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COLUMBUS, Ga. — Sun Ray Dry Cleaners has converted two of its GMC Savana service vans to run on clean propane autogas, the company reports.

Alliance AutoGas helped Sun Ray Dry Cleaners make the switch, and will also provide fuel supply, as well as train drivers how to safely operate and refuel the new propane-powered vehicles.

Additionally, Alliance’s AutoGas program includes the installation of an onsite fuel station, staff safety training, and ongoing technical support.

The initiative reportedly makes Sun Ray Dry Cleaners the first dry cleaner in the area to operate autogas vehicles, which coincides with its investment in more eco-friendly dry cleaning methods.

The new autogas vans are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, harmful pollutants and fuel costs. Fleets operating on propane autogas save upwards of $2 per gallon on fuel versus gasoline, according to Alliance AutoGas.

Sun Ray Dry Cleaners has been serving customers in the Columbus and Fort Benning area for more than 80 years.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Brooklyn-based Bridgestone Cleaners recently made prom season extra special for local teens by donating the professional dry cleaning of more than 50 prom gowns to Operation PROM’s Brooklyn chapter.

The dry cleaner had previously offered its downtown Brooklyn locations as drop-off points for the non-profit organization to help collect prom formal wear, like dresses and tuxedos, for less fortunate students.

A member of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists, Bridgestone Cleaners has cleaned and cared for gowns of all occasions, the company says. Considering this, owner Ken Kinzer wanted to help the organization one step further this year by donating dry cleaning services.

“We met with the Operation PROM people and instantly recognized this was a good thing being done for Brooklyn’s young people, and we wanted to help,” he says.

Shaniqua Schloss, Operation PROM’s Brooklyn chapter director, was grateful for the assistance, citing Bridgestone as having played a fundamental role in making the organization’s first Free Prom Dress Giveaway a “huge success.”

FAIRFAX, Va. — Reid Bechtle is the newly appointed chief executive officer for ZIPS Dry Cleaners, the Mid-Atlantic dry cleaning franchise chain has announced.

This comes on the heels of the company’s recent acquisition by JPB Capital Partners, a Maryland-based private equity firm that makes control investments in lower-middle market companies located primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast United States.

“ZIPS is the perfect opportunity to work with a proven franchisor and enhance a franchise network that is poised for aggressive growth,” Bechtle says. “Together with JPB Capital Partners, I look forward to moving ZIPS Dry Cleaners through its next phase of growth, including improved execution of the existing system and further geographic expansion of the concept.”

LAUREL, Md. — The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) and the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA), both sponsors of the Clean Show, are partnering to host a “blockbuster meet-and-greet networking party” for DLI members and top industry suppliers at the upcoming Clean 2013.

All DLI and TCATA members are welcome at the party slated for 5:30 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 21, in the Royal Sonesta Hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

The cooperative effort between major industry associations is designed to strengthen ties between cleaners and the companies who supply them. The party is a way for both associations to thank members for supporting the industry, says DLI CEO Mary Scalco.

“The bond between cleaners and their suppliers is incredibly strong,” she says. “One of our most important roles at the Institute is to create opportunities for our members to associate, network, get together, or whatever you prefer to call it. By working with TCATA on this event, we are creating an informal atmosphere where suppliers and cleaners can relate on a personal level.”

The Ohio Cleaners Association, along with online marketing company SiteInSight, will present Marketing Your Cleaners to Attract More Customers, a workshop at the New Albany (Ohio) Public Library, on May 8.

Attendees will learn how to get the most bang for their buck when setting up a website and/or online marketing; how to convince people to like their dry cleaning business on Facebook, and why social media is important for their business; and the importance of websites and search rankings and how they relate to other types of advertising.

To learn more about the event, call the OCA at 614-228-4716 or visit www.ohiocleaners.org.

CANCUN, Mexico — When was the last time you shared ideas with industry peers on how to make your dry cleaning business more efficient, expand your customer base, or boost your bottom line?

More than 100 dry cleaning professionals traveled to a Cancun resort in January to exchange best practices during a joint conference sponsored by the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) and the National Cleaners Association (NCA).

Brian Johnson, DLI’s director of education and analysis, called Secrets The Vine resort a “fantastic venue.” Attendees learned each other’s business secrets at daily, three-hour seminars. For example, motivational speaker and author Jack Mitchell discussed his “Hug Your Customers” philosophy that helps his business operating men’s and women’s specialty stores to thrive.

“His methods were fascinating,” says Johnson, explaining that “hugs” are unexpected gestures like placing a birthday card in a customer’s suit pocket.

INDIANAPOLIS — You don’t have to look far to realize the wide range of computer choices that cleaners have. Having more options is great. In many ways, the ability to choose allows you to find the best-fitting computer system.

But that same range of choices can easily be overwhelming, too. It contributes to the fear that you may choose the wrong computer. From a cost view, computers can take a sizable percentage of your total operating budget. A good choice will lead to where costs, compared to returns, are minimal. The gains you experience are far above whatever you paid.

Writing this column takes me back, I hate to admit, about 20 years. I was with a small company that focused on “contract programming.” This is back when most companies had what were called mini, or mainframe, computers. PCs were just coming out. There was no universally accepted operating system.

CHICAGO — Martinizing Dry Cleaning franchise reports the opening of the first of five stores planned in the south and southwest Chicago suburbs.

New franchisee Vince Aversano was awarded the five-store exclusive development rights to the south-southwest suburbs of Chicago, which include the Illinois villages of Frankfort, Mokena, Orland Park, New Lenox, Tinley Park, Joliet, Palos Heights, Oak Forest, and Romeoville.

Aversano’s plant is a 2,000-square-feet (with another 500 square feet of “flex-space”) end cap located in the Mokena Towne Square shopping center. The dry cleaning/shirt laundry features a Union GreenEarth™ 60-pound dry cleaning machine, a full lineup of Unipress™ dry cleaning and shirt pressing equipment, and a Wascomat wetclean-capable washer and dryer. His point-of-sale device is powered by CleanSuite™.

Prior to becoming a Martinizing franchisee, Aversano was the head of communications at Rotary International. “Working for Rotary gave me the chance to meet a lot of business leaders who work tirelessly to make their communities better,” he says.

COMMERCE, Calif. — The SoCal Cleaners Association (SCCA) will host Improving Your Customers’ Experience and Your Bottom Line, a presentation by Christopher White, executive director of America’s Best Cleaners, during the association’s upcoming March 20 meeting.

White has more than 25 years of experience working in the dry cleaning industry and has risen “to the very highest level in the profession,” SCCA says. He has extensive knowledge of textile cleaning and finishing techniques and is recognized as an industry leader in operational systems, database management, staff development and team building.

He will discuss developing an exceptional client experience by catering to specific needs of clients through individual services provided by the front-end team, and how to develop these needs into specific “nudges” that increase the client’s overall experience while also increasing the bottom line.

SCCA says takeaways will include:

WASHINGTON — Borrowers and lenders of U.S. Small Business Association-backed loans will have greater access to capital and less paperwork as a result of a proposed regulation aimed at streamlining the application process while strengthening oversight and program integrity.

“Streamlining and simplifying has been a key focus of our agency over the last few years,” says SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The changes are the latest steps to reduce paperwork burden, with our eye on the larger goal of expanding access to capital and giving entrepreneurs and small-business owners the financial resources to grow and create jobs.”

The SBA proposes the new measures after extensive consultations with lenders and borrowers to identify the greatest challenges they face and find ways to reduce barriers to making and accessing loans, while still maintaining strict oversight.

Among the proposed changes are:

CHICAGO — Three of four regions reported better dry cleaning sales for January, led by the West with its 9.1% sales increase compared to January 2012, according to results of the latest AmericanDrycleaner.com StatShot survey.

The South saw its month-to-month sales rise 1.4%, followed closely by the Midwest at 0.4%. The Northeast was alone in posting declining sales, down 1.0% for the period.

Annual comparative results were slightly more varied across the country. The West was again the leader, with 2012 annual sales increasing 5.3% from 2011. The South’s 2012 sales were 1.4% higher than the previous year’s. But the Midwest (down 1.5%) and the Northeast (down 0.3%) saw their annual sales slip.

KENNER, La. — Norvin L. Pellerin, the co-founder of laundry equipment manufacturer Pellerin Milnor Corp., died Feb. 11, the company reports.

“Norvin took pride in offering the very best to his customers, family, and friends throughout the world,” Milnor says. “He was a true visionary, who held 18 patents for various laundry machinery and pioneered top-transfer continuous batch washing. … Norvin’s design and engineering expertise, as well as his leadership, revolutionized the laundry industry.”

Pellerin won many awards, including Tulane University’s School of Engineering Alumnus of the Year in 1996, the National Association of Institutional Linen Management (now the Association for Linen Management) Hall of Fame in 1998, The Rudolph Maglin Lifetime Achievement Award for Associate Members from TRSA in 2004, and the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame Laureate in 2012.

Surviving Pellerin are his wife of 63 years, Sue; two sons, Jim Pellerin and Curtis Pellerin; two daughters, Julie Bukrey and Renee Gordon; 13 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.