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IAHTM’s Don Pedder Lifetime Achievement Recipients


The International Association for Healthcare Textile Management (IAHTM) has named Kathy Craig and Norbert Gittard its “2021 Don Pedder Lifetime Achievement” award recipients, according to a news release.

The awards were presented at IAHTM’s Annual Meeting and Education Conference held Sept. 10-14 at Disney’s BoardWalk resort, Lake Buena Vista, FL.

IAHTM is a nonprofit membership organization for healthcare laundry cooperatives that provides senior-level textile managers with resources and support to maximize their laundries’ efficiencies and control costs without compromising quality or patient focus.

Craig is a long-time industry veteran, having spent more than 20 years in the industry, both at Fundy Linen Service Inc. and FacilicorpNB, New Brunswick, Canada. She is noted for paving the way for women in the industry.

In recognition of this, Meredith Bowery, IAHTM board president, said, “Seeing women at IAHTM meetings used to be a very rare thing. When I first learned about IAHTM, I remember hearing about Kathy Craig. In most of the stories I heard she was usually the lone woman at these events. These days, there are more women in our ranks. It was a great pleasure to be able to present Kathy Craig with IAHTM’s Lifetime Achievement award this year with so many other female laundry operators in attendance to celebrate her.”

Gittard has been with Jensen USA, Panama City, FL, for almost 35 years. He is currently vice president of sales and marketing. In presenting the award, long-time colleague Matt Bland of ADI American Dawn said of Gittard, “I’m honored to stand here tonight to present this award to someone I deeply admire and respect. Someone who embodies the spirit of this great industry…. His vision, his resiliency, his tireless work ethic, his industry knowledge (and his willingness to share this knowledge), along with his humility and his customer-first approach have all been on display for us over the past 34 years.”

Earlier this year, IAHTM’s board renamed its prestigious Lifetime Achievement award in honor of the late Don Pedder, a 50-year veteran of the textile services industry who passed away in January.