Content about President

SAN ANTONIO — Richard Thum, co-founder and president of Five Star Cleaners, was recently elected president of The Southwest Drycleaners Association (SDA) at its annual convention.

The regional trade association, with more than 300 members, is an affiliate of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI). The 96-year-old association serves the professional dry cleaners of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

Thum served as first vice president of the organization last year, and has served on the SDA board in various capacities for 28 years.

He launched Comet Cleaners in San Antonio in 1981 along with his wife, Sharlene, and the name was changed to Five Star Cleaners in 2004. The Thums own 11 locations across San Antonio.

Thum holds a bachelor of science degree in real estate finance from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and has a real estate broker’s license in Texas.

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.

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.

The difficulty of getting into and out of La Jolla, site of its previous flagship location, and a desire for less cramped quarters were factors in taking on the $7 million project, Horst says.

CHICAGO — Early September brought a new proposal—the Americans Jobs Act—from President Barack Obama, which includes incentives for small-business owners to aid in cutting taxes and adding employees.

The proposal cuts employer payroll taxes in half, offers a series of tax credits for companies that hire workers who have been unemployed for longer than six months, establishes an “infrastructure bank” to offer loans for private-sector projects, funds a variety of transportation projects, intends to modernize schools and vacant properties, extends unemployment benefits and subsidizes jobs training programs, pumps money into communities for teachers and first responders, and sets up a summer jobs program for teens.

The bipartisan super committee in Congress—tasked with finding ways to reduce the nation’s debt by December—was due to hear the president’s proposals on cutting debt later in the month.

LAS VEGAS — The story after Clean ’09 in New Orleans was that while attendance had been down from the previous show, the quality of the attendees had been extremely high. The post-show message two years ago was about quality, not quantity.

The 2011 show in gaming mecca Las Vegas “held” on attendee quality and “raised” on total attendance, presenting exhibitors with a vibrant marketplace that had many of them feeling like they were on a hot streak.

RICHMOND, Va. – The principals of local business HandCraft Cleaners were honored during a luncheon Friday as the 2011 Virginia Small Business Persons of the Year.

Receiving the honor were Keith Nichols, president; John Nichols, vice president; and Jeffrey Nichols, treasurer.

NEW YORK — Trade shows are great for bringing together the industry’s most important players and prospects. But all that product-seeking and hand-shaking comes at a cost. Airfares, hotels and restaurant meals represent a hit to your bottom line.

Uncle Sam does offer some respite for the trade-show traveler, however. Prudent and thorough deductions of travel expenses on your income-tax returns can help soften the financial blow.

LEEDS, Ala. — On April 21, M&B Hangers’ Leeds, Ala., production facility celebrated five years without a single lost-time accident. Human-resources manager Darlene Yarobrough helped employees mark the occasion by cooking more than 100 steaks for workers on each of the company’s three shifts.

“We are fortunate to employ some of the finest people in the Leeds, Ala., area, and we are very thankful they take safety as seriously as we do,” says company president Milton Magnus.

WASHINGTON — President Obama signed a bill into law last week repealing an unpopular reporting requirement attached to last year’s healthcare reform legislation.

Set to begin in 2012, the requirement would have asked businesses to issue an IRS 1099 form to any individual or corporation from which they purchased more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year.

Many small-business advocates had called the expanded requirement an unnecessary and unfair burden for small businesses, saying it would create a mountain of paperwork.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Members of the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists (AWGS) met early last month to elect officers, participate in interactive seminars and award the first annual Jack Barth Memorial Award of Excellence.

Initiated by Linda Stokes-Barth in remembrance of her late husband and his achievements, the award recognizes an AWGS member for outstanding contributions to the organization and advancement of wedding-gown care.

LAUREL, Md. — The board of directors of the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) announced yesterday that chief executive officer William (Bill) Fisher is leaving his position at the association. Senior vice president Mary Scalco will become acting CEO to ensure a seamless transition, DLI says.

“We would like to thank Bill for his years of service and dedication to the industry and our institute,” says DLI President Rick Kasperbauer. “His contributions have been enormous over the last four decades.”

CHICAGO — Executives of large drycleaning and laundry operations are awakening to an unfortunate fact: That although unions lost their battle in Congress for the Employee Free Choice Act—a.k.a. the “card-check” law—they may be winning the war to make organizing easier with Craig Becker’s recent appointment to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).