ASSOCIATION NEWS

Charitable organizations in need have benefitted again this year through the jan/san industry’s efforts via Operation Clean Sweep, held the third weekend in September. The Southeast Wisconsin Sanitary Supply Association (SEWSSA) conducted a total cleaning of the interior and exterior of Oakton Manor, a residential care center for adults with mental illnesses in Milwaukee.

Seven companies participated, with 63 volunteers. In addition to the hard work of volunteers, SEWSSA left the facility a $500 gift certificate for Home Depot, which they can use to purchase tools they needed. Jim Traudt, SEWSSA’s president, said that a variety of manufacturers donated products, including vacuums, ashtray urns, garbage cans, paper products, entrance matting and cleaners.

“[Oakton Manor] certainly appreciated it, and when we left at around noon, they had a whole new facility,” said Traudt.

On the other side of the country, 23 members of the Southern California Sanitary Supply Association (SCSSA) volunteered to clean at the Family Crisis Center in Redondo Beach, Calif.

James Ammons, past president of SCSSA, said the organization decided two years ago to partner with the Family Crisis Center, a charitable organization that shelters battered women and families in facilities throughout southern California.

“Every year, we take the one facility that is in the most disrepair and we clean it from top to bottom,” said Ammons. “We also donated clothing and gift cards to Target.”

Ammons believes his region’s Clean Sweep effort is gaining momentum each year. “We’re not cleaning as large of place as we have in the past, like when we were cleaning the Boys & Girls Club, which is 10,000 or 20,000 square feet, so we’re having more of a personal touch, and we’re getting to know the administrators,” said Ammons. “I think this is one of the best ones that we’ve had.”

Instead of a traditional Clean Sweep, members of the New Jersey Sanitary Supply Association’s board of directors voted to provide cleaning supplies, donations and expertise to three organizations instead of focusing on cleaning one facility. NJSSA president, Fred Schimanski, noted in the organization’s newsletter that donations will go to the Boys & Girls Club of Trenton, N.J.; Urban Renewal Corp., Newark, N.J.; and Community Hope, Dover, N.J.


ASSOCIATION NEWS
ISSA, Lincolnwood, Ill., has agreed to sponsor the CleanGredients™ database, a project initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) program with facilitation and management provided by GreenBlue, a Charlottesville, Va.-based non-profit focusing on sustainability.

CleanGredients provides green formulators with a database of ingredients that are preferable to human and environmental health.

“Sponsoring CleanGredients ... is consistent with the association’s overall objective of encouraging and otherwise assisting the development of cleaning-product formulations with a preferred environmental and safety and health profile,” according to Bill Balek, ISSA director of legislative affairs.

The International Executive Housekeeper Association’s (IEHA) 2006 Unsung Facility Hero Award has been presented to Gay Alston, an employee of San Fransisco-based ABM Building Services.

Alston is an ABM employees at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority, Philadelphia, and was selected because she has repeatedly gone above and beyond the realm of her job responsibilities. Some examples included her search of the facility to find a lost purse, and spotting and containing floods within the facility that had the potential to do thousands of dollars worth of damage.

“During Gay Alston’s tenure here, she has demonstrated many times the Pennsylvania Convention Center’s customer service philosophy and a consistent work ethic,” said Dittie Guise, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.


PLAYERS

NSS Enterprises, Toledo, Ohio, has named Mark McKenzie vice president of sales; he will be responsible for the company’s sales around the world. The company also appointed two regional managers: Matt Lese, responsible for Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota; and Steve Rodman, for the territory including Western New York, Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania.

WAXIE Sanitary Supply, San Diego, has promoted Cindy Neibert to vice president of education and development, a newly created department designed to train, educate and develop employees.

The company also announced the promotion of Rick Hazard to vice president of marketing, where he will oversee strategic marketing, product management and marketing communications.

Keith Angel of Angel/Cotton Associates, Inc., Signal Hill, Calif., recently won the manufacturers representative director position for the 2007 ISSA board of directors in a run-off election. Angel has been in the jan/san industry for several years, has served on several boards and received the Southern California Sanitary Supply Association’s Joe Wolfe Person of the Year Award in 1999.

Mark Riemers, vice president of commercial sales for ProTeam Inc., Boise, Idaho, received the Manufacturer Representatives' Distinguished Service Award At ISSA/INTERCLEAN® 2006.

The award recognizes a person within the industry who has had a positive impact on the industry and ISSA, and who has been supportive of manufacturer representatives.

Bob Cusick was recently named ProTeam regional manager for the Southern/Southwestern region and is responsible for all commercial division sales in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

The U.S. Small Business Administration, Washington, D.C., recently awarded the National 8(a) Graduate of the Year Award to William L. Byles Sr., president of Byles Janitorial, a Nashville, Tenn.-based African-American-owned janitorial company, during the 24th National Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week Conference.

MED Week recognizes minority entrepreneurship. Byle’s company is a participant in the SBA’s 8(a) Program — a governmental business development program.

Essential Industries Inc., Merton, Wis., has hired Doug Elgin as a territory sales manager. He will cover Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama.


COMPANY NOTES

Tennant Co., Minneapolis, was recently honored with Platinum Best of Show in the meeting/convention category at the Telly Awards, an international film and video competition that draws more than 4,000 entries.

The Strategic Market Alliance (SMA), Valley Forge, Pa., a newly established cooperative, includes the following founding member companies: Fulton Paper Co., Atlanta; Janitor’s Warehouse, Vancouver, British Columbia; Leonard Paper Co., Baltimore; Burke Supply, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Matera Paper Co., San Antonio; Philip Rosenau Co., Warminster, Pa.; City Supply Co., Egg Harbor, N.J.; and Superior Solutions, Cambridge, Ontario.

JohnsonDiversey Inc., Sturtevant, Wis., announced that construction has begun on a 550,000-square-foot, $22-million distribution center on 38 acres in Sturtevant. The facility is expected to open in September 2007.

JohnsonDiversey and Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern, Pa.-based developer and owner of the property, intend to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Volk Protective Products, Groveport, Ohio, a manufacturer of safety products, recently opened a new 12,000-square-foot warehouse in Lakeland, Fla., bringing the total number of company warehouses to four.

Hillyard, St. Joseph, Mo., began celebrating its 100th anniversary in September. The celebration will last through September 2007.

United Receptacle, Pottsville, Pa., recently became a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The company says its products can help buildings achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification through use of its recycling receptacles.

Unger Enterprises Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., recently won first place in the FacilityCare’s 2006 Top Product Awards program, housekeeping category, for its patent-pending microfiber grading system. The grading system classifies the various qualities of microfiber according to usage specifications.

The award recognizes innovative products that contribute to the improvement of healthcare facilities through design, operation or maintenance support.

Dow, Ludington, Mich., is celebrating 100 years of manufacturing calcium chloride ice melt, which is one of the company’s original product lines.

Kaivac Inc., Hamilton, Ohio, announced that three major manufacturer’s rep groups have been hired to represent the company in Canada. They are: REV Sales and Marketing Inc., which will represent the company in western Canada; Kaivac Systems Canada Inc., Pierre-Luc St. Pierre, Quebec; and Riches Associates, Ottawa, Ontario.

Dade Paper Co., Miami, is partnering with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to help Florida’s lodging industry improve indoor air quality in hotels and motels across the state, as part of the department’s Green Lodging Program, launched in 2004.

The initiative recognizes manufacturers of green products and the lodging facilities that use them. Dade will provide discounts to facilities that purchase environmentally friendly cleaning products.

Kimberly-Clark Professional, Roswell, Ga., recently donated 2-ounce bottles of Kimcare® instant hand sanitizer and boxes of KLEENEX® facial tissue to students at the University of Alberta, located in Edmonton, Alberta.

The donation coincides with the one-year anniversary of “Cleaning for a Healthy U,” an initiative focusing on preventing the spread of germs on university campuses.

Xpedx, Loveland, Ohio, the paper distribution arm of International Paper Co., recently unveiled a $5 million renovation of its regional distribution center in Paddock Hills, Ohio.

The 250,000-square-foot facility was formerly occupied by IP’s Saalfeld redistribution business, which moved earlier this year to a 483,000-square-foot warehouse in Hebron, Ohio.

Employees at Beckson Industrial, Guilford, Conn., recently celebrated the company’s 50th anniversary.




POSTED ON: 10/1/2006