Carolina Clean offers education, fun
Though the North Carolina Association of Cleaners and Launderers will host its
share of entertaining celebrations at its upcoming convention, the association
has also set aside plenty of time for informative seminars.
The event, which will be held from May 25-27 at the Atlantic Beach Sheraton,
will feature a keynote address from IFI President Steve Poulos on Sunday
evening.
In addition to that, NCALC has enlisted five more expert speakers to cover a
variety of industry-related topics.
The first set of educational sessions will take place on Saturday, May 26, from
8:30 to noon.
Dr. John Powers, who has held the primary responsibility for the state’s Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Program since November of 2003, will lead off with
an update on the program.
He will talk about the Cleanup Fund, as well as the status of the site-specific
risk-based cleanup standards and rules and the proposed changes to the
Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Act
Next up will be Mike Hallford, who works in sales and service at the Greensboro
office of W.C. Rouse and Son, Inc.
With over 25 years of hands-on experience helping his customers solve their
boiler-related problems, Hallford is more than qualified to present a seminar
on boiler maintenance, efficiency and safety.
Of course, having equipment that works is only half the battle; cleaners still
need people to work with that equipment.
Jan Barlow will examine the subject of finding, hiring, training and retaining
good employees in the day
’s final program.
Barlow, a past president of the Michigan Institute of Laundering and
Drycleaning, founded Jan
’s Professional Cleaners in Clio, MI, in 1982. The business has since expanded to
include a 10,000-sq.-ft. call office and plant with five vehicles operating
pickup and delivery routes.
She will speak for a second time on Sunday, focussing that discussion on the
relationship between productivity and profit.
Both 90-minutes sessions will be based on Barlow’s 28-hour Management Institute program which she developed for MILD.
On Sunday, NCALC will offer the rest of the educational sessions between 8:30
a.m. and noon. Prior to Barlow
’s seminar, Tony Pendola and Fran Sadler will make their own presentations.
Pendola is the lead environmental engineer for the North Carolina Customer
Service Center
’s Small Business Environmental Assistance Program, which provides technical,
nonregulatory and confidential assistance to small businesses.
He has over 14 years of experience in environmental engineering and maintains an
active focus on assistance to drycleaners. The topic of his seminar will be EPA
’s perc drycleaning National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
The final guest speaker will be Fran Sadler, director of training for
Medlin-Davis Cleaners. She is well-known from her previous convention
appearances and her days as an IFI instructor.
Having literally grown up in the business, she brings a lifetime of experience
to her program on
“Quality From a Management Perspective,” which has been approved for one IFI Award of Excellence credit.
Before and after all the seminars, convention attendees will have plenty of time
to network and relax. On Friday evening, there will be a
“Seafood Feast & Karaoke” from 7 to 11 p.m.
On the following night, the association will host a luau in the same time frame,
followed by a President
’s Reception on Sunday evening which will feature Poulos’s keynote address.
The evening will end with the third annual silent and live auction which raises
money to support NCALC
’s programs and projects.
Cleaners will also have an open slot of time to get-away with family or friends
from 12:30 to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
One option is the North Carolina Aquarium, a 93,000-sq.-ft. home to much of the
state
’s aquatic life, and special exhibits such as a 306,000-gallon tank that features
sharks and a replica of a sunken German U-Boat.
Also in the area is the Fort Macon State Park, an actual Civil War era fort
built between 1826 and 1834.
As a special incentive, new members who pay their first year’s dues prior to May 1 will be entitled to one full registration package to
Carolina Clean
’07 — a $375 value.
Attendees who wish to make reservations at the official convention hotel, should
call the Atlantic Beach Sheraton at (800) 214-0258 and mention their
affiliation with NCALC.
For more information, contact the association office at (336) 389-9011 or visit
online at
www.ncalc.org.
