Content about Illinois

LAUREL, Md. — A five-day Introduction to Drycleaning course, sponsored by the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute’s (DLI) School of Drycleaning Technology, will make a stop in Chicago April 30 through May 4.

Known as DLI On the Road, the course offers the opportunity to locals to train without expensive airfares, hotel accommodations, or time away from family to learn the basics of the drycleaning business.

The class, co-sponsored by the Illinois Professional Drycleaners & Launderers, will be held in the northwest Chicago suburbs. Sessions at Haiges Machinery in Huntley, Ill., and at Vogue Cleaners in Crystal Lake, Ill., are planned. Registration closes April 6.

The drycleaning course provides a solid foundation for the profession and is ideal for newcomers to the industry, DLI says. Some of the basics covered include sorting loads for dry cleaning; cleaning garments, including silk and satin; operating a drycleaning machine; removing stains, including coffee, ink and grease; pressing pants, coats and skirts; and using tensioning equipment to improve finishing quality.

LONG GROVE, Ill. — Family-owned Zengeler Cleaners chose to build its new state-of-the-art plant, measuring 3,000 square feet, in a new retail development northwest of Chicago. President Tom Zengeler was drawn to the area by favorable demographics and the high-end nature of the shopping center.

A Union dry cleaning machine and Chiller Mfg. chiller, plus a Forenta spotting board, are in place in the cleaning room, which is sized for two cleaning machines and two chillers. Finishing includes a pants station and two utility stations, all featuring Unipress and Forenta machines.

The wash line features UniMac washers and a dryer, and the shirt laundry utilizes Unipress and Forenta equipment. Boiler room equipment is by Fulton, NATCO, Rema and Ingersoll Rand.

The plant is fully automated through SPOT software and Metalprogetti’s 24-hour kiosk service, assembly conveyor, automatic bagger and storage conveyor.

EVANSTON, Ill. — As we predicted here several months ago (Could The Unions Still Clean Up?), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing its pro-union agenda with the same thunder as a battleship blasting a broadside.

On June 21, the NLRB published the proposed changes it wants in rules governing union representation elections. When adopted, these rules will make the jobs of union organizers easier by handcuffing management and fast-tracking representation elections in which a company’s employees vote whether or not they wish to unionize.

Following the defeat in Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have allowed “card check unionization” and eliminated nearly all representation elections, union leaders are trying a different way to reach their easy organizing goals. They know “if you can’t legislate, regulate.” And the NLRB regulates labor relations in America.

EVANSTON, Ill. — By focusing on the cultural values of their growing foreign-born Latino workforce, drycleaning plants and laundries can boost productivity, lower per-unit costs and better meet ever-stiffer customer demands.

Most drycleaners have tried to motivate their workers for better productivity—with varying degrees of success. Those with mainly Mexican or Spanish-speaking workers find “gainsharing” gives them more productive employees and a greater competitive advantage. Why? Latin cultural traditions meld closely with gainsharing values.

GAINSHARING DIFFERS FROM PROFIT SHARING AND 401(K)

Gainsharing avoids the drawbacks of profit sharing and 401(k)-based retirement plans for several reasons:

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 27 upheld a lower court’s ruling that R.R. Street & Co. is not liable for contribution to perchlorethylene environmental cleanup costs under federal and California state laws, the company reports.

The Ninth Circuit held that equipment manufacturer Street’s was not liable as an “arranger of hazardous waste,” because it had not sold its product specifically for disposal of a hazardous substance.

In the 1980s, Team Enterprises, a large drycleaner in California’s central valley, disposed of contact wastewater containing perc by pouring it down the sewer drain. After finding perc in the soil, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board required cleanup.

Team consequently sued Street’s, along with other drycleaning equipment manufacturers and perc solvent producers, seeking financial contribution toward the cleanup. U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill exonerated Street’s of any contribution liability in August 2010, and Team appealed the decision.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Supplier Foster-Stephens Inc. will celebrate its 75th anniversary in the industry next week. Today, the widow and daughter of its founder, Bill Jones, operate the company.

Foster-Stephens started in 1936 when someone abandoned a set of printed drycleaning posters at Westlake Press in Chicago. A salesman there at the time, Elmer “Bill” Jones bought and resold the posters to area drycleaners—so successfully that he incorporated the company on March 11, 1936. 

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — After a career with Naperville, Ill.-based R.R. Street & Co. that has spanned more than 35 years, David Dawson announced his retirement from the company last month.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Solvair LLC was awarded the 2010 Illinois Governor’s Sustainability Award for its Solvair Cleaning System technology. The award was presented at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center’s (ISTC) 27th Annual Award Ceremony in Champaign, Ill., last month. The ISTC award honors organizations for significant achievements in protecting the environment, helping sustain the future and improving the economy. A record number of companies were considered this year.

CHICAGO — Workplace violence is far too common; it seems like there’s a news report about a shooting rampage daily. Someone often knows about the killer’s emotional problems or violent tendencies, but does nothing. Are people afraid to get involved? Is society reluctant to profile those who might be a threat to others for the sake of individual rights?

COUNTRY CLUB HILLS, Ill. — A group of drycleaning industry organizations, including the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI), TCATA, R.R. Street and others, succeeded in changing International Code Council (ICC) fire code guidelines for Class III drycleaning plants.

SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys from Houston-based Hicks Thomas LLP announced a trial judge’s ruling issued Friday in favor of Naperville, Ill.-based R.R. Street & Co. Inc. in an environmental contamination lawsuit filed by the City of Modesto, Calif., and a related local agency.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. — A legislative proposal that seeks to phase out the use of perchloroethylene in drycleaning statewide by 2026 moved out of committee in Illinois' General Assembly last week.

Written by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and introduced by Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), HB 6115 would ban installation of new perc machinery on Jan. 1, 2011, and eliminate perc use in facilities "colocated" with residential properties on Jan. 1, 2013. All perc use would be outlawed statewide in 2026.