Content about vice president

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.

WHILE JOB GROWTH SLOWED for the month of March, with the market adding only 121,000 private-sector jobs, the unemployment rate fell to 8.2%, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“We’ve added nearly half a million manufacturing jobs since February 2010,” says Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “We cannot rest on our laurels and expect to coast our way back to prosperity.”

The figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show little change from January to February, with 3.6 million job openings, a hires rate of 3.3% and a separations rate of 3.1%. Compared with the 4.3 million job openings when the recession began in December 2007, the current rate has increased 46% since the end of the recession in June 2009.

MIAMI — Ronald “Ron” London, vice president of drycleaning equipment sales for Steiner-Atlantic for 18 years, died from cancer June 24. He specialized in the sale, design, planning and start-up of new plants, as well as the sale of replacement items, for the company.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, London began working in coin-op laundry equipment sales and then moved to drycleaning equipment. He joined Nate and Bill Becker in forming Best Equipment Co. in Philadelphia in 1962. The company reorganized after the recession of 1973, and London formed London Equipment Co., operating in the same building with the same staff.

With the growth of dry-to-dry drycleaning machines, he allied with the local Miraclean importer, who provided the equipment and financing he needed. The arrangement worked well for a number of years, but sales dropped as the market filled.

London moved in 1992 to South Florida, where he began his long association with Steiner-Atlantic.

He is survived by his wife, Loretta; sister, Lauren; four sons, Richard, Charles, Hal and Brian; two daughters, Tami and Denise; and 12 grandchildren.

TAMPA, Fla. — Ever since regulatory pressure started to increase on perchloroethylene, the industry has been looking for a product that could fill its place in the industry as an easy-to-use, effective solvent—but without the baggage.

Hallak Cleaners knocked out walls and moved every piece of equipment to expand its single production facility without taking a day off, earning it Best Plant Design in the 50th Annual Plant Design Awards.

CHICAGO — Cintas Corp. introduced a new, “environmentally friendly” apparel option for banquet staff. The company’s new, single-breasted tuxedos for men and women include recycled polyester fibers woven from recycled plastic bottles and are machine-washable.

GREENBELT, Md. — ZIPS Dry Cleaners, a franchise with 26 East Coast locations, announced a new partnership with Hot Dish Advertising, an advertising agency specializing in the franchise industry.

LAUREL, Md. — The Drycleaning & Laundry Institute (DLI) announced it will hold this year’s Five-Star Marketing Conference at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas Feb. 18-19, 2010.

“Attendees said they wanted to go to Las Vegas, so we’re going back to Las Vegas,” says Mary Scalco, DLI’s senior vice president. “The Venetian is a great property, and we got an incredible deal on hotel suites. Every room is a suite, and they’re only $179.”

There are always challenges for drycleaners who try to clean couture garments and their off-the-rack imitations, but for the most part, the styles coming off the runways this fall tended toward the conservative, our annual Fashion & Fabricare issue reports — perhaps due to recession.

We take a look at the runways of Milan, New York and Paris to find the constructions and styles that will challenge drycleaners in the months to come.

‘BIKER CHIC’

SEDALIA, Mo. — Mentor Partners of Boston and Adco Cleaning Products of Sedalia, a leading manufacturer and distributor of chemicals for the drycleaning industry, have purchased the Chemical Products Division of Laidlaw Co., Scottsdale, Ariz.

The two companies merged their chemical-sales teams; Brent McWilliams, formerly vice president of Laidlaw, joins Adco as vice president of sales. Laidlaw’s sales team will continue to service wholesale supply accounts, with end users receiving all Laidlaw products through normal distribution channels.

NAPA, Calif. — David W. Dawson, of Naperville, Ill.-based R.R. Street & Co., was honored with the J. Morry Friedlander Award at the Annual Management & Educational Conference of the Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA), held earlier this month in Napa, Calif. The award is the association’s highest honor.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Animal-rights activist group PETA honored Monte Carlo Cleaners owner Mark Mayes last week with its Compassionate Business award. The Scottsdale drycleaner refuses to handle items made of leather, fur and Angora, and is the first business of its kind to win the award.

PETA applauded Mayes' refusal to process garments made from the fur of Angora rabbits.