Content about Maryland

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.”

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners (MAC) recently held its Winter Board and Annual Meetings here, approving bylaw changes to streamline board functions and electing 2013 association officers, board members and committee members.

Officers for this year include President Ben Johnson (Americlean), Vice President Jamie Albano (Albano Cleaners), Treasurer Russell Kaplan (ZIPS) and Chair Dianne Chatelain (Presto Valet).

Elected to the Board of Directors were Michael McKay (Dryclean and Shirt Salon), Maryland; Patrick Dunlap (Classicleaners), District of Columbia; Buddy Gritz (Presto Valet) and Tammy Johnson (Americlean), Virginia; Charley Young (Peter Pan Cleaners) and Telly Svingos (Victors Cleaners & Launderers), West Virginia; and Tom McAllister (Kreussler Chemical), Jack Belluscio (Caled Chemical) and James Just (R.R. Street & Co.), representing the allied trades.

Committee members for 2013 include Tom Williams (Suffolk Quality Cleaners), Sally Veach (Fresh Dry Cleaners & Laundry), James Crowder (Edmondson’s Cleaners) and Dan Criswell (Prince George Cleaners).

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) will present its Advanced Drycleaning Course March 4-15 in Laurel, Md.

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

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) presents its Advanced Drycleaning Course Oct. 12-Nov. 1 in Laurel, Md.

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

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) will present its Introduction to Drycleaning Course Feb. 25 to March 1 in Laurel, Md. 

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

The Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) presents its Introduction to Drycleaning Course Oct. 14-18 in Laurel, Md.

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

FAIRFIELD, N.J., and LAUREL, Md. — The Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) and the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) have recently strengthened cooperation between the two organizations, TCATA reports in its most recent Tidings e-mail newsletter.

The boards of directors for both organizations have discussed ways that the two groups can work more closely together for the good of the industry.

Fred Schwarzmann of A.L. Wilson Chemical Co., a DLI board member, has been appointed official liaison to the TCATA board; Kevin Lawson of Tri-State Equipment has been appointed liaison to the DLI board.

The particulars will evolve over the years, TCATA says, but members of both organizations should expect to begin seeing more information about the other’s major activities.

“Increasing the level of communication and cooperation only makes sense,” says TCATA President Bryant Dunivan, from Energenics Corp. “The two associations have always had common interests, and the challenges that the industry has faced in recent years has only increased the need for and benefit of a closer relationship.”

GREENBELT, Md. — Jared Jeffries of the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, along with business partner Shawn Strader, recently joined the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Venus Williams and Drew Brees in looking to make a fortune in franchises.

Jeffries and Strader have committed to opening a ZIPS Dry Cleaners, a Mid-Atlantic-based chain that has built a brand name on its low-cost, one-price-for-any-garment model. Their franchise is expected to open in Northern Virginia by the end of the year.

“Owning a franchise was the next logical step for me and Shawn, and ZIPS provided a safe and promising way to ease into the industry,” says Jeffries, who has been business partners with Strader since the two started their own company specializing in residential real estate investment in 2007.

Jeffries also believes franchising is uniquely suited to the skill sets he has developed as a professional athlete.

BALTIMORE — Discount Dry Cleaners LLC, Laurel, Md., and its owner, Mehret Sium, 58, have been convicted of improperly disposing of hazardous waste in Maryland’s Anne Arundel County, reports state Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler.

Sium, on behalf of her business, pleaded guilty to illegal disposal of hazardous materials. She personally pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with hazardous waste transportation requirements.

The convictions stem from a March 9 incident when the Maryland Department of the Environment Hazardous Response Team was contacted regarding a suspected hazardous drum dumping on Dicus Mill Road near Millersville.

Investigators from the Attorney General’s Environmental Crimes Unit found 18 drums varying in size from 5 to 35 gallons that contained hazardous waste from dry cleaning solvent. Numerous containers had no lids, and none was properly packaged, labeled or marked pursuant to Department of Transportation regulations. The drums were traced back to Discount Dry Cleaners.

LAUREL, Md. — The MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners (MAC) staged its Annual Lecture and Mini-EXPO Meeting on June 2 here at the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute’s (DLI) headquarters.

The event, provided free to attendees through sponsorships from several MAC allied trades companies, included presentations by speakers, a tour of the DLI facilities, and lunch.

During the tour, DLI showcased its large classroom; residential practical training area (with 13 student spotting boards, full shirt laundry, and a dry cleaning plant with several varieties of cleaning solvents); analysis and restoration department; destructive and non-destructive fabric testing laboratory; research and solvent testing lab; media lab; board room; and course materials storage.

Brian Johnson, DLI’s director of education and analysis, spoke on Quick Fixes for Common Dry Cleaning Problems, plus explained how to navigate DLI’s dry cleaning encyclopedia online (free to DLI members).

CHICAGO — In February, after 14 years of study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named perchloroethylene a “likely” human carcinogen in its Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) database. And after more than two decades of increasingly stringent regulation on the industry’s solvent of choice, the announcement seemed like the final nail in perc’s coffin.

Ironically, the decision actually protects perc’s position in dry cleaning, at least for the time being. “Everyone has the misconception that the category perc is in has changed,” says Faye Graul, executive director of the Halogenated Solvents Industry Association (HSIA). “It has not changed at all. The report says perc is safe for use in dry cleaning.”

EPA expressed no concerns about consumers wearing clothing cleaned in perc, and the IRIS report could ease the drinking-water standard required for environmental cleanups. And with a recent, recessionary lull in regulatory activity, only co-located facilities and plants in California and a few other areas see the possibility of a full phaseout ahead.

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.