National Clothesline

Welcome to 2004. Are you ready for it? Will this be a year of economic rebound with increasing sales and profits? Or will business remain flat? As John Graham points out in his article on page 52, whether the economy is headed for good times or bad depends on whom you listen to. Since there’s no way to know with certainty what the future holds, the best you can do is to follow the old maxim: “Take care of your business and it will take care of you.”

No matter what the economic climate, certain things must be done to keep a business healthy. Sometimes we get so caught up in the brick-and-mortar part of the business — the machinery, the supplies, the maintenance — that we lose sight of what really makes things work — the people.

First and foremost are your customers. Without them, there is no business. For cleaners, especially, customers are more precious than ever since they seem to be fewer in number, or at least they’re making fewer trips to the cleaners. What do you plan to do this year to keep your existing customers? If you have no plan, be assured that another cleaner has one to get those customers from you. It’s far easier (and cheaper) to keep your customers than it is to get new ones. But no matter how successful you are at keeping customers, there will always be some attrition. You need a plan to get new customers, too. Maybe you can get some from that cleaner who has no plan. Also important are your employees. Unless you want to do all the work yourself, you had better have some good ones. They’re even more difficult to find than new customers, and harder to replace. What prospects do they have if they stay with you for another year?

In the end, it matters not so much how “the economy” does. It’s what you do that counts.

Perhaps it started on a small scale — just a way to earn a little extra spending money — but it grew in scope over time as things sometimes do. Perhaps Hormoz and Harry Pourat simply recognized a golden opportunity and seized it with both hands. Of course, the opportunity that presented itself was unethical and illegal, but it was immensely profitable — at least for a while.

As owners of AAD Distribution and Dry Cleaning Services, Inc., the Pourat brothers perpetrated a long-running hazardous waste disposal scam throughout the western and midwestern United States. They collected tens of thousands of dollars every month from about 300 drycleaners in exchange for handling their old perc… except they never bothered to tell their clients that they weren’t treating and disposing of the solvent properly. Instead, the brothers perpetuated the unlawful conspiracy by falsifying shipping manifests, storing perc drums in ill-equipped buildings and reportedly dumping other drums in public landfills. Because AAD never incinerated or distilled any of the perc, hundreds of dollars per barrel was saved.

For five years, the money rolled in. Then, without warning, the shady practices caught up with the Pourats when prosecutors sought them out for breaking just about every hazardous waste regulation imaginable. Hormoz has since been sentenced to 17 years in prison and over $100,000 in fines by a Jefferson County district court judge. Following a recent trial in California, he was given 37 additional months in federal prison and another financial penalty of $1.29 million. Suddenly, all that money he worked so hard to swindle is gone.

Harry Pourat has paid a heavy price for his misdeeds, as well, despite fleeing the country when authorities initially tried to arrest him. Though he managed to avoid any fines or jail time, his fate was more severe: he committed suicide.

The tragic tale of the two Pourat brothers serves as a harrowing wake-up call for those who believe that breaking a few hazardous waste laws is an easy source of income. Hormoz lost all of his money and a large chapter of his life. As for Harry, he may have felt as if he lost his soul… choosing death over a life as a fugitive. In all likelihood, neither brother realized what they were getting into when they took that first misguided step. Perhaps it started on the smallest of scales, but thanks to prosecutors who are dedicated to catching environmental criminals, we now know where such journeys lead. In the end, there is Hell to pay. It’s hard to imagine that any amount of money is worth that.