New directors join IFI board in Vegas
When IFI inducts its incoming board
members and officers during its summer meeting at Clean
’03 in Las Vegas, the association will have a clear
objective: to keep its members a step ahead of the rest of the
cleaning industry.
Helping to accomplish that goal will be
two new directors — Tom Gosselin and Peter Valessares
— both of whom have previously served as district
committee members for IFI’s board prior to being elected
to their new posts.
Gosselin is president of Kleen
Incorporated, which was founded by his grandfather in Lebanon,
New Hampshire back in 1919. He will replace Don Fawcett as
IFI’s District 1 Director.
In all, Gosselin has more than 40 years of
industry experience and has been actively involved with the
North East Fabricare Association for over 15 years, where he
served a term as president in 1999-2000 and currently serves on
the board of directors.
He was also president of the International
Drycleaners Congress in 2001 and remains on that
organization’s board.
His family’s business has grown
considerably over the years to include five stores, four coin
laundries and one healthcare facility. Yet, Gosselin still
believes that smaller cleaners comprise the backbone of IFI.
“I think we, as an association, may
have lost sight of the problems facing smaller cleaners out
there,” he said. “Most of the members on the boards
of these associations are guys who don’t have to start
the boiler every morning, or don’t have to replace Mary
on the press if she’s late or can’t make it in that
day. I want to see what else we can do for the smaller cleaners
and how else we can help them.”
He also added that his main goal will be
to help all IFI cleaners survive, especially if America’s
economy struggles. “That’s our job, to give members
the advantage over non-members,” he said. “If every
member took advantage of all the information that’s
available to them, they would greatly increase their chances of
coming out of this thing ahead.”
Joining Gosselin as a new IFI director
will be Peter Valessares, CED, CPD. He will reside over
District 5.
Valessares took over his father’s
drycleaning business — M.K. Cleaners of Chicago, Illinois
— in November of 1970 when his father suddenly died of a
heart attack. Since then, he has become more and more active in
the industry and his local community.
Recently, he spearheaded a gathering of
industry leaders who met with City of Chicago Finance Committee
Chairman Alderman Edward Burke in an effort to thwart
legislation seeking a complete citywide ban on the use of
perchloroethylene.
“We are past the days where a
cleaner could sit in a vacuum and make a decent living without
being involved,” Valessares said. “Now and in the
future you have to be more aware of the issues within the
industry, and I want to help our members succeed and remain a
step ahead of the rest of the industry.”
He also believes that IFI is an
indispensable service for cleaners.
“In a time of such change in our
industry, an IFI member has ready access to the necessary
technical, environmental and regulatory information he or she
needs with one phone call,” he explained. “This
information is not readily available anywhere else and it can
mean the difference between being profitable and losing your
business.”
In addition to its new directors, IFI will
be shuffling many of its current elected personnel into new
positions. When the new term begins, Chairman Lang Houston of
Crest Cleaners in Cocoa, Florida, will no longer be on the
association’s board, but, instead, serve as an IFI
Senator, providing advice and expertise whenever such
assistance is required.
Jim Cripe, who is wrapping up his term as
president, will succeed Houston as Chairman. Cripe owns Valet
Cleaners in Temple, Texas.
The president’s seat will be filled
by Don Fawcett, owner of Dependable Cleaners in Massachusetts.
He has already been IFI’s District 1 Director for 4 years
and has held the posts of treasurer and president-elect for the
association.
Dan Martino, who owns and operates
Martino’s Master Dry cleaners in Kenosha, WI, will move
up a notch in the leadership chain to the position of
president-elect, meaning he will serve as IFI president in
2004.
Rounding out the batch of newly-elected
officers is Gary Dawson of Belleair Bluffs Cleaners in Florida.
In addition to his duties as District 3 Director for IFI,
Dawson will also be treasurer for the upcoming term.
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