The Coin Laundry Association recently welcomed two highly respected industry leaders to its Board of Directors for 2021. Those new directors are laundromat owner Yvette Morton Williams of Conyers, Ga., and distributor Alex Harris, president and CEO of Professional Laundry Systems, headquartered in Deer Park, N.Y.
Williams, who owns three stores in and around the Atlanta area, entered the industry in 2010. Prior to getting into the laundry business, she spent 11 years in corporate America, as a pharmaceutical sales representative for Eli Lilly & Co. and a marketing manager for Bristol Myers Squibb. In addition, she ran her own interior decorating business.
She is active with the Conyers-Rockdale Chamber of Commerce, as well as sitting on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Additionally, she is the founder and chair of the Gate City Day Nursery Association’s Camille Hope Fairman Scholarship, which awards scholarships to deserving teen moms.
“I love laundromats!” Williams said. “I love the technology, the designs, the flow of people, the sense of community… all of it. I believe in the mission of this 60-year-old nonprofit organization – to advance the self-service laundry industry and improve the customer experience by providing store operators with the industry research, education and other resources required to be better, more successful business owners.
“I look forward to the opportunity to contribute my skills to help our industry on a broader scale,” she continued. “I believe that the CLA Board should strive to be a reflection of today’s owners and customers. I appreciate the opportunity to network with other high-performing people within this industry. I find that I am energized and inspired by those who do well and mirror my passion for the laundromat industry. I also believe that, as a Board member, I can serve to inspire other women and minorities to improve their operations.”
Harris and his business partner, Paul Cousins, started out in the industry by servicing commercial laundry equipment in 1976. He acquired his first equipment line in 1980, selling Westinghouse products. And the distributorship grew from there.
Today, Professional Laundry Systems maintains three branch offices in Deer Park, N.Y.; Orchard Park, N.Y.; and Croydon, Pa. The company’s territory covers New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware and the eastern portion of Pennsylvania.
Harris has been a CLA member since 1983 and has been especially active on the local level within the Delaware Valley region. Moreover, he is a strong supporter of the LaundryCares Foundation and its mission.
“My goals as a CLA director include promoting LaundryCares and its reading programs for children,” Harris said. “We have a captive audience – let’s help them out.
“My knowledge of the laundromat business stems from service, equipment sales, construction and financing, to owning three of the most successful regional offices within the tri-state area,” he added. “Our company has been an award-winning distributor since its onset. I’ve been a laundry equipment distributor for more than 40 years. I have guided my customer base to be successful in the laundromat business, and I would like to share my expertise in the industry on a national level.”
The CLA Board also announced its Executive Committee for 2021. These officers include: Daryl Johnson, Giant Wash Coin Laundry, St. Ansgar, Iowa, chair; Ted Ristaino, Yankee Equipment Systems, Barrington, N.H., chair-elect; Brian Holland, The Laundry Café, Philadelphia, vice chair; Brian Brunckhorst, Advantage Laundry, Dublin, Calif., treasurer; and Brian Grell, Eastern Funding, New York City, immediate past chair.
Lastly, the CLA offers special thanks to two former directors who just recently went off the Board at the end of 2020. Each of these professionals dedicated countless hours to the association, as well as for the betterment of the laundromat industry as a whole. They are: Joel Jorgensen, Girbau North America, Oshkosh, Wis.; and Peggy Trent, Trent Enterprises, Flower Mound, Texas.
