National Clothesline

Navisa Inc., a Houston-based hanger manufacturing firm, has acquired the Brenham, TX, plant of Cleaners Hanger Company, one of the largest hanger manufacturing plants in the nation. Navisa took over operations in December and held a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony last month.

Navisa, a family owned and operated company that was formed in 1997, won the bidding to purchase the manufacturing equipment after CHC filed for bankruptcy last year. Negotiations have been finalized to purchase the 150,000-sq.-ft. facility along with 16 acres of surrounding property.

After CHC purchased Midwest Hanger Manufacturing in 2002, it moved most of the manufacturing equipment to Brenham. The acquisition of the Brenham plant in addition to its Houston operation lets Navisa consolidate three companies into one of the largest manufacturing plants of wire hangers in the country.

Navisa can make 25,000 struts, 10,000 shirt hangers and 9,000 clean grip hangers per week.

A line of industrial hangers for the uniform rental industry also will be available. Plans are to expand the production capacity to create more than 100 jobs.

Tillyn Lowery, vice president of Navisa Inc., said, “The Houston plant will continue business as usual while the Brenham facility will focus on selling to distributors in the other 49 states. We look forward to serving distributors throughout North America and would also like to thank our current distributors who support us.”

One of Navisa’s marketing points is that it also manufactures poly garment bags, thus customers can receive poly and hangers from the same delivery truck.

Jim Jaco has joined Navisa Inc. as director of national sales. He has experience selling to distributors and has worked in the uniform rental industry. Jaco will lead Navisa’s efforts to expand into markets across the United States, selling to distributors and uniform rental companies. He can be reached at (800) 227-5452 or on his cell phone at (832) 640-1638.

Navisa’s Houston headquarters phone number is (713) 644-1443.

The Alliance of Professional Restoration Drycleaners (APRD), an organization of restoration drycleaners in the United States and Canada, has named Mike Lees as its executive vice president of national sales and marketing.

Lees’ appointment was announced to APRD members at the group’s recent annual meeting,

which also marked the one year anniversary of the organization. In its first year, APRD doubled its membership and now includes nearly 50 restoration drycleaners in major markets in North America. The combined annual revenue of member companies exceeds $100 million.

Lees will develop national and regional preferred vendor partnerships with insurance companies, restoration contractors and others involved in the property claims process. He will also be responsible for strategic business planning, account management and organizational infrastructure development.

“Mike’s strong industry background and his proven record of developing national preferred vendor programs makes him a valuable asset to APRD and its members,” said Eddie Mannis, owner of Prestige Cleaners in Knoxville, TN, and chairman of the APRD board of directors. “His tremendous leadership skills and energy will help our organization continue to grow and thrive.”

Lees brings more than 15 years of sales and management experience to APRD. Prior to joining APRD, Lees previously served as national accounts manager for Servpro Industries, Inc., which is a privately held restoration franchisor with more than 1,200 franchise locations.

At Servpro, he developed the company’s preferred vendor relationships with insurance companies and managed other large national accounts throughout the United States. He also directed the company’s catastrophe services, the large loss program and commercial national accounts. Lees was employed by Servpro Industries, Inc. for about seven years.

Prior to his work with Servpro Industries Inc., Lees was a regional sales manager and territory manager for Cue Paging where he was responsible for development and implementation of strategic marketing strategies and overall sales operations.

Lees completed coursework in Business Administration in Management at the University of Tennessee at Martin and the University of Memphis. He also attended professional training programs and seminars, including advanced restoration training (fire and water damage restoration), water damage restoration training, Dale Carnegie, and other management, marketing and sales courses.

As a peer-qualified group of restoration drycleaning specialists, APRD employs a rigorous selection process that ensures members provide responsive service and high quality. Restoration drycleaning is a specialized process for cleaning clothing, household fabrics and other items after a fire, flood, mold or other disaster. Restoring these items, instead of replacing them, can save thousands of dollars on a single claim and millions over a number of claims.

For locations of APRD members, call (800) 540-APRD.

In response to increased demand for its products and services, Hamilton Engineering has made the following changes and additions to its sales and support staff:

Mark Howlett has been named sales and marketing manager. He has been with Hamilton for four years as Midwest regional sales manager and has an extensive background in sales and marketing through a distribution network. His primary responsibilities are to hire and train additional sales personnel and help position the company for future expansion and sales growth.

Assuming the Midwest territory’s duties is Bill Holbird. He joins Hamilton with several years experience with distributors in the industrial market. Holbird recently completed several weeks of training to get up to speed on the laundry industry and Hamilton’s wide array of total water management products and services.

Eduardo Espinosa has been named to the newly created position of Latin America regional sales manager. Espinosa’s background is in the water heating business. He will establish a presence for Hamilton in countries south of the border.

Rhonda Erhart fills the role of the newly created position of inside sales coordinator. She is responsible for backing up Hamilton’s direct sales staff and assisting customers with sales related questions. In her seven years with Hamilton, she has held several positions, most recently that of office manager.

When combined with Tom Towry as the Western region sales manager and Mike Moser managing the Atlantic region, these moves increase Hamilton’s dedicated sales personnel from three to six. Hamilton offers around-the-clock technical assistance through its dedicated technical staff at (800) 968-5530.

The Coin Laundry Association recently re-elected three board members who joined newcomer Ron Lane as part of the association’s board of directors beginning new terms in 2004.

Hailing from California, Lane is the store owner of the Oasis Laundry in Sacramento, CA. His background in the industry dates back to 1973 and includes active participation in the CLA affiliate Golden State Coin Laundry Association.

Lane began his term on January 1, 2004. Joining him are three directors who have previously served one three-year term on the board, including Mike Floyd, who resides in Ripon, WI. Over the past 17 years, Floyd has worked as a manager for various leading laundry equipment manufacturers; currently, he serves as the executive vice president of Continental Girbau, Inc.

Also re-elected was Jefferson Hooper, president of Salem Laundry Company, Inc., a chain of six self-serve laundries that have passed through four generations of the same family in Salem, MA. Hooper assisted his father in the marketing and development of the first debit card system with the Easy Card Corporation in the early 1990s.

The final re-elected board director for 2004 is Greg Tompkins, owner of T-N-T Suds, located in Walla Walla, WA. Tompkins is the past-president of the Washington State Coin Laundry Association and operates a family Major Appliance Repair business established in 1966. He has been in the self-service laundry business since 1988 and is now serving a term as the Walla Walla County Commissioner.

Other board of directors currently fulfilling their terms for CLA include: Chairman Gary Gray, owner of Fun Wash, Inc.; Chairman-Elect Bob Eisenberg and Vice Chairman Dan Naumann, both of ASN Laundry Group; Treasurer Clay Pederson of Business Consultants, Inc.; and immediate Past Chairman Sally Collins of Speedwash Launderette, Inc.

Also continuing on the board are Chris Balestracci of Quik Wash Laundromat; Lionel Bogut of CA & Western State Coin Laundry News; Bill Gilbert of Service Laundry Machinery; Amy Gitlin of ESD Inc.; Tom Given of Given Enterprises; Vince Hansen of Vend-Rite Manufacturing; Jay McDonald of Alliance Laundry Systems; Jim McNutt, Jr. of Standard Change-Makers; Cameron Mitchell of Sud-Z Coin Wash & Drycleaning; Pat Sullivan of Dexter Co.; and Kenney Wells of Wells Laundry, Inc.

Nationally recognized business expert Steven D. Strauss has joined the International Fabricare Institute as a columnist. His “Ask an Expert” columns will run in IFI’s monthly magazine, Fabricare, and bi-weekly e-mail newsletters (The IFI Insider and IFI’s Hot Press), with past columns archived on IFI’s web site, www.ifi.org. Strauss said questions from the Institute’s more than 6,000 members could appear in subsequent columns and may be answered individually.

Within the fabric care industry, Strauss is sharing his small business insights exclusively with IFI, augmenting the specific drycleaning-related advice dispensed by IFI’s technical experts.

“I have more than 10 years of experience in helping small businesses grow and have counseled thousands of entrepreneurs,” Strauss said. “I understand what today’s small business owners need to be successful. It is my hope that my partnership with a first-rate organization like IFI will help its members’ businesses grow even bigger.”

In addition to working with IFI, Strauss is a speaker, lawyer, and author. Regularly featured on such media outlets as CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC, Strauss runs the California-based Strauss Law Firm and has written 12 books, including The Business Startup Kit: Everything You Need to Know about Starting and Growing Your Own Business and The Big Idea: How Business Innovators Get Great Ideas to Market.

David H. Leahy III has joined Boston Textile as vice president of sales. Founded in 1933 by the Leahy family, Boston Textile provides coverage for linen needs of commercial customers throughout New England and the Eastern Seaboard from its headquarters in Quincy, MA.

The company supplies commercial customers such as hotels, hospitals, nursing homes and food service with a wide range of name brand, high quality textile products such as sheets, blankets, bedspreads, geriatric products, kitchen and hospital apparel, towels, pillows, mattresses, tablecloths and napkins, and draperies/cubicle curtains.

A graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Bachelor of Arts, Leahy will be responsible for generating new clients for Boston Textile. Alongside the company’s sales force of four, he will also assist Boston Textile’s 1,500 active customers. He previously worked in the mutual fund industry.

“We are delighted to have David carry on the 70-year family tradition of providing personal attention and service to our growing customer base,” noted David H. Leahy II.

For more information, call (800) 595-3249.

Regenesis has added company representatives in several areas to meet demand for the company’s groundwater remediation products, business development and technical expertise.

Maureen Dooley is the Northeast regional manager covering Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. She is based in Wakefield, MA, and can be reached at (781) 245-1320.

Erik White is the New York-New Jersey district manager, covering New York City, New Jersey and southern New York. He is based in New York, NY, and can be reached at (212) 772-6686.

Leonard Chan is the Northeast district manager covering central to eastern Canada and Upstate New York. He is based in Toronto, Ontario, and can be reached at (416) 595-9841.

Michael Mazzarese is the Mid-Atlantic district manager covering eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. He is based in Baltimore, MD, and can be reached at (410) 685-6890.

The company’s corporate headquarters are in San Clemente, CA, and it has regional and district offices throughout the United States.