National Clothesline

Al Lage (right) was the surprise guest of honor at a reception held by Columbia/ILSA during the PDCA Drycleaning and Laundry Expo in Atlantic City, NJ, last month. Lage, who founded the company 20 years ago, introduced the Roto Disc spin filter, the automatic still clean-out “bipot,” the “ground guard’ spillage pan, the fifth-generation Turbo Dri machine and the first closed-loop hydrocarbon machine. Current company president Steve Langiulli and his wife, Maria, are pictured with Lage at the reception.

The corporation of Evans Garment Restoration and its flagship plant in Springfield, IL, has been awarded ISO-9001 certification, an achievement that assures customers that the company delivers a high quality product as part of its normal, every day operations.

“In order to obtain ISO certification, we developed a proprietary systems to ensure consistent product quality and high levels of customer satisfaction,” said Barry Cannon, technical directors. “Then we underwent an incredibly thorough audit from Underwriter’s Laboratories, well known through the world for conducting the most stringent ISO audits.”

UL examined every detail of the operation, checking for complete documentation and written procedures and the training programs that ensures these systems and procedures are followed.

Mike Rusciolleli, president of Evans Garment Restoration, said, “Our patent-lending systems have allowed us to successfully restore twice as many garments, textiles and soft goods as our competitors. That’s why it is an absolute requirement that every Evans plant has exactly the same equipment and follows the exact same procedures.”

ISO certification was a “natural evolution of one of our most important commitments to our customers,” he said.

Rusciolelli added that certification of the flagship plant in Springfield is just the first step. “In order to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality garment restoration services in the industry, every Evans plant nationwide is in the process of obtaining ISO certification,” he said.

The Dry Cleaning Station in Owasso, OK, was one of five business recognized by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality for pollution prevention. The DEQ incentive program recognizes businesses for efforts to reduce waste and go beyond compliance for a “greener” work environment.

Owned by Tom Keenze and operated under the parent company Vireo Enterprises, The Dry Cleaning Station was recognized for its pollution prevention policies. DEQ said that using GreenEarth makes The Dry Cleaning Station a leader among Oklahoma businesses in pollution prevention.

CTS Packaging, Inc. has appointed Mark O’Bryan as vice president of sales and Brad Pfirr-man as vice president of operations and general manager.

O’Bryan has been sales manager with CTS Packaging for the past 14 years.

Pfirrman has been general manager with the company for 18 years.

Thermopatch and Ecolab Textile Care have agreed to share information when deemed advantageous to the mutual benefit of both companies or their customers. This new relationship will combine their respective business expertise to bring quality service and support to the laundry industry.

While their product lines differ, both companies recognize that certain of each other’s products could have an adverse effect on the other’s. Through information sharing, they will assure that product integrity is maintained, since both companies share a high degree of customer service commitment.

Together they will offer their analytical expertise to help any company solve problems relative to issues with both companies’ products and effected processes.