The American Reusable Textile Association (ARTA) held its fifth Breakfast at Clean at the 2019 Clean Show. ARTA’s Breakfast at Clean drew 100 members and non-members for a meal, networking, association update and award presentation.
ARTA President Brendan O’Neill presented the awards, as follows:
- 2019 Nate Belkin Award— Greg Gurtler and Gurtler Industries. Greg Gurtler provided steady leadership for ARTA as President from 2003 to 2005, and as a director for several terms. It was under his presidency that ARTA first invited operator members, which has doubled ARTA’s membership. In addition, Gurtler has generously supported ARTA by providing staff, such as Steve Tinker and Kevin McLaren, to serve on the ARTA board and support ARTA initiatives. Gurtler Industries is a family-owned chemical manufacturer. Greg is the second generation providing leadership for the company.
The Nate Belkin Award for Excellence in Marketing Reusable Textiles is given 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.
Additional awards were:
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- VIP Award — Kevin McLaren, a chemist for Gurtler Industries, has played a key role in completing the ARTA diff study for the past two years.
- ARTA Service Award —Past Director Myles Noel, for his past service as a director for ARTA from 2012 to 2018. Noel is the CEO of COMTEX (Central Ohio Medical Textile) located in Columbus, Ohio. COMTEX currently serves 34 hospitals and more than 325 ancillary sites by processing 40+ million pounds of healthcare linen annually.
