proposed to the state tax code, adding section 151.3021 which states: "Internal and external wrapping, packing and packaging supplies are exempted from the taxes imposed by this chapter if sold to a laundry or drycleaner for use in wrapping, packing or packaging an item that has been pressed and drycleaned or laundered by the person operating as a laundry or drycleaner in the regular course of business."
The amendment also states that "laundry or drycleaner" does not include coin-operated or other self-service garment cleaning facilities.
The language of the amendment breaks down what constitutes "wrapping, packing or packaging supplies," which includes "hangers, safety pins, pins, inventory tags, staples, boxes, paper wrappers and plastic bags."
Initially, cleaners had to pay taxes on drycleaning packaging materials in 1991 when the Texas Legislative Session passed Section 16, Chapter 151 of the tax code.
The Southwest Drycleaners Association began opposing the taxes in 1998, getting support from Representative Harvey Hilderbran who submitted a bill in 1999 that failed to pass.
Over the next two years, SDA met with Comptroller Carol Rylander on finding a way to provide tax relief for drycleaners. The tax code amendment was submitted during the 2001 Texas Legislative Session and was signed by Governor Perry on June 15 of this year.
The bill went into effect on Sept. 1.
The Southwest Drycleaners Association is offering an "Early Bird Bargain Days" discount special for exhibitors who wish to purchase booths for the association's Big Show 2002 and 95th Annual Convention, scheduled for April 12-14 at the San Antonio Convention Center in San Antonio, TX.
Between July 15 and Sept. 15, exhibitors may purchase two booths at a regular price and receive and additional booth at half price.
Regular booth prices are $625 each for IFI/SDA members and $745 each for non-members.
Convention activities already planned for Friday, April 12, include SDA's Quarterly Board of Directors Meeting, the Annual General Membership Meeting and a welcome reception.
Before the welcoming festivities, cleaners will have an opportunity to take part in a golf tournament scheduled for Thursday, April 11.
Several educational seminars will be planned for the weekend, including a return engagement by popular speaker Jan Hargrave, the distinguished author, speaker, educator and talk-show guest who presented a seminar on "The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication in Customer Service" at this year's Big Show 2000 in Ft. Worth, TX.
SDA's headquarters hotel will be the St. Anthony.
For more information on SDA's Big Show 2002, contact the association by calling (210) 828-4660.
Classes at the Royaltone Leather Cleaning Academy will continue Nov. 29-30 with another session slated for Feb. 7-8, 2002. Students learn to wetclean and dryclean leathers and furs using existing plant equipment. All classes are taught by Royaltone founder Frank Lucenta with assistance from Bruce Lucenta and staff. All students receive a complete instruction manual, written by Lucenta, in both English and Korean, course completion certificates and after-training support through a toll-free hotline. Class sizes are limited. For enrollment information, call Royaltone (800) 331-622-6677 or visit the Royaltone web site: www.royaltone.com.
The South Eastern Fabricare Association has announced its newly-elected officers and board of directors.
Appointed as the association's new president was Greg Myers, who owns and operates Southside Cleaners & Launderers in Lakeland, FL.
Gary Dawson will perform double duty as SEFA's secretary and treasurer. He owns and operates Belleair Bluff Cleaners of Belleair Bluffs, FL, and is currently serving as the director for District 3 for the International Fabricare Institute.
Immediate Past SEFA President Ed Robinson of Ed Robinson Laundry and Dry Cleaners in Columbia, SC, will now take over as the association's Chairman of the Board.
The following board members were also elected, representing Alabama: Bubba Dean, executive vice president; Tim Barr, Bill Cook, III, Mark Watkins and Leland Waite.
For Florida, new representatives include: Ray Griffin, vice president; Wade Hardaway; Dave Mariotti; Rick Miller; M.C. Rogers; Angel Suarez; and Joe Waite.
Representing Georgia will be: J.C. Strickland, vice president; Virginia Baker; Julia Campbell; Danny Dunagan; Jim Hardy; Pete Rountree; Mike Stuckey; and Warner Wade.
Ron Garrett, Johnny Waters and Perry Bullard, vice president, will comprise the board members from South Carolina.
Emeritus directors include: Buster Bell, SC; Bobby Landers, GA; and Jim Patrie, GA.
SEFA's associate directors include: Wes Brunson, SC; Rusty Daniels, SC; Michael Dyke, Jr., FL; James Hartley, FL; Terry Ruen, FL; Bernie Santandera, GA; Steve Smith, AL; and Steve Taylor, AL.
Board of director meetings for the association have already been scheduled to take place from Nov. 9-11 at Radisson Admiral Semmes in Mobile, AL; from Jan. 17-20, 2002 at Embassy Suites Buckhead in Atlanta, GA; and from May 10-12, 2002 at Holiday Inn Lido in Lido Beach, FL.
For more information, contact SEFA by calling (912) 355-3364 or visit the association's web site at www.sefa.org.
Two educational seminars on "Effective Stain Removal" will be presented by R.R. Street & Co., Inc. in the month of October.
The first one is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 11 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. at Phenix Supply Company in Jacksonville, FL, located at 2050 Kings Rd.
Two days later, on Saturday, Oct. 13, the seminar will be offered from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Phenix's Tampa, FL location, 1920 Tampa East Blvd.
Both seminars will be presented by Kenney Slatten, widely known as the "cowboy cleaner." Slatten, who is currently serving as president for the San Diego Dry Cleaners Association, will discuss and demonstrate the art of stain removal using Street's Portable Stain Removal Board and Display.
For more information, contact Phenix Supply Company at (800) 282-2924 or (813) 623-3553.
California's South Coast Air Quality Management District is eyeing a possible 10-year phase-out of perc drycleaning equipment through amendments to Rule 1421 which governs drycleaning facilities in the district.
SCAQMD estimates that phasing out perc equipment in favor of non-perc alternatives such as hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and wetcleaning could reduce perc emissions for drycleaning to 1,000 pounds per day by 2010 compared to 16,000 pounds per day in 1998. The air district covers all or portions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, with a population of 15 million. Approximately 1,300 existing drycleaning facilities in the area would be affected by the plan, SCAQMD said.
In its present form, which is still subject to discussion and revision, the proposal would prohibit new drycleaning facilities from using perc equipment upon adoption, possibly as soon as 2002. By the following year, perc machines would be disallowed in existing facilities as either replacements for current equipment or additional equipment. Three years after that, only perc equipment with both primary and secondary emission controls would be allowed. By the time of full implementation, which could come in 2011, only "perc alternative" cleaning technologies would be allowed.
Further discussion is ahead for the proposal. In a message posted on the Internet Fabricare Forum, Jackie Smith, immediate past president of the California Cleaners Association, reported that workshops and a public hearing will be held and she urged drycleaners to participate.
"But the writing is on the wall," she said. "Unfortunately, perc is on its way out for our industry. We will continue to fight this battle and do the best we can to extend the period, but this air district is out to eliminate perc."
Drycleaners are not the only perc-users targeted by the SCAQMD's Air Toxics Control Plan. Perc use in motion picture film processing and cleaning/degreasing operations would also be put under new restrictions intended to further reduce their perc usage. And numerous other substances used in many other industries would also face new regulatory controls in the Air District's plan.
SCAQMD's Rule 1421, which controls perc drycleaning operations, was originally adopted in 1994 and amended in 1997. Rule 1421 outlawed transfer machines as of 1998 and established other equipment specifications, operational and maintenance procedures and record-keeping for drycleaning plants. The rule also requires each plant to have a trained and tested owner or operator.
More information on current and proposed rules for drycleaners is available on the SCAQMD web site: www.aqmd.gov.
The Oregon Dry Cleaners Association will hold its annual convention at Driftwood Shores in Florence, OR, Oct 5-7.
Featured speakers will include Sid Tuchman of Tuchman Training Systems and Eric Wilson of HR Integrated Solutions.
Tuchman will share his opinions on how the Internet might affect the drycleaning industry, based on his perspectives not only as a long-time industry member, but also as a member of the board of directors for Purpletie.com which attempted -- and failed -- to initiate an Internet based drycleaning service.
Wilson will bring his expertise and insights on human resources issues, including employee handbooks and policies, interviewing techniques and temp-agency hiring and employee leasing.
Attendees will also get an update from Oregon Department of Environmental quality which administers drycleaning regulations in the state. Among those are clean-air permits which will soon be imposed on cleaners who have failed in required record-keeping responsibilities.
Other activities will feature a golf tournament, a banquet and a general membership meeting.
Another topic for the convention is the development of drycleaning operations by Goodwill Industries in the Eugene area.
Kathey Butters, ODCA president, reported in the association's August newsletter that Goodwill is operating two drycleaning stores with plans to open its own plant to service those stores and others.
"Not only has Goodwill purchased and built in prime locations over the past few years, but they have many state benefits," Butters wrote. "One of those benefits gives them first rights to all state contracts. They also have free community service ads on the radio, a benefit they are currently using to promote the two stores they are operating in the Eugene area."
Butters said the association is concerned about the impact that Goodwill's drycleaning operations could have on cleaners in the area. She said ODCA is considering hiring a firm that could represent the industry's interests in this matter.
For more information on ODCA and its activities, call the association, (541) 855-1227, or visit its web site: www.oregondrycleaners.org.
The California Cleaners Association will be offering a two-part seminar on Garment Finishing in the near future.
Part one of the series will take place on Saturday, Sept. 8, and part two is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 13.
The classes will be held at Snow Cleaners in Stockton, CA. The cost per session is $75 for CCA members and $125 for non-members.
CCA will also be hosting a Shirt Unit Finishing seminar on Saturday, Nov. 10, which will cost the same and will also take place at Snow Cleaners.
For information, or to register, call CCA at (916) 443-0986.
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