National Clothesline

An impressive lineup of industry experts will highlight the International Fabricare Institute’s conference during the grand opening weekend at its new headquarters in Laurel, MD.

The weekend celebration begins on Friday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. with a tour of IFI’s new facility which boasts more than 20,000 square feet and the latest in equipment and technology.

The official ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich has been invited to preside over the ceremony. A reception will follow.

A day of back-to-back seminars, co-sponsored by IFI and the IFI Alumni Society, is planned for Saturday. The morning will begin with a continental breakfast and welcoming addresses by IFI CEO Bill Fisher and local government officials.

The first of five seminars will get

MAC plans commemoration
for Ed Boorstein

The MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners will dedicate a commemorative brick in honor of Ed Boorstein during the grand opening of IFI’s new headquarters.

Boorstein, a long-time MAC member, died Sept. 29 after a lengthy illness. Among his many accomplishments as a drycleaner, he was the first recipient of IFI’s Certified Environmental Drycleaner designation and the first recipient of IFI’s Meritorious Achievement Award for Industry Positive Recognition. He was also a leader in IFI’s Peer Review Group.

MAC will honor Boorstein on Friday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. with the unveiling of a brick on Legacy Lane. Industry members have been invited to purchase “Legacy Lane” bricks to honor individuals and companies that have made contributions over the years. Many of those bricks will be ready for viewing during the dedication.

MAC described Boorstein as a true mentor, noting that he was “a wise and trusted counselor and teacher.”

In addition to his involvement with industry associations throughout the years, he wrote articles for trade publications that sought to be thought-provoking and encouraging progress in the industry. His professionalism was exemplified in Prestige Exceptional Fabricare, the business he operated with his wife, Ruth.

The family has requested that remembrances be made to Threshold Services, Inc., 1398 Lamberton, Dr. #3, Silver Spring, MD. Threshold Services is a non-profit mental health organization which Boorstein was involved in as a board member and chairman of the board.

underway at 8:30 a.m. when IFI President-Elect Gary Dawson will host an hour long session on “Government Working with Small Business.” He and Karen Brown, Small Business Ombudsmen for the U.S. EPA, will discuss how businesses can ease the friction between themselves and the regulating bodies. Both speakers are well-versed on the subject since Brown is an advocate for small businesses in the EPA’s office in Washington, DC, and Dawson is one of the founders of the Florida Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Program.

Shifting gears, attendees will next have an opportunity to learn more about the suit-making process with a seminar from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. by Ralph McElroy, president of Hart Schaffner Marx University.

Cleaners who want to unlock the mysteries behind the construction of fine suits will want to be present. McElroy will serve as a tour guide of the 140 to 150 different parts of a suit, as well as the 150 different operations that are required to construct a suit.

He will draw on his 35 years of men’s wear industry experience (including 25 with Hart Schaffner Marx) to outline the importance of the fusible layer and how to property care for suits.

At 10:45 a.m., IFI Garment Analyst Chris Allsbrooks will look at the issue of “Keeping Your Customers Satisfied.”

During her 11 years working at IFI’s International Textile Analysis Laboratory, Allsbrooks has appeared on various television broadcasts on a national level, including ABC’s “Good Morning America.” She has also been used as an expert source for many national publications such as GQ and Glamour.

In her seminar, Allsbrooks will pose the question, “Do you know what your customers want in ‘high quality’ garments?”

She will offer her definitions of quality during the interactive session that will include group exercises. There will also be time for networking so cleaners can find out what their peers are doing to satisfy their customers.

Following a break for lunch, Dennis McCrory will resume the educational seminars with one on “Maximizing Your Revenue Potential” at 1:15 p.m.

As president of The Golomb Group, a management-consulting firm that specializes in marketing strategies for drycleaners, McCrory knows many cost-effective methods of advertising designed to give industry members the most for their money.

After studying psychology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, McCrory became the manager of a cleaning plant. Since then, he has spent 37 years discovering what marketing strategies work best for drycleaners.

The last speaker of the day will be Jane Zellers, CED, president of the IFI Alumni Society and chief instructor for the Southwest Drycleaner Association’s school on the campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. She has also held posts with the Texas Women’s University, the International Drycleaners Congress, the Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association and the Central Pennsylvania Drycleaners Association.

She will examine “Marketing Production Standards” between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Her session will emphasize a wide range of production and efficiency issues such as pieces-per-hour for various plant workstations. She will seek to help cleaners work smarter, not harder, so that they may achieve higher levels of efficiency.

“With today’s economy, small and large operators are finding that they need to focus on quality as well as productivity to survive,” Zellers said. “Gone is the day, in my opinion, that everyone can work at their own pace. And I think years ago, small, medium, and large operators tolerated that a little bit more, but the economy does not allow us to do it anymore. Monitoring production is a major key to success in today’s business.”

An evening cocktail reception will complete the day’s activities.

The Saturday program will be held at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel located at 300 South Charles St. in Baltimore. Registration is $149 per IFI member and $219 per IFI non-member.

A special room rate of $159 per night plus tax is available to those who call the hotel at (800) 325-3535 and mention their affiliation with the IFI conference.

To register for the weekend, contact IFI Registrar Susan Bale at (800) 638-2627, Ext. 1603 or visit the association's web site at www.ifi.org.