The American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) held its sixth Breakfast at Clean at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The event provides members and nonmembers an update on ARTA, as well as the opportunity to enjoy a hot meal and socialize before attending the Clean Show.
In addition, this year’s event also featured results of ARTA’s 2022 Election, and distribution of several awards, including the presentation of the Nate Belkin Award for Excellence in Marketing Reusable Textiles. This award is presented biennially to the ARTA member company or member that best exemplifies ARTA’s mission. Nate Belkin, PhD, founded ARTA in 1982 while working for Fashion Seal Healthcare. He passed in 2010.
ARTA President Gabriel Boardman presented the awards, as follows:
2022 Nate Belkin Award — George Courey Inc. has generously supported ARTA initiatives through the service of its CEO Jeff Courey as Director on the ARTA Board or two terms. George Courey is a family-owned textile supplier based in Montreal, Quebec.
ARTA Service Awards
• Past President Ed McCauley — for his past service as a director for ARTA from 2006 to 2021. McCauley is the CEO of United Hospital Services in Indianapolis, IN.
• Director Dan Sanchez — for his service as a director on the board from 2017 to 2022. Sanchez recently left the industry to manage sales for a national software firm.
• Director Nicole Grubich — for her service on the board from 2018 to 2022. Grubich has taken a U.S. sales position with MIP.
Election Results
After Sanchez and Grubich left the board, ARTA President Gabriel Boardman appointed the following persons to fill those vacancies: Supplier Shelley Petrovskis of Lac Mac was appointed to fill Sanchez’ term through 2023; operator Meredith Bowery of Virginia Hospital Laundry was appointed to fill Grubich’s role through 2024.
The results of this year’s election to fill two supplier seats on the ARTA Board from 2023-2024 saw incumbents re-elected:
• Jeff Courey of George Courey
• Cecil Lee of Standard Textile