National Clothesline

Fourteen students graduated IFI’s Introduction to Dry Cleaning course on July 17, and 10 graduated the Advanced Course on July 31. Both courses were at the IFI School of Drycleaning Technology in Silver Spring, MD. IFI will host its first courses in its new facility in Laurel, MD, October 18.

Bloomington Cleaners received a Kelley Green Award from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in recognition of its environmental friendly business practices.

“I see this as a recognition of our industry as much as for Bloomington Cleaners,” said Bloomington Cleaners owner Steve Arthur. “Our industry historically hasn’t had the best of reputations. But we’ve made great strides in recent years.”

Arthur is vice president of the Indiana Drycleaning and Laundry Association and in line to be the association’s next president. Both he and Susan Johnson, who is responsible for the cleaning and laundering of garments at Bloomington Cleaners, have Certified Environmental Drycleaner certificates from IFI. David, Arthur’s son, is a graduate of IFI. Bloomington Cleaners also has received a five-star rating from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

All 18 Delken Dry Cleaning locations will gather donations to benefit local Salvation Army food pantries at all 18 of its locations. All food goods and money collected will be donated directly to local facilities.

Delken locations include Dartmouth, MA, Fairhaven, MA, Fall River, MA, New Bedford, MA, Providence, RI Somerset, MA, Wareham, MA, and North Attleboro, MA.

Customers who make donations will be eligible to win $100 in free Delken services in monthly drawings.

Delken Dry Cleaning and Coin Laundries have been serving southeastern Massachusetts for over 20 years.

The company offers a range of services including clothes storage, a frequent cleaner club, free garment storage, expert alterations, wedding gown cleaning and preservation, water repellent garment cleaning and drapery, bedspread cleaning.

Chip Bifano has been named president of the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN), an international organization of textile restoration experts serving insurance adjusters, contractors, contents cleaning companies and homeowners.

In his new position, Bifano will be responsible for CRDN’s day-to-day operations, along with involvement in strategic planning, personnel, and systems and programs implementation.

For the past two years, Bifano served as CRDN’s vice president of field operations. During this time, Bifano assisted CRDN members nationwide with integration into the CRDN network, identified areas for increased operational efficiency and helped members implement systems to enhance productivity.

The announcement was made by Wayne Wudyka, CEO and founder of CRDN. He said he will now focus more on CRDN’s strategic relationships, regional and national sales efforts, and direct involvement with CRDN’s operators.

“CRDN has been privileged to have Chip’s involvement, guidance and direction during the early stages of our organization’s growth,” Wudyka said. “Now, as we expand the depth and breadth of CRDN across the United States, the United Kingdom and into Canada, our leadership team also needs to grow. I am confident that Chip will continue to provide strong leadership based on his depth of experience, management skills and track record of success.”

Before joining CRDN, Bifano spent many years with Paul Davis Restoration (PDR). He began as a franchise owner and, after building a business from the ground up, worked as a regional manager for the corporate offices of PDR in Jacksonville, FL. During his time with PDR, Bifano gained experience in franchise sales, management, and operations and became established in the structural side of the insurance restoration industry. Among other positions there, he was the director of operations for the eastern half of the United States and was responsible for 150 businesses.

Founded in mid-2001 in partnership with Service Brands International of Ann Arbor, MI, and Huntington Cleaners in Huntington Woods, MI, CRDN was designed for drycleaners to build their business through insurance restoration services. CRDN seeks to bridge the gap between drycleaners and the insurance industry, which stands to save hundreds of millions of dollars each year through restoration drycleaning services, with a cost average of only 16 percent of the replacement of goods.

Service Brands International is an umbrella organization for franchise brands such as Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and 1-800-Dryclean.

Three distributors have joined the Fabricare Choice distributors group which serves the laundry and drycleaning industry.

New members of the group include A-1 Products of Birmingham, AL, Cleaners Products of New York and Philadelphia and Richclean of Richmond, VA.

Dryclean USA, Inc., announced that Alan I. Greenstein, who joined the company recently as executive vice president and chief operating officer, has acquired a 21.5 percent equity position in the company from the company’s two principal stockholders.

His responsibilities cover all aspects of the company’s sales and marketing operations and it is expected that he will also be elected as a director of the company. He will also examine growth opportunities for the company, including acquisitions, according to Michael Steiner, president of Dryclean USA.

Separately, the company announced the expansion of the distribution territory for its existing product lines. Venerando Indelicato, chief financial officer, said the company has increased representation for its commercial laundry equipment in Tampa Bay, Orlando and Jacksonville in addition to its historical southeast Florida base. Several additional sales engineers, specializing in commercial laundry equipment, were added to cover the new territory.

Greenstein and a partner acquired a Thrifty Car Rental business in 2001 with an existing fleet of 1,800 vehicles. Within three years, the franchise grew to a fleet of 7,500 vehicles with revenues exceeding $82 million. The business was then acquired by Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc., the national franchisor. Previously, he developed a chain of retail drycleaning and laundry stores.

Dryclean USA, Inc. consists of more than 400 franchised and licensed stores in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Founded in 1960, its drycleaning and laundry machinery division is a leading distributors of industrial laundry equipment, drycleaning machines and steam boilers.

The Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA) announced that former EPA official Bob Schaffer has joined the association as director of environmental affairs.

Schaffer will pilot the management of TRSA initiatives aimed at enhancing environmental protection, such as the Laundry Environmental Stewardship Program (LaundryESP), an industry-sponsored initiative that recently announced dramatic gains in energy/water conservation and progress in reducing effluent wastes.

Schaffer previously has chaired TRSA’s Environment Committee as director of the environmental program for Coyne Textile Services (CTS), Syracuse, NY. He has over 45 years of experience in the environmental field, including working in industry, government and consulting.

After serving in the U.S. Public Health Service, he joined Dow Chemical Co., developing and testing chemicals for wastewater treatment. As a senior executive in the U.S. EPA, he managed programs in research, enforcement and regulatory development.

“I look forward to joining the TRSA staff and developing a strong program that will provide our members with helpful products and guidance to meet ever-increasing federal, state and local environmental requirements,” Schaffer said. “Environmental issues are industry issues, and we will continue working to achieve the best results for members.”

Schaffer has managed the Washington, DC, offices of major environmental consultants serving government and industry. He joined Coyne Textile Services in 1993 and will continue his service there.

“As textile rental companies ramp up their efforts on resource conservation and pollutant reduction from commercial laundries, TRSA must lead the way on environmental issues,” said TRSA President and CEO Roger Cocivera. “Bob Schaffer is uniquely qualified to do just that. I am delighted that he is coming on board.”

TRSA is a national trade association representing over 1,100 company locations across the nation. TRSA members serve hygienically clean textile and dust control items to millions of customers in commerce, industry, and other professions, from automobile service to manufacturing, restaurants and hospitals. The textile rental industry generates yearly sales of roughly $11 billion. U.S. linen supply and industrial laundering companies employ more than 110,000 people.