Content about Geography of the United States

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.

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.

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) will host a Membership Reception at Clean 2013 on June 21 in New Orleans, La. 

For more information, call 800-638-2627 or visit the institute's website.

The 68^th Annual New England Sanitone Licensees Meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 11-12, 2013, at the 5-Star Boston Harbor Hotel.

For more information, call 800-543-0406.

PULASKI, N.Y. — Fulton Companies, a manufacturer of steam, hydronic and thermal fluid heat transfer products, has been named the recipient of a Jobs Award in recognition of its significant investment in the creation and retention of jobs in Central New York, the company reports.

The annual award, presented by Operation Oswego County (N.Y.), recently brought together more than 140 representatives of regional business, government, education, labor and other various organizations for the announcement.

The Jobs Award was presented to Fulton for its contribution to the regional economy by investing in a $13.5-million, 112,000-square-foot expansion of its manufacturing and office complex located within the region served by the economic and job development authority.

“We are honored to receive the Jobs Award,” says Kevin LaMontagne, CEO of the Fulton Companies. “Through their tireless hard work and dedication, Fulton’s growing workforce is the single biggest contributor to its success.” 

There is still time to register for the GreenEarth Affiliate workshop in Savannah, Georgia on April 20th and 21st.

Savannah was the named the "destination of choice" by our Affiliates who participated in our recent workshop survey and we know you will love Savannah! This historic city is known for its charm and beauty; a city famous for its role in both the Revolutionary and Civil wars, for being the birthplace of the Girl Scouts and the setting for John Berendt's book "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil.

National Cleaners Association Extreme Stain Removal/Intensive Bleaching course, to be held March 18 in Bronx, N.Y. Call 212-967-3002 or e-mail ncaiclean@aol.com for more information.

Drycleaning & Laundry Institute Advanced Drycleaning Course.

Drycleaning & Laundry Institute Introduction to Drycleaning Course, to be held in Laurel, Md. Call 800-638-2627 for more information.

Pennsylvania & Delaware Cleaners Association Drycleaning and Laundry Expo, to be held in Atlantic City, N.J. Call 215-830-8495 or 800-822-7352 for more information.

2012 Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) Annual Management and Educational Conference. Four-day event to be held April 18-21, 2012, at the Williamsburg (Va.) Lodge. Call 973-244-1790 or e-mail info@tcata.org for more information.