POS Contributes to Environmental Business Strategies Summit

Summit: 'Green' Biz Strategies

Environmentally friendly business practices were on the agenda at TRSA’s Green/Sustainability Summit on Dec. 2-3, 2014, in Tampa, FL. The summit featured several informative presentations and panel discussions to help launderers shrink their carbon footprint.

TRSA Chair Doug Waldman kicked off the Dec. 3 agenda with a welcome to attendees at the host hotel, the Embassy Suites Tampa - USF/Near Busch Gardens. He also recognized four TRSA members that helped put together the agenda for the event. They included Bob Corfield, Laundry Design Group LLC; Steve Kallenbach, American Dawn; Mark Lewis, Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply; and Jerry Martin, Prudential Overall Supply.

After Waldman’s remarks, Jim Mellentine, Sustainable Solutions Corp., spoke on “Sustainability: Environmental Friendliness is Just the Beginning.” Mellentine focused on the business case for sustainable operations and various strategies for implementing sustainability in your company. Mellentine cited examples from companies such as Wal-Mart and Kaiser Permanente and how they’re achieving corporate goals by working with environmentally friendly supplier companies.

Following Mellentine’s keynote address, Jeremy Kranowitz, executive director, Sustainable America, presented findings from a case study that his nonprofit group did with Crown Uniform & Linen Supply, Nashua, NH, on cutting fuel costs through an anti-idling program. By reducing idling in its 75-vehicle fleet, Crown saved $25,000 and cut idling by 90%. The most common issues identified during the study were a lack of driver awareness about idling, and drivers leaving the engine on while doing tasks such as paperwork or entering data into tablets and handhelds before or after drop-offs, or sorting items in the truck after drop-offs.

The morning wrapped up with a panel presentation on green products and technologies available for laundry operators. Corfield served as the facilitator of the panel, which included Gerry Van Gils, Kemco Systems Inc.; Blaine Maddin, Milliken & Co.; and Rich Fiola, Thermal Engineering of Arizona Inc.

After an hour-long lunch break, the group reconvened for a presentation by Al Ertz of AmeriPride Inc., on developing and executing a corporate sustainability program. Ertz, the Minnetonka, MN,-based company’s senior director of plant operations, discussed AmeriPride’s green initiatives in its plants and fleet, and detailed its participation in TRSA’s Clean Green certification program and the benefits it has brought to the company. He also pointed out the methods the company uses to market its green operations to its customers and the industry at large.

Next up was TRSA Maglin/Biggie Associate Award winner John Schultz, Ecolab Inc., who discussed strategies that operators can use to work with publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) to reduce costs and facilitate a positive working relationship.

Following Schultz, the afternoon sessions wrapped up with a Clean Green panel presentation featuring several operators that work for companies that are certified under the program. The panel was facilitated by John Shaffer, Environmental Engineering and Contracting Inc., and included Bob Brill, Republic Master Chefs; Paul Chevrefils, Metro Linen Service; Chris Hermanns, W.H. Linen Rental; and Martin. The panel discussed the benefits of going through the Clean Green certification process and included examples of how each company is marketing its participation in the program to its customers, including a video presentation by Metro Linen.

The Green/Sustainability Summit began the previous day with a Clean Green Users Group meeting.The group discussed several ideas for moving the program forward and concluded by locking in a date for its next meeting this month.

Release date: 02/24/2015

Contact: Jerry Martin, V.P. of Sales & Marketing (949) 250-4850 ext 275

Source: www.textileservices.org/

By: www.textileservices.org/