Pennsylvania and Delaware Cleaners Association

Meet and Greet Attracts Crowd

Our October Meet and Greet attracted a full house of cleaners interested in learning and networking.

Bob Edwards seminar

We needed additional chairs to accommodate the people who came to hear Bob Edwards, of A.L. Wilson, demonstrate how to remove stains that many drycleaners fail to treat properly.

Following his seminar, attendees had the opportunity to talk to vendors as they enjoyed the open bar and plentiful food.

Our thanks go to our gold sponsor, FM Supply, silver sponsor Unipress, and the supporting companies A.L. Wilson, Adco, Hoffman-New Yorker, J Equipment, Kreussler, Marvel Metals, Metro Chem, and Minda Supply.

Obamacare and OSHA Guides Now on Members Only Page

The Small Business Administration’s has produced a guide to the Affordable Health Care Act, describing what it will mean for Small Businesses. The guide states that nearly all small firms are exempt from employer shared responsibility. It describes the provisions for companies with 50 or more employees, including their responsibilities for coverage and standards. Although the employer mandate portion has been delayed past the original January 1, 2014 date, it is important that employers understand what they will need to do. The SBA document is too long to be reproduced here, but you can find it on our Members Only section of our web page and print it out yourself.

There are some other new items on the Members Only section of our website. You can now find:

*An OSHA Self Inspection Check List checkist
*The list of the 22 most common violations cited by OSHA
*Alternative Solvents Comparison Chart
*Boiler Maintenance Guide from Adco

You will also find a guide to the Pennsylvania Small Business Advantage Grant program. The dates for the current program are different, but the procedures to follow are the same. There is also our Drycleaners Compliance Guide, guides for changing equipment, and maintenances guides and checklists.

Why Your Email Address Is Important

Communication by email has become a basic method for sharing information. Here is some of the recent information that members have received by email:

* Alerts about summer OSHA and EPA inspections
* A self inspection OSHA guide and the most common violations cited
* Two notices about the opening for PA Small Business Advantage Grants applications
* Early guidelines for Coats for Kida campaigns.

And, the regular weekly items from DLI, the Monday Morning Marketing tips and their Hot Press, with the latest news, garment alerts and tips.

In addition, PDCA newsletters go out, between editions of the PDCA Press. Emailed information comes from our executive director, cmemberg, or under the heading “executivedirector PDCA”.

Organize Coats for Kids Now

Now is the time to get your Coats for Kids program organized and started. If you have never done it before, here are some guidelines.

Remember, you can do this by yourself, or you can combine with other cleaners in your area to enlarge the scope and share the effort.

Contact a local TV or radio station to get them aboard. They can provide a valuable amount of help and promotion. You may have to buy some advertising. If you are in a smaller market, this should not be a difficult burden. Meet with them and present your program.

The basic idea is that you will collect gently used or new coats. You will clean them and donate them to a participating organization, such as the Salvation Army or Head Start. They will to the actual distribution of the coats to needy families.

Plan for this to be a one month event, going from about mid-November to mid-December.

Your responsibility will be to advertise and promote the program in your plant. You will accept the coats and clean and make minor repairs as needed. Prepare them and hold them for the participating charity to pick up. Contact the TV or radio station about publicity and advertising. Get some posters made up, and share them if you have other participating cleaners, who will share their cost.

Programs like this bring enormous benefits to the participating cleaners, in terms of positive publicity and appreciation by customers..

From the Board...

Officer and Board Nominations Open

Nominations are being accepted for the next slate of PDCA officers. If you want to nominate someone, give the office a call and the nominating committee will add the name to the list of nominees. And, if you are interested in taking an active part in PDCA activities, let us know and you can meet with the board and see what it’s all about. There is always good will and friendship at the meetings, and visitors and potential board members are always welcome.

New Graduate

Congratulations to one of our new members, Jason Feldman, of The Clean Store in Malvern, PA. Jason decided to do it right, and attended the July Introduction to Drycleaning course at DLI. That should get his new business off on a secure and informed path. And to make it sweeter, he was able to attend on an R.R. Street & Co. scholarship.
If you are interested in getting first rate training for an employee (or yourself) and want to learn more about the scholarships that are available, contact the office.

DEP Inspections

Cleaners using perc should make sure that their calendar (one for each perc machine) and paperwork are up to date. The inspectors will check these, and incomplete forms are the most common reasons for citations.
If you need another calendar, call the office and we will send you what you need.