Content about Illinois

CHICAGO — Martinizing Dry Cleaning franchise reports the opening of the first of five stores planned in the south and southwest Chicago suburbs.

New franchisee Vince Aversano was awarded the five-store exclusive development rights to the south-southwest suburbs of Chicago, which include the Illinois villages of Frankfort, Mokena, Orland Park, New Lenox, Tinley Park, Joliet, Palos Heights, Oak Forest, and Romeoville.

Aversano’s plant is a 2,000-square-feet (with another 500 square feet of “flex-space”) end cap located in the Mokena Towne Square shopping center. The dry cleaning/shirt laundry features a Union GreenEarth™ 60-pound dry cleaning machine, a full lineup of Unipress™ dry cleaning and shirt pressing equipment, and a Wascomat wetclean-capable washer and dryer. His point-of-sale device is powered by CleanSuite™.

Prior to becoming a Martinizing franchisee, Aversano was the head of communications at Rotary International. “Working for Rotary gave me the chance to meet a lot of business leaders who work tirelessly to make their communities better,” he says.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Ruth Jones, owner of Foster-Stephens Inc., which produces storage solutions to preserve and protect wedding gowns and other family treasures, celebrated her 100^th birthday this August.

She is the widow of founder Elmer “Bill” Jones, and was active in the company from the early 1970s until the mid-1990s. She began running the company when her husband died in 1983. The couple’s daughter, Nancy, took over day-to-day duties at Foster-Stephens in the mid-’90s.

Ruth Jones remains chairman of the board and retains an active interest in the company. She also remains active in her community through bridge, church, and book clubs.

Asked to reflect on the industry changes that she’s seen over the years, she says she has been most impressed with the automation advances and the changes that computers have brought about, both in business and at home.

She has watched Foster-Stephens transform from a company that mainly produced posters and other sorts of advertising for dry cleaners to one that now focuses on the preservation of wedding gowns and other textiles.

DOLTON, Ill. — Illinois is once again a leader in making it more difficult to own and operate a small business.

A new state law will require all new dry cleaning machines, beginning in 2013, to have “primary and secondary” control systems to reduce the concentration of perchloroethylene (perc), and to have sealed containment structures to contain leaks or spill by 2014.

This is really not an imposition, because a business owner knows in advance what is required for a new unit. As third-generation units die out, they cannot be replaced. Only fourth- and fifth-generation units are allowed on end date, but a review will be allowed.

A tougher safety measure on the use of perc requires dry cleaners to utilize “best management practices” while using the solvent. When a dry cleaning facility is operating dry cleaning machines, it will be required to have at least one person present who is trained and certified. The Illinois Drycleaner Environmental Response Trust Fund Council must approve the training. Proof of training must be available at each plant, and a refresher course must be taken every four years.

CHICAGO — THE LATEST BEIGE BOOK REPORT, compiled by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System with data from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts, shows that the U.S. economy continued to expand slightly in June and early July. Eleven districts noted expanding economic activity.

Early August brought news that the current administration had awarded $9 million in the multi-agency Rural Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge. The program is designed to spur job and economic growth in rural regions. Economic development partnerships and initiatives in a dozen states—Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia—will receive awards. Last year’s winners generated millions in matching funds, and their projects are expected to create thousands of new jobs and hundreds of new businesses, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

DOLTON, Ill. — I am now celebrating 50 years working full-time in the dry cleaning business. Just after I graduated from high school in 1962, my dad needed help. I worked a 40-hour week while attending Chicago Teachers College in the business department. After graduating from CTC in 1965 on a trimester plan, I started taking night courses at Roosevelt University; I graduated with a master’s degree in accounting in 1967.

I was married in August 1966, and our daughter was born in October 1967. The family business paid three times that of a first-year high school teacher. I chose the dry cleaning business to support my family. It took several years of taking classes part-time but I completed my doctor of business administration degree in 1984. The basics are the same today but the tools are fantastic.

A plan began to develop to expand our business, but it was impossible to do that at our location in Chicago because we were located in two connected buildings in the middle of a city block. Father, I and a contractor buddy of his found a location just outside of Chicago, in Dolton, Ill.

WOODSTOCK, Ill. — Firbimatic, a manufacturer of dry cleaning machines, has relocated its U.S. corporate office to 13802 Washington St., Suite A, Woodstock, IL 60098. Its toll-free number—800-220-0630—and website—firbimaticusa.com—are unchanged.

The company announced two new hires: Rod McLemore as sales manager and Jon Pierce as parts manager.

McLemore brings with him extensive knowledge acquired through management/ownership of a large drycleaning chain in Texas, and many years working with various equipment manufacturers.

Pierce comes from the IT field with extensive knowledge in computers and web design, Firbimatic says. His responsibilities include effective inventory management and ensuring that Firbimatic provides the highest levels of customer service, according to the company.

LAUREL, Md. — A five-day Introduction to Drycleaning course, sponsored by the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute’s (DLI) School of Drycleaning Technology, will make a stop in Chicago April 30 through May 4.

Known as DLI On the Road, the course offers the opportunity to locals to train without expensive airfares, hotel accommodations, or time away from family to learn the basics of the drycleaning business.

The class, co-sponsored by the Illinois Professional Drycleaners & Launderers, will be held in the northwest Chicago suburbs. Sessions at Haiges Machinery in Huntley, Ill., and at Vogue Cleaners in Crystal Lake, Ill., are planned. Registration closes April 6.

The drycleaning course provides a solid foundation for the profession and is ideal for newcomers to the industry, DLI says. Some of the basics covered include sorting loads for dry cleaning; cleaning garments, including silk and satin; operating a drycleaning machine; removing stains, including coffee, ink and grease; pressing pants, coats and skirts; and using tensioning equipment to improve finishing quality.

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.

EVANSTON, Ill. — As we predicted here several months ago (Could The Unions Still Clean Up?), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is continuing its pro-union agenda with the same thunder as a battleship blasting a broadside.

On June 21, the NLRB published the proposed changes it wants in rules governing union representation elections. When adopted, these rules will make the jobs of union organizers easier by handcuffing management and fast-tracking representation elections in which a company’s employees vote whether or not they wish to unionize.

Following the defeat in Congress of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have allowed “card check unionization” and eliminated nearly all representation elections, union leaders are trying a different way to reach their easy organizing goals. They know “if you can’t legislate, regulate.” And the NLRB regulates labor relations in America.

EVANSTON, Ill. — By focusing on the cultural values of their growing foreign-born Latino workforce, drycleaning plants and laundries can boost productivity, lower per-unit costs and better meet ever-stiffer customer demands.

Most drycleaners have tried to motivate their workers for better productivity—with varying degrees of success. Those with mainly Mexican or Spanish-speaking workers find “gainsharing” gives them more productive employees and a greater competitive advantage. Why? Latin cultural traditions meld closely with gainsharing values.

GAINSHARING DIFFERS FROM PROFIT SHARING AND 401(K)

Gainsharing avoids the drawbacks of profit sharing and 401(k)-based retirement plans for several reasons:

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on July 27 upheld a lower court’s ruling that R.R. Street & Co. is not liable for contribution to perchlorethylene environmental cleanup costs under federal and California state laws, the company reports.

The Ninth Circuit held that equipment manufacturer Street’s was not liable as an “arranger of hazardous waste,” because it had not sold its product specifically for disposal of a hazardous substance.

In the 1980s, Team Enterprises, a large drycleaner in California’s central valley, disposed of contact wastewater containing perc by pouring it down the sewer drain. After finding perc in the soil, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board required cleanup.

Team consequently sued Street’s, along with other drycleaning equipment manufacturers and perc solvent producers, seeking financial contribution toward the cleanup. U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill exonerated Street’s of any contribution liability in August 2010, and Team appealed the decision.