LAUREL, Md. — From the start of the pandemic in mid-March, the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI) began an ongoing effort to offer a host of COVID-19 updates and links for members and non-members.
Almost immediately after regional shutdowns started, DLI worked with others and advocated to public officials that drycleaning and laundry services are essential and should not be closed, as industry services help destroy viruses. Health and safety guidance on handling items for cleaning was quickly collected and shared through all of DLI's communications channels.
The association also moved to mobilize all available resources to create a constant flow of vetted and verified information and business assistance tools.
“This has been like no other time in our history,” says Mary Scalco, DLI’s CEO. “The industry as a whole needed DLI more than any other time I can remember. We understood pretty much right away that the only way to get through this is by pulling everyone together. Our mission at DLI is to help cleaners succeed and we’re proud of what our team has accomplished in just a few short months.”
By the end of March, DLI launched a new initiative to help industry professionals share ideas and also started producing a stream of management and training videos, conference calls, employment guidance, video updates and more. It also posted more than two dozen COVID-related links and bulletins as well as webinars on its website at DLIonline.org.
Each week, DLI continues to produce and share more webinars and ready-made marketing materials. “Business is recovering slowly,” Scalco says. “DLI is focused on helping cleaners survive until we start seeing better days by banding together and sharing as much information as we can as quickly as we can. And as we move into those better days—and they will come—we will continue to be there for the industry.”
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