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SAN FRANCISCO — Small businesses are generally not very resource-efficient. This is certainly true of drycleaning and laundry plants. The differential between our industry’s average utility cost and the benchmark utility cost as a percentage of sales is approximately 2%, which equates to an additional $20,000 of profit per $1 million of sales. That is a savings worth pursuing.

The easiest way to reduce this expense is to have professionals conduct an energy audit. Often, your utility provider offers this service free. If that is not the case in your area, there are professional energy consultants who perform the same service and get paid a percentage of your resulting cost savings.

EFFICIENCY CHECKLIST

A myriad of resources exist on the subject, some of which are referenced later in this article. You are probably familiar with the basics of energy and resource efficiency, but the following “Efficiency Checklist” may be helpful as a refresher.

General:

• Track your resource usage

• Compare your usage to industry benchmarks

PEMBROKE, Mass. — A customer walks into your store and says a few words to the counter person. Your employee enacts some business: looks up an order, takes in money, pulls the order off the rack and hands it to the customer, or checks the status of an item. Then the customer leaves.

This exchange is typically brief—three to five minutes at most—but it is the most important few minutes for you and your customer.

This time of customer/employee interaction is an opportunity for your business to shine or to disappoint. It is how the customer forms his/her opinion of his/her dry cleaner. The customer walks out with answers to these questions:

PUERTO RICO — The Five-Star Brainstorming conference, co-sponsored by the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute and the National Cleaners Association, was pronounced a success by organizers and attendees.

About 50 dry cleaning professionals gathered at a Puerto Rican resort in mid-January to discuss customer trends and produce ideas to improve their businesses. The unique gathering, the first time the two groups have co-hosted a conference, featured a number of speakers, including Brian Carter, co-author of Facebook Marketing.

“He showed attendees that you really can make money with Facebook,” says Brian Johnson, DLI director of education and analysis.

Identifying different levels of familiarity with online marketing among audience members, Carter tailored his talk to involve all attendees. He provided basic steps that everyone, even those with only 15 minutes per month to spend on the project, could take, including creating a Facebook page and running a simple Facebook ad to promote their business in their area.

FAIRFIELD, N.J. — The Textile Care Allied Trades Association’s Annual Management and Educational Conference will feature three speakers covering a wide array of topics to help members with their businesses.

Scheduled to appear during the April 18-21 event at the Williamsburg Lodge in Williamsburg, Va., are:

SAN FRANCISCO — You may be experiencing pangs of envy as you congratulate this year's Plant Design Awards winners. A new plant can be a tremendous asset, but an existing plant can feel new again with some focused effort. Relatively minor revisions can improve productivity, boost morale, increase throughput and enhance profit.

Here are 10 ways to renew your existing plant:

10. REMOVE THE CLUTTER

Overcome the “pack rat” tendency to hold on to everything. This is a huge challenge for frugal owners, but clearly most excess/old equipment will never be re-activated. Even if you operate duplicate equipment and keep the defunct piece for parts, can the usable parts be more orderly?

How often have the boxes stored in the out-of-the-way places been opened? Do you know what they contain? Why are the contents being saved? Do they have any value that can be captured by use or sale?

Removing excess unused items of all kinds provides light, air and floor space for productive use and shows an organized approach to operating your business.

SAN DIEGO — Margaret’s Cleaners’ 22,000-square-foot plant, formerly an upholstery fabric outlet, was designed from the ground up for servicing couture garments and accessories. Work on the two-story structure began in summer 2009 and continues today.

“That’s who we are,” says Chuck Horst, president of the family-owned company and the plant’s designer. “We’re always making changes. I have two departments in a temporary home as we’re still getting the remainder of those departments set up. … The plant is 95% complete.”

Margaret’s services more than 150 fine retailers. It offers delivery throughout Southern California plus Las Vegas, and nationwide through CleanByMail.

THEY DO

Two professional photo studios are available to keep up with photography demands. One studio is used to document wedding gowns and other garments, before and after cleaning and restoration. The other is used exclusively for Margaret’s luxury wardrobe storage and archive service called Garde Robe.

ALBANY, Ga. — Equinox Chemicals has announced that it has acquired Adco Cleaning Products, based in Sedalia, Mo. Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

Equinox will move Adco’s manufacturing operations to its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Albany, according to Yalda Harris, Equinox’s executive vice president for Global Product Management. Dr. Jim Schreiner, Adco’s chief product technology officer, will also be relocating, she says.

Customer-service and order-taking staff will remain in Sedalia, and there will be no changes to the way customers or distributors order from Adco, Harris adds. The national sales team will remain the same.

Nine operator jobs and one office employee have been relocated to Albany, with many key employees receiving relocation package offers, according to Harris.

Equinox is a specialty chemical manufacturer with specialty research, innovation, product development and commercialization capabilities that reach markets spanning the globe, the company says.

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.

The National Labor Relations Board has postponed the implementation date for its new notice-posting rule to allow for enhanced education and outreach to employers, particularly those who operate small and medium-sized businesses.

The new effective date of the rule is Jan. 31.

The decision to extend the rollout period from November followed queries from businesses and trade organizations indicating uncertainty about which businesses fall under the Board’s jurisdiction, and was made in the interest of ensuring broad voluntary compliance. No other changes in the rule, or in the form or content of the notice, will be made, NLRB says.

Most private-sector employers will be required to post the 11-by-17-inch notice, which is available at no cost from the NLRB through its website, either by downloading and printing or ordering a print by mail.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched a program that will enable many employers to resolve past worker classification issues and achieve certainty under the tax law at a low cost by voluntarily reclassifying their workers.

This new program will allow employers the opportunity to get into compliance by making a minimal payment covering past payroll tax obligations rather than waiting for an IRS audit.

The new Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP) is designed to increase tax compliance and reduce burden for employers by providing greater certainty for employers, workers and the government. Under the program, eligible employers can obtain substantial relief from federal payroll taxes they may have owed for the past, if they prospectively treat workers as employees.

The VCSP is available to many businesses that erroneously treat their workers as non-employees or independent contractors, and now want to correctly treat these workers as employees.

To be eligible, an applicant must:

LOS ANGELES — I have shopped all over the world: in Toronto, I shop at Rochester Big and Tall. In New York, Rochester Big and Tall. In London, Rochester; Chicago, Rochester. Being 6-foot-4 with 37-inch sleeves, my choices in clothing have been pretty limited. At most big and tall men’s stores, Nehru jackets are just coming into style.

That was a bit of a problem when I was a personal manager and knew that there’d be some “Hollywood” people judging me on my “look.” Though I love dressing well, most clothing stores are fashion museums to me, and stylish clothes the artifacts.

I compensated with ties. I became known for having an amazing tie collection: thin, wide, vintage and new. While designer threads were out of the question because they weren’t made in my size, I got people to focus on the one fashion accessory where I could compete.

Instead of accepting my limitations, I concentrated on the positives.

CHICAGO — In the spirit of Halloween, American Drycleaner asked members of the trade audience to answer which spooky scenario frightens them the most. And while there was a clear-cut No. 1 choice, every potential situation presented in the Wire survey received votes.

Top of the list—at 26.3%—was receiving a call from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) after it had received an anonymous complaint. Running a close second at 23.7% was a lengthy power outage. Third (15.8%) was “other,” including fears of going out of business and being investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Other scenarios were a key piece of equipment is out of commission (13.2%), a big customer stops using your service (10.5%), a staff member injured on the job threatens to sue (5.3%), circumstances force a 10% cut in next year’s budget (2.6%), and an audit reveals that funds are missing (2.6%).

Operators were asked about the most frightening thing to have affected their store or plant. Some of the responses were: