Art Katz
akatz12@yahoo.com
March 11,2015
To Whom It May Concern:
Please accept this letter as a reference for Arthur Weiss. I have know Arthur since the beginning of
2006 when I was the Regional Vice President of Zoots, at which time we acquired his business to integrate
into our organization. Although this was the first time we met formally, I had known of Arthur for many
years previously as an industry expert. I read his monthly columns in the National Clothesline for many
years and was aware of his work as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Cleaners
Association. I was therefore very pleased when our CEO proposed the idea of bringing Arthur into our
organization.
I can attest to the fact that his work ethic and integrity is beyond amazing. He brought a new
dimension to our organization with his extensive experience coupled with progressive thinking and drive to
succeed. When we had quality and scheduling issues at our Connecticut facility, which was a 100+ employee
plant, we assigned Arthur to run a focus team to develop process improvements to resolve these concerns.
When the original Zoots Corporation went into receivership due to larger corporate problems I
acquired the New Jersey and Pennsylvania businesses with two other partners and created Tweeds Dry
Cleaning and Tweeds Garment Restoration. Arthur continued on with us a Vice President in the new
company. I can say without hesitation that he was instrumental in the transition from a troubled organization
to a thriving company.
He has an uncanny ability to take on challenges and come up with creative solutions. I must admit
that I was skeptical at times of his vision that he could see clearly for the direction of his division of the
business, but he was always on target with his forecasts and always exceeded our goals. Additionally he
tirelessly volunteered to take on projects such as environmental activities, community projects such as Coats
for Kids, and activities in various business organizations that benefited our business.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with Arthur and since my departure from Tweeds I am proud to
continue calling him a friend. Please feel free to contact me i f you require further information.
Sincerely,
Art Katz
Owner/Managing Partner
ZOOTS
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November 21, 2010
To Whom it may concern:
I am writing to serve as a reference for Arthur Weiss. I have known Arthur for 10 years – as an employee of his business, as a co-worker at Zoots, and as friend.
Initially I worked for Arthur as his Office Manager at Betty Brite Cleaners, handling all business operations. When Arthur sold his business to Zoots Cleaners I moved to Zoots and worked with him on the restoration side of their business. Today, I continue to talk with Arthur on a regular basis as a friend and much of our discussions center around the business environment.
I know Arthur as an expert in the dry cleaning restoration business – his success is driven because he wants to be the best at what he does. For example:
- Driver of dynamic business growth in several diversified divisions of the Betty Brite business (restoration, retail, home delivery, institutional services and wedding gown preservation) which were directed to consumers as well as business to business.
- Oversaw the expansion of Betty Brite from basically a retail store front into a 20,500 square foot restoration facility
- Heavy involvement in the restoration industry through associations such as the Blue Goose organization and various claims associations -- some of which he served as a Board member
- Always kept abreast of the ever changing business segments by researching the market place; reading relevant industry publications, and contributing articles to trade magazines and newspapers
- Continuously sought process improvements to improve quality, productivity and employee involvement at Betty Brite through additional automated tools as well as in the manual procedures; maintained various metrics on the state of the business
- His great personal skills allow him to interact successfully with his peers, vendors and customers
Additionally, much of Arthur’s time at Betty Brite and Zoots was spent in the field meeting contractors, insurance managers and adjusters to develop new business; negotiate pricing, and solve issues.
With his take-charge attitude, inclusive approach and strong grasp of industry concepts, Arthur would be an asset to any organization.
I am confident Arthur will exceed your expectations. Please don't hesitate to call or email me if you require further insights into his skills or character.
Sincerely,
Alan Siskind
Home: (609) 443-9401
alsiskind@comcast.net
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Reference Letters
(609) 577-6689
awclean1@gmail.com
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ArthurWeiss
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William Seitz
Consultant to the Drycleaning/Fabricare Industry
601 Kappock Street/Suite 4R Riverdale, NY 10463-7717
Phone/Fax: 718 432-1982
To Whom It May Concern:
I have known Arthur Weiss for over thirty years, initially I met Arthur when he worked at his family drycleaning plant when I was a field representative for the Neighborhood Cleaners Association (NCA) then afterwards in his own drycleaning and fire restoration business. As a member of NCA he became a member of the Board of Directors and President of The Delaware Vallley Chapter where he served for many years.
Arthur also attended The New York School of Drycleaning, where in the early 1970’s he was an excellent student in our course “Principles and Practices of Drycleaning”. This was a ten week program covering theory and practice of drycleaning, wetcleaning and spotting. He also attended every seminar and workshop we offered as well as running seminars for the NCA.
He also was a columnist in our bulletin for many years. I always enjoyed the well thought out advice that he offered to our members.
In the many years that I have known Arthur and interacted with him, I found him to be a very special person. He is highly intelligent, not only in the drycleaning field, but in all phases of business. Arthur is a “people” person and was always active in many of NCA’s activities and membership programs.
I would not hesitate to recommend him for any position in the drycleaning industry, especially in the field of textile restoration (fire, water damage & mold) where he is a trailblazer in technology and has the business acumen required to operate successfully. In addition his human relations qualities make him a powerful leader in his business endeavors.
Please feel free to contact me for any further questions you may have.
Very truly yours,
William Seitz
P.S. I have been in the drycleaning industry for over 60 years of which 51 were with the Neighborhood Cleaners Association (NCA) and the New York School of Drycleaning, where I was Executive Director from 1972 to 2002
Executive Director Emeritus
Neighborhood Cleaners Association
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December 10, 2005
Everett Childers
115 Mockingbird Lane
Tahlequah, Oklahoma 74464
918-453-0495
echild@okmedia.net
To Whom it May Concern:
I have known Arthur Weiss for over ten years, and before that admired his style of writing for different drycleaning trade publications.
When reading his writings I was impressed with his thoroughness of a subject and his in-depth knowledge of the cleaning industry. The knowledge included technical aspects of cleaning, removing stains, bleaching and later professional wetcleaning. It also included his vision of the industry and where it was headed such as fewer pieces (which we are now experiencing), more energy efficient production equipment and environmental regulations and how they would play out during this time period.
When I was in New York City several years ago I made a trip to his plant in Windsor, NJ that he had set up for garment restoration. I was impressed with his foresight in that he recognized his need for a separate building and not a converted retail drycleaning plant. His storage system was state-of-the-art as was his inventory control and scheduling of fire damaged and flooded garments.
It gives me pleasure to recommend a professional such as Arthur for anything related, or having to do, with the cleaning business whether it is retail, wholesale or restoration.
Sincerely,
Everett Childers
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Bill Bishop
1141 N. President St.
Wheaton, IL 60187
(630) 456-4195
December 7, 2005
To whom it may concern,
I first met Arthur Weiss while on a task force meeting in Buffalo, NY.
At the time, I was a partner in the Golomb Group and we had decided to call on members to come together for the purpose of helping a fellow cleaner in distress. Arthur was the very first to volunteer… which meant giving up his time, abandoning his business for a few days and, at his own expense, lend a helping hand to a fellow cleaner who wasn’t doing well in his business and badly needed expert advice.
During those few days, I learned three things about Arthur. First, he had a keen sense of observation and analysis. Second, he exhibited extensive knowledge specifically about the drycleaning industry. And third, I felt the suggestions he offered to the struggling cleaner were simple to understand and easy to apply.
In the years since then… and until my departure from the Golomb Group in 2004, I came to value Arthur’s participation in the activities of the group as well as his willingness to contribute in any way possible.
Having Arthur on board as an active and contributing member for so many years was a valuable asset to our group. For example, often I would refer other members to him for follow up and additional advice on issues ranging from hiring to training to motivation to production and marketing. He always exhibited a good supply of know-how on a variety of drycleaning related issues and was able to explain it in a simple and understandable way.
I consider Arthur to be a generous individual. He freely shares his knowledge and time without consideration for personal gain. He is a man of high integrity and I personally recommend him with confidence.
Bill Bishop
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Gerald Levine
3822 SW Whispering Sound Dr.
Palm City, FL 34990
December 8, 2005
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing this letter on behalf of my long time friend, Arthur Weiss who I consider on of the most knowledgeable people in the drycleaning and restoration business.
By way of identification, my name is Jerry Levine. I was the associate director of the Neighborhood Cleaners Association ( NCA), headquartered in New York City until the end of 1997. NCA was the largest regional trade association for drycleaners in the United States, having over 4,000 members when I retired. The Neighborhood Cleaners Association changed its name to the National Cleaners Association in 2003. I have been in the drycleaning industry for almost 50 years, first as a manager, then as an owner, and from 1969 through 1997 with The Neighborhood Cleaners Association.
In addition to my administrative duties as associate director of NCA, I was in charge of environmental affairs and equipment related activities. I helped create and managed the first hazardous waste pickup program for drycleaners. I advised drycleaners how to comply with government regulations of all types, helped create an OSHA Hazard Communication program for the use of drycleaners and gave guidance to drycleaners to drycleaners who were accused of environmental regulation infractions such as land, water and air pollution. I wrote articles and gave seminars on these topics and am recognized nationally as an industry expert. I also wrote the booklet called, Keep it Clean, Guidelines To Reduce Or Eliminate Perchloroethylene Releases to The Air, Soil And Water.
I am also recognized as an expert on the functioning of drycleaning related equipment of all types and wrote articles and gave seminars on this subject as well. While in the employ of NCA, I trained employees of numerous environmental agencies as to the functions of the equipment used in perchloroethylene drycleaning. Included were the Westchester and Nassau County Health Departments in New York State and Dade Environmental Regulatory Management (DERM) in Miami, Florida.
I was on the Advisory Committee for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) during the construction of their air emission regulations for perc drycleaners. I served on the Negotiated Rule Making (Neg-Reg) committee that created the current drycleaning air regulations for New York State. I also reviewed the USEPA perc drycleaning operation manual as well as writing much of the text. EPA retained me as a consultant through their contractor for this project. I also reviewed many other documents and gave technical advice to EPA contractors.
I met Arthur Weiss in the very early seventies when I was a field representative for the Neighborhood Cleaners Association (NCA) seeing drycleaners all over the State of New Jersey. Arthur was working with his mother and brother in a Betty Brite Cleaner in New Jersey that they owned. I knew very soon that Arthur was destined for bigger and better things. He had a thirst for knowledge and attended every school class, meeting and exhibit that NCA had to offer.
Later, Arthur branched out on his own in another location and developed a knack for advertising and public relations. He never missed an opportunity to get his business recognized by all the people and businesses in his area. He attended all the national drycleaning exhibits and seminars and networked with all the knowledgeable people in our industry, exchanging ideas on how to increase their businesses.
Arthur later saw an opportunity to cash in on the need for experts in the field of fire restoration and began to do it as a sideline in his drycleaning plant. Eventually he decided to expand into the operation he operates now in Windsor, NJ. He built a state of the art operation which I have visited and was very impressed. Since I have personally been in over 2,000 drycleaning plants, I am not easily impressed.
Because of his ability to absorb pertinent information through networking with people in our industry and applying it in business, I know that Arthur Weiss would be an asset to any company wanting a unique business builder.
Sincerely,
Jerry Levine
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Chuck McCarty
4620 Buckley Hall Road
Cobbs Creek, VA 23035
December 31, 2005
Re: Arthur Weiss
To Whom It May Concern:
I have known Arthur for well over ten years. We first met when he was one of the co-founders of the New Jersey Drycleaners Legislative Coalition. I, as Manager of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP), was asked by Arthur and Bob Santo to speak at a workshop for dry cleaners regarding the upcoming federal environmental regulations for PERC machines and also New Jersey environmental regulations that applied to dry cleaning.
They were instrumental in aiding me to develop a training workshop in January 1995 for all dry cleaners to explain the new federal regulations as well as existing environmental regulations. With their input and assistance, a workshop for over 100 dry cleaners was held in the New Brunswick area. The success of the workshop was thanks to the help of Arthur, Bob and a few others by their convincing dry cleaners that the workshop was important to all dry cleaners and that it was safe for dry cleaners to attend. At that time, the NJDEP was feared by most dry cleaners due to its enforcement policies.
Over the years, I continued to work with Arthur, Bob and others to aid dry cleaners understand environmental regulations. I also watched Arthur tirelessly work to improve how regulators and legislators looked at dry cleaners. He was a champion for dry cleaners when they were unfairly treated or might be impacted by an unfair law or regulation.
I also watched Arthur champion protecting the environment not only by what he said but his own actions. When he opened his facility in Windsor, he instituted some of the best technologies available to perform dry cleaning and fire restoration while protecting the environment. The fact that he invited the Commissioner of the NJDEP along with various other state, county and local officials to the Windsor facility’s open house demonstrated his pride and commitment to the environment. I can honestly say that Arthur is a true crusader for dry cleaners and the environment.
Until I retired and moved to Virginia in August of 2002, I can also say that I was a very satisfied customer of his dry cleaning business.
He also is a friend. I value his friendship and insight into the world of dry cleaning. His friendship and knowledge helped me as the Manager of the SBAP for NJDEP and later the Small Business Environmental Ombudsman for NJ to better understand the dry cleaning industry. Our friendship has continued even after my retirement from NJ state service to today.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. My phone numbers are - at home (804) 725-1591 and work (804) 698-4335. I am presently working as a part-time consultant for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s SBAP.
Sincerely,
Chuck McCarty
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