National Clothesline

Sudsies Dry Cleaners and its owners, Jason Loeb and Jorge Baboun, were winners of the Diamond Palm Excellence In Business Award at the Diamond Palm Luncheon that honors outstanding local businesses. The award, sponsored by The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Pillar Trustees, was presented April 27 at a luncheon at the Sheraton Bal

Harbour.

The Diamond Palm Excellence in Business Award was created to honor outstanding local businesses that consistently demonstrate a commitment to the community.

Jeffrey W. Meshel, best-selling author of One Phone Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker, served as the keynote speaker at the awards luncheon.

“I am overwhelmed by this honor,” said Jason Loeb, owner of Sudsies Dry Cleaners. “Each and every day we put our all into this community with the goal to build an even better place for our families, friends and all the residents to live and flourish. ”

A native Miamian, the 38-year-old Loeb graduated from Florida State University in 1991. He founded Sudsies in 1994, originally building self-service coin-operated laundries. In 1995 he expanded into the drycleaning business with several locations in Miami.

Loeb resides in Miami Beach with wife Marni and their two daughters, Samantha and Morgan.

Other nominees this year included the South Florida firms Bratter Krieger LLP, Busy Body Gyms To Go, The Continental Group, Majestic Properties, Mango ’s Tropical Cafe and Robert M. Swedroe Architects and Planners.

The Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Pillar Trustees strive to energize economic growth on Miami Beach and to provide leadership for more effective community involvement. It works to create a climate in which businesses can fluourish while improving the quality of life for city residents.

The Chamber of Commerce is the city's largest and oldest civic, not-for-profit organization with some 2,500 members.

Kelleher Equipment Supply, Inc., has announced that John Kelleher, Jr., has joined the company as vice president of sales and business development. He earned his bachelor ’s degree, summa cum laude from the University of California at Santa Barbara and also holds a California Department of Real Estate license.

Most recently, he held the sales position of professional medical representative for Merck Pharmaceuticals, where he was awarded the President ’s Premier Sales Award, which recognizes the top one percent of salespeople in the nation.

Kelleher Equipment Supply, Inc., in its fourth decade of business, is family owned and operated. Founded by John Kelleher, Sr., the company specializes in new store sales, replacement equipment, service, plant design, and most recently, exclusively represents Tonsil 414FF filtration.

The Kelleher legacy now continues with both John Kelleher, Jr. and Kelly Kelleher at the helm.

Laidlaw Corp. announced last month that it has been acquired by a group of private investors and will operate as an independent company under the name Laidlaw Co.

The company said that operations and business will continue as before in all respects and that management and all employees will remain.

The investors, JEB, Inc., an industrial holding company, and SilkRoad Resources, an operationally oriented holding company focused on outsourcing opportunities to China, worked together to purchase employee-owned Laidlaw from the company ’s trustees.

Laidlaw manufactures and sells hangers, chemicals and paper products to the drycleaning industry. With headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ, Laidlaw has manufacturing locations in Monticello, WI, and Metropolis, IL,and warehouse locations in Arizona, New Jersey and Ontario, Canada. “We are all very excited about Laidlaw’s future prospects,” said Tom Schultz, president and CEO of Laidlaw.

JEB, Inc. is a holding company focused on traditional economy manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses primarily located in the Western and Midwestern United States. Prior investments include CLEANPAK, International, a designer and manufacturer of ultra high purity air handling equipment sold primarily for cleanroom applications, which was sold in 2005.

“Suppliers to service industries like drycleaning are constantly under pressure to manufacture and deliver high quality products while lowering the cost of goods sold, ” said Erik Krieger, chairman of JEB, Inc. “With additional management leadership from SilkRoad and improved logistical and supply chain operations in China, Laidlaw will be uniquely positioned to provide increasingly competitive service and products to customers who already know and trust Laidlaw as a quality supplier. ”

SilkRoad Resources is an operationally oriented private equity firm that acquires lower middle market manufacturers that are a leader in their niche market but have been negatively impacted by low cost Asian imports.

“The strength of Laidlaw’s brand name and reputation for higher quality has allowed the company to remain competitive despite import pressure, ” said Robert Giles, managing partner of SilkRoad. “We plan to take immediate steps to further improve pricing and strengthen our customer base. ”

SilkRoad plans to add other drycleaning-related products to expand its relationships with distributors in the U.S.

Westgate Software, Inc., has changed its name to SPOT Business Systems, LLC.

“We changed our name for much the same reason that Federal Express changed its name to FedEx, ” said Ron Preece, director of sales and marketing. “Everyone refers to us as SPOT, so to enhance our brand recognition we are now SPOT Business Systems. ”

Preece said the new look is evident on the company’s web site, www.SPOTBusinessSystems.com. The company’s www.WestgateSoftware.com domain name will continue to be active.

Preece noted that “only the name has changed; ownership, products, services, and operations remain the same. Our dedication to furthering the state-of-the-art in the drycleaning industry with quality software, systems, and services is unwavering and, frankly, made even stronger with this change. ”

Methods for Management has announced the formation of a new retail route managers group as a result of its route managers ’ seminar if Denver, Colorado in early April in which more than a dozen drycleaning companies participated.

The first MFM retail route managers seminar explored many aspects of successful route building, including marketing, customer profiling, hiring and retaining effective route sales people and good route management. Throughout the two-day event, ideas and strategies were shared and participants developed a bond. By the end of the seminar, attendees expressed a desire to continue their association and formed an ongoing group.

The new group will meet twice a year. Each two-day meeting will be coordinated by a trained MFM facilitator and will be scheduled on a Wednesday and Thursday during the slower seasons. Most meetings will include a full day of plant review and critique and a second day for managers to bring in new ideas or challenges as well as presentations by the coordinators on members' areas of interest.

The group will meet in Virginia on October 25–26. Membership is open, on a space available basis, to MFM bureau members, private clients, and independent operators in non-competing territories. Call (253) 851-6327 or e-mail ACampy@mfmi.com for information.

“Our managers groups go way beyond what is possible at a two-day seminar by giving managers an opportunity to forge long -term relationships, ” Deborah Rechnitz, MFM’s managing director said.

MFM currently coordinates management bureaus in 35 states and three countries.

Pariser Industries has promoted Robert Safer to regional sales manager of its New York metropolitan area territory.

Safer brings more than 22 years experience as an owner/operator of a third-generation drycleaning business. His background and focus will include all aspects of the laundry, drycleaning and wetcleaning environment.

“Bob has, in his brief tenure with Pariser, become a strong performer in the area of new business acquisition, ” said Scott Pariser, president of Pariser Industries.

“We look forward to his contributions both in the growth and leadership support of Pariser ’s commercial laundry and drycleaning and wetcleaning business in the Northeast marketplace. ”