Southwest
Three District 6 associations discuss
merger
Three IFI affiliate associations are
currently discussing plans for a possible merger into one joint
association that would cover a total of eight District 6
states.
The Southwest Drycleaners Association,
which currently serves members in Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas
and Oklahoma, may unite with the Mid-America Fabricare
Association, consisting of member states Kansas and Missouri,
and the Louisiana-Mississippi Drycleaners & Laundry
Association.
“We’ve got a merger team
comprised of the presidents — the existing and incoming
presidents of each association — as well as the executive
directors,” said Andrew Stanley, Jr., executive director
of SDA.
“So far, we’ve got approval
from the SDA board to proceed. LMDLA, as I understand it, put
out a resolution to proceed on the first of December and MAFA
meets in January,” he added. “The spirit of
cooperation is there. We want it to happen.”
According to Stanley, the merger
plan has already been discussed with IFI and they have been
supportive of the idea, as well.
“Our merger team is going through
the association by-laws and that entire process,” Stanley
said. “The bottom line is that we want to present a very
positive merger plan to our respective memberships.”
One big reason for a merger is that it
could lead to more member services for everybody. “The
associations came to the conclusion collectively that the size,
the number of services and the enhanced member benefits really
could be there.”
Stanley added that SDA liked the idea of
the merger because its own expansion during the past decade has
been very successful. “We looked back at our profile, how
our association has grown from one state — Texas back in
1993 — to three others over the period from 1993 to 1995
when we added Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas, and felt very
comfortable with the process.
“Those states have grown and
prospered as part of our association and we have certainly
benefited from having the outlook of cleaners from the other
three states. So, we’re just very excited about the
potential to have a good strong association.”
For more information, contact SDA at (210)
826-4684, LMDLA at (601) 939-0710, or MAFA by calling (314)
843-1881.
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IFI hosts stain removal class in February
The International Fabricare Institute will
be conducting a hands-on stain removal seminar on Feb. 2, 2002,
at the Avon Cleaners facilities located in Dallas, TX.
The course, which will be held from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., costs $99 per person for IFI/SDA members and $129
per person for non-members. A $10 discount will be given for
each additional person who registers from the same plant.
The price includes the cost of materials
for the course and lunch. Because class size is limited,
cleaners are encouraged to register as soon as possible by
calling IFI’s Education Department at (800) 638-2627,
ext. 144, or by e-mail at education@ifi.org.
A full list of IFI’s outreach
seminars for 2002 can be obtained by going to IFI’s web
site at: www.ifi.org/industry/educational/outreach.html.
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