National Clothesline

Marty E. Wade of Clothing Care in Hampton, VA, was elected president of the Wedding Gown Specialists Association at the group’s three-day conference in Nashville, TN.

The conference featured a tour of Edward Mannis’ Prestige Cleaners. Mannis also addressed the conference on the importance of brand identification.

Other speakers included Laura Barron of The Barron Group who discussed the importance of word-of-mouth marketing and helped the group define the difference between good and exceptional service.

Cynthia Schilling also spoke about the association’s new training center in Gahanna, OH and a panel of long-time members showed the group how to value the expertise needed for cleaning specialty gowns and heirloom clothing.

New association members who attended the meeting included Paula Kostick of Classic Drycleaners in Lemoyne, PA; John Lappe of Museum Quality in Peekskill, NY;, Richard Reese of Your Valet Cleaners in Ogden, UT; Tom and Harriet Tanglos of Clothes Call in Crofton, MD; and Dan and Bailey Dempsey of Twin City Cleaners in Winston-Salem, NC.

Other new members of the group included Chris Edwards of Shores Fine Dry Cleaners in Greensboro, NC; Christa Hagearty of Dependable Cleaners in Quincy, MA; Alex Kim of Swiss Cleaners in Riverside, CA; Randall Bishop of Bibbentuckers in Dallas, TX; and Kermit Engh of Fashion Cleaners in Omaha, NE.

The Wedding Gown Specialists Association is a not-for-profit association that serves as a marketing cooperative for members, including a referral service for brides who find the association’s care labels in gowns made by more than 60 manufacturers.

The group also operates as a buying cooperative that provides supplies such as acid-free, archival quality wedding chests for its members.

Both the Association of Bridal Consultants and the National Bridal Service endorse the association’s museum preservations, which include a guarantee honored by all members of the association.

More information is available by calling the association’s office (800) 501-5005 or e-mailing info@WeddingGownSpecialists.com. The association will have a booth at the Clean Show in Las Vegas.

New owners take the reins at Kean’s

Kean’s the Cleaner, a family-owned Baton Rouge, LA, business started over 100 years ago, has been sold by Frank Kean to business partner Gerard G. “Rock” Rockenbaugh, Jr. for an undisclosed sum.

In December of 2001, Rockenbaugh purchased a 15 percent share of the business with the intention of buying the remainder in 12 to 16 months when Kean was ready to retire.

“A great family-owned business is staying family-owned,” said Kean. “Rock and his family have the energy and dedication to be the hands-on kind of owners that it takes to run a business this size which depends on customer service and quality. I’m ready to enjoy my place in North Carolina, do more hunting and fishing, and spend more time with my wife, Virginia,” Kean said.

His retirement will be a part-time one, Kean said. “I still have several properties that I will continue to manage, and I will probably do some consulting work for drycleaners in other parts of the country,” said Kean. “I’ve made a lot of contacts nationally through our industry associations and leadership groups, and I’ve given out a lot of free advice over the past 30 years. Maybe now somebody would be willing to pay me for it.”

Rockenbaugh, a CPA, has shared the title and duties of managing partner at the company with Kean for the past 15 months. He and his wife Missy and their two sons, Stephen, age 16, and Gregory, age 19, have worked behind the counters at all of the 20 locations of Kean’s over the past year to get to know the business and the customers, he said.

“We will be very visible and involved in all aspects of the business, but especially out front where the customers and employees can see us and talk to us,” said Rockenbaugh. There are no plans to change the name of the company, he said.

A native of Kenner, LA, Rockenbaugh has lived in Baton Rouge for the past 16 years. He has spent most of his professional career in accounting and finance for various industries in Louisiana including construction, manufacturing, sales and health care. Prior to his association with Kean’s, he spent six years as chief financial officer of a consortium of companies with a primary focus in health care.

Kean first came to the cleaners in 1969 when it was primarily a pick-up and delivery service operation with 28 routes in place. Today there are 20 locations of Kean’s and just one route in operation. “The procedures we use today to wash, press and dryclean clothes have not changed that much since those days,” said Kean. “The technology has improved and the process is much more friendly to the environment, though. Our company was one of the first in our industry to be sensitive to that issue, and it’s one of the many accomplishments that all the people who have worked for Kean’s over the years can be proud of,” he said.

Kean said that the new owners are committed to continuing the company’s tradition of supporting community causes and organizations in the Baton Rouge area.

“If anything, we will expand that support even more,” said Rockenbaugh, “It’s one of the reasons our family wanted to be associated with Kean’s, and we will definitely keep that tradition going.”

Kean’s is known for supporting causes such as the annual Coats for Kids drive, used school uniforms collections, the LSU Library’s used book collection, Baton Rouge Green, and many more, Rockenbaugh said.

The academic careers of two college-bound high school students will get a boost from the Textile Care Allied Trades Association in the form of scholarship awards.

Stephen Berge of Bettendorf, IA, was selected as the recipient of the Dean Allen Scholarship and Ryan Dawson of Naperville, IL, was selected for the Max Zimmerman Scholarship.

Berge placed in the top one percent of students taking the ACT texts and maintained a grade point average of 4.05, including several honors classes. His extracurricular activities included drama club, swim team and editor of the school newspaper. He plans to pursue a liberal arts degree at Grinnell College in Iowa.

Berge is the son of Charles Berge, who is employed by Brim Laundry Machinery in Dallas, TX.

Dawson scored in the top five percent nationally on the SAT test and maintained a 3.8 grade point average, including several honors courses. He is an intern at an engineering firm and a guitarist in a rock band and has served as a leader with the Boy Scouts. Dawson plans to pursue an engineering degree at the University of Illinois.

He is the son of Dave Dawson of R. R. Street & Co. Inc. in Naperville, IL.

TCATA’s scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic achievement, leadership and courses of studies. Recipients receive $1,000 toward tuition for each of four years of college.

The two scholarships commemorate long-time TCATA members Dean Allen and Max Zimmerman.

FreezeCo Systems, Ltd., a refrigeration system manufacturer based in Toronto, Canada, purchased all the assets of ArctiChill last year. Now a new company, 200 Park, Inc., d/b/a ArctiChill will operate as ArctiChill from the Newberry, SC, facility, offering a line of chillers, tower cells and systems for industrial, medical, military and drycleaning applications.

“Product quality, reliability and service have all been improved since the acquisition late last year,” said Jackson Ball, Director of Business Development for the group of companies. We are able to retain the best and most experienced employees, so ramping up production was an easy task. Despite rumors to the contrary, there are no other authorized users of the ArctiChill name,” he added.

For more information. contact Jill Miller at ArctiChill, (800) 849-7778, or visit the web site: www.arctichill.com.

Andy Uhr, owner of Fishtown Laundromat in Philadelphia, PA, received the Coin Laundry Association’s Member of the Year Award, which is presented to the CLA member who has made the most significant contribution during the current year to the benefit of CLA, its members, and/or the industry at large.

As an active participant in the industry, Uhr was one of the sparkplugs for the start of the Delaware Valley Coin Laundry Association, for which he serves as vice-president.

The Founders Award, one of the top awards given by CLA, was presented to Jeff Deal, president of Hamilton Engineering, Inc. in Livonia, MI. The award recognizes lifetime contributions to the coin laundry industry and is reserved for those who are pioneers in the business and directly responsible for growth of the coin laundry industry and/or CLA.

Other awards presented by CLA included the following:

Outstanding Director Award. Pat Sullivan, vice president of laundry operations for the Dexter Company in Fairfield, IA.

Excellence in Education Award. Bob Eisenberg, senior vice president of sales coin laundry division of IPSO, USA.

Outstanding Affiliate Award. Richard Burgard, president of the Golden State Coin Laundry Association in northern California.

Chairman's Plaque. Reynolds Smith, store owner and president of the Florida Coin Laundry Association, an affiliate of the national CLA.

Leadership Awards. Clay Pederson, distributor and president of Business Consultants International, based in San Diego, CA, and president of the San Diego County Coin Laundry Association; Mike Floyd, executive-vice president of Continental Girbau located in Oshkosh, WI; and Kenneth Cherry, owner of The Big Wash Tub, in Columbia, TN, and president of the Tennessee Coin Laundry Association

Distinguished Service Awards. Rick Rawlins, president of R&B Wire Products, a cart manufacturer based in Santa Ana, CA; Bob Frandsen, owner of Homestyle Laundries in Rush City, MN; and Aaron Thompkins, owner of Highlander Laundry Center in El Cerrito, CA.

Fred Stout of Fabritec International passed away suddenly after suffering a heart attack, the company announced last month.

Stout worked with Fabritec, Sanitone and Stamford chemical customers in New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and, most recently, in Northern California. He had over 45 years of experience in the drycleaning industry.

Fabritec International manufactures drycleaning, laundry and professional wetcleaning products under the Sanitone, Stamford and Fabritec names. The company is headquartered in Cold Spring, KY.