News & Notes

ICAN leader resigns
Citing personal reasons and the growth of his responsibilities as publisher of the Housekeeping Channel, Allen Rathey resigned as the executive director of the International Custodial Advisors Network, Inc. (ICAN), Boise, ID, on March 1.

Chairman Jim Harris, Sr. said Rathey’s duties will be divided among the four remaining members of ICAN’s Board of Directors — Harris, Perry Shimanoff, William Griffin, and Gary Penrod — and new board members the group plans to add.

Spartan names trio of execs
Spartan Chemical Company, Inc., Maumee, OH, named Andrew Hartweg, Glenn “Denny” Pearson, and Frank Toczek regional managers of the company’s sales division.

Hartweg, will be responsible for the St. Louis region, Pearson for the Central Illinois region, and Toczek for the Buffalo and Rochester, NY markets.

Unger names regional manager
Unger Enterprises, Inc., Bridgeport, CT, named Bill Fosselman western regional sales manager.

Fosselman is responsible for all sales activities in the western United States and Canada, including managing five manufacturer representative groups, developing end-user accounts, and conducting training seminars.

Coverall appoints exec
Coverall Cleaning Concepts, Fort Lauderdale, FL, appointed Steve Cumbow vice president and chief financial officer, responsible for all financial operations and analysis for the company worldwide.

Angela Newman was named director of national accounts, responsible for running the national accounts operations team and working closely with national account customers, and regional and master support center staff.

GP names exec
Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta, named William Nahill chief procurement officer, responsible for strategic sourcing across businesses and staff functions, and leveraging supplier relationships.

ABM appoints execs
American Building Maintenance Industries, Inc. (ABM), San Francisco, named Matthew Principe chief administrative officer.

The company also appointed Glenn M. Hammond vice president and deputy general counsel and William Hayden assistant regional vice president of American Building Maintenance of New York.

BSC names branch managers
Schofield, WI-based building services contractor K-tech Kleening Systems named Michael Brown and Nick Merckx branch managers.

Brown will manage the company’s Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids, WI, offices, servicing existing clients and developing new clients in the Commercial Janitorial and Residential Care divisions.

Merckx, who has seven years of commercial, residential and restoration experience, will manage and perform the same duties in the Rhinelander, WI office.

ISSA opens door to end users
The International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA), Lincolnwood, IL, accepted a recent proposed amendment to the association bylaws to open membership to facility service providers.

The bylaw change creates a new membership category for U.S. and Canadian building service contractors and in-house service providers.

Dyson reinvents vacuum — again
Wiltshire, England-based Dyson — which last month announced domination of the United States’ vacuum market — launched the DC15 or “The Ball” in England.

The vacuum, which uses a single ball-shaped wheel designed to allow owners to change direction with a small turn of the wrist, will be released this spring in the United States.

Market figures revealed that Dyson took Hoover’s position as the best-selling vacuum cleaner in the United States with 20.7 percent of the upright vacuum cleaner market in the last quarter of 2004.

Undocumented workers cost Wal-Mart $11M
Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to pay $11 million to settle federal allegations it used illegal immigrants to clean its stores.

The $11-million settlement clears Wal-Mart of federal allegations of hiring the illegal immigrants.

The twelve contractors who hired the workers agreed to plead guilty to criminal immigration charges and will together pay $4 million in fines.

Since 1998, federal authorities have uncovered the cases of at least 250 illegal immigrants who were employed by janitor contracting services hired by the retail chain in 21 states.

Both parties lose fed minimum wage duel
The U.S. Senate defeated dueling proposals to raise the federal minimum wage, one backed by organized labor and the other salted with pro-business provisions.

Both plans fell well short of the 60 votes needed to advance, signaling that prospects for raising the federal wage floor —unchanged since 1996 — are remote during the current two-year Congress.

EPA awards IAQ contract to EEF
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington, DC, awarded a contract to the Environmental Education Foundation (EEF) to form a coalition of major players in the cleaning, maintenance, building management, building design/construction and property management industry, including insurance and financial institutions, to promote the EPA’s indoor air quality guidance.

David Mudarri, Ph.D., Indoor Environments Division of the Environmental Protection Agency, told CM e-News Daily that the EEF will be using EPA software guidance called I-BEAM (Indoor Air Quality Building Education and Assessment Model).

IAQA names conference partners
The American Indoor Air Quality Council (AmIAQ), Rockville, MD, will partner with the Indoor Environmental Standards Organization (IESO) at the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) 2005 Annual Meeting & Exposition.

As a convention partner, AmIAQ will be involved in setting the technical program for the convention, receive the same discounted convention rates offered to IAQA and IESO members, and can hold committee meetings during the convention to conduct council business.

The 2005 IAQA-IESO-AmIAQ Annual Meeting & Exposition, is scheduled for October 6-9 at the Hilton Resort, Walt Disney World, Orlando, FL.