As we wind down the selection process for the Coin Laundry Association’s 2017 Board of Directors, I’m reminded of the many directors who have donated their time and talents to this organization over the years.
Our Board does so much more than just oversee the association. Each Board member is asked to participate in the selection process, as well as to be active on one or more Board committees. And these projects require Board members to commit many hours beyond their typical administrative duties.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of serving with several dedicated individuals who have made a difference in what the CLA is today. I would like to identify a few of them (in no particular order) and highlight some of the amazing work they’ve done on behalf of the association and the self-service laundry industry:
Jim Whitmore, Deborah Dower and Ralph Daniels started the Board’s Green Committee and have helped deliver the message of running green, sustainable laundry businesses. They’ve researched this topic, provided valuable content and established best practices for the greening of our industry.
Bill Bittner, Beverly Blank, Ron Lane and Brian Grell all have served on the Board during separate periods. However, their passion for – and understanding of – the benefits of affiliation with our association has led scores of laundry operators to fully realize the importance of CLA membership.
Michael Finkelstein has taken on Congress and the U.S. Mint on two occasions – conducting research, attending meetings and testifying on behalf of the association in an effort to keep the quarter in its current format.
Tom Rhodes, inspired by a presentation on economics at the CLA’s first Excellence in Laundry Conference, created a committee to track economic trends impacting our industry. Today, we have an economic model for our industry that includes forecasting, which is available to our members.
When the Board decided that the key source for institutional knowledge was becoming dated, Craig Kirchner volunteered to head a committee that developed a new, in-depth series of white papers covering various aspects of the self-service laundry industry.
And, today, the CLA Board of Directors is working on several new projects to enhance the industry. I credit that strength to a handful of previous Board members who were leaders in establishing the culture of our current Board. Those individuals include Mike Floyd, Greg Tompkins, Kenny Wells, Bill Gilbert and Jeffrey Barman.
Of course, this level of commitment to the industry is not limited to the CLA Board of Directors. There are many who have prioritized serving the laundry business, either through the CLA’s local affiliate program or on a national level.
These individuals are instrumental in making our association strong and diverse. They are the members who have squashed potential state sales taxes before they had a chance to gain momentum – and successfully repealed established sales taxes on self-service laundry. They have testified in public meetings across our country on various topics with critical implications for our business – weights and measures, licenses of dryers and local water regulations, to name a few.
And those voices are not limited to interacting with government. They also are involved in bettering our industry through education and community service. Much of the educational information available about the laundry business has been created by professionals working within the industry. Two great examples are PlanetLaundry columnist and marketing guru Stephen Bean and tax expert Richard Weisinger, a CPA who has contributed valuable content not only to PlanetLaundry but also to the association’s white paper series. Both have owned and operated laundromats.
The voice of the laundry industry is a collective one, rising from the members of the CLA, who are committed to being of service to their peers. As chairman, it’s an honor to serve a group that’s filled with so many people so dedicated to the success of an industry.
