ISSA will honor achievers in the professional cleaning industry at the ISSA General Meeting, which will be held during ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2012, October 16-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL, USA.

Jack D. Ramaley Industry Distinguished Service Award
The Jack D. Ramaley Industry Distinguished Service Award honors a person who has demonstrated leadership, professionalism, and exceptional service through his or her innovation, elevation of industry standards, and promotion of the association's growth and development. This year's award recipient is Jim H. Chittom Sr.

Chittom serves as CEO of two jan/san distributors—Athens Janitor Supply Co., Inc., Athens, GA (an ISSA member for 49 years) and Roman Chemical Corp., Rome, GA. He has served on the ISSA Board of Directors in several capacities, including as a director (1991-93) and as vice president, president, and international director/immediate past president (2007-09) during which time he served on various ISSA committees. In 1993, he organized the first ISSA district meeting in Puerto Rico. He is a long time supporter of ISSA's Young Executive Society (YES), which includes attending and helping fund the annual YES Networking Reception, and last year YES reciprocated by awarding him the YES Industry Special Achievement Award. Currently, he is serving as a director on the ISSA Foundation Board.

Chittom's support of ISSA extends to all aspects of his operations, however. Both his companies have numerous employees who are ISSA Certified Experts to help their customers earn ISSA's Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and CIMS-Green Building designations and, in fact, Athens was instrumental in the CIMS certification of such large entities as the University of Georgia-Athens and Floyd County school district in Georgia.  He also encouraged his sons Jim Jr. and John to become involved in ISSA through its Young Executives Society, so much so that both served on the YES Coordinators Committee and Jim Jr. is currently serving as a distributor director on the ISSA board

Outside of ISSA, Chittom is a founding member of the Georgia Sanitary Supply Association and served as that organization's president from 2000-02. He actively serves in numerous community organizations, including the Athens Rotary Club, which rewarded him the Robert Stubbs Ethics Award; the Northeast Georgia Food Bank; and United Way for Northeast Georgia.

Lou Goorland Honorary Membership Award
The Lou Goorland Honorary Membership Award recognizes individuals who are no longer actively involved in the industry and have made substantial contributions to its advancement. This year's award recipient is Roger E. Parrott Jr.

For 42 years, Parrott was associated with RoVic, Inc., a family-owned janitorial supply business headquartered in Manchester, CT, and operating multiple branches throughout southern New England.  He served as its second-generation president (1984-2010) until the company was sold to Hillyard, Inc. in 2010.

Parrot has exemplified what it really means to have passion for the industry—and for ISSA. He has served on the ISSA Board of Directors twice, first as secretary (1997-99) and later as vice president, president, and international director/immediate past president (2001-03), during which tine he served on the executive, finance, education and strategic long range planning committees.

Parrott has been an ISSA delegate to the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors meetings and served on an ASTM committee assisting in the development of industry standards.  He also represented the ISSA in 2004 and 2005 at the Clean Asia Show in Shanghai, China. Since 2003, he has served as a director on the ISSA Foundation Board and will serve as its chairman in 2013 And if this is not enough, for the past seven years he has served as the manager of the International lounge at ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America.

In addition to his ISSA service, Parrott was a director of the New England Sanitary Supply Association for 12 years.  He has also served on various community and business committees, working to include activities in support of trade alliances and has participated in numerous outside business boards.

Manufacturer Representatives' Distinguished Service Award
The Manufacturer Representatives' Distinguished Service Award recognizes a person within the industry who has had a positive impact on the industry and the association, and who has been supportive of manufacturer representatives. This award is presented on behalf of all independent manufacturer representatives. This year's award recipient is Gary Gradinger.

Gradinger is chairman and CEO of Golden Star Inc., Kansas City, MO, a long-standing ISSA member (67 years) and exhibitor (66 consecutive years). He joined Golden Star in 1967, succeeding his father and uncle in the family business. His commitment to quality and customer service in all aspects of his business has led Golden Star to become a market leader in the wet mop, dust mop, and microfiber category.  Gradinger's loyalty and personal contact with his manufacturers representatives have helped to create a very successful culture.  He has invested time and money to ensure mutual success for all.

Gradinger's personal service to ISSA has been equally exceptional and virtually unmatched: He has served twice on the ISSA Board of Directors (1979-80 and again from 2002-04), including as president in 2003. During this time, he also served as an active and influential member of the ISSA Strategic Long Range Planning Committee, and he has served twice on the Exhibitors Committee (1984, 1994-95). This year, he will also begin his second term on the ISSA Foundation Board, where he previously served a three-year term (2000-02) including as its treasurer in 2001.

Outside of ISSA, he has served on the Kansas Sanitary Supply Association board and, beyond the industry, he has served on the boards of a host of community organizations, including the Kansas City Art Institute as a trustee and, most recently, as chairman (2008-10); the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and the Amelia Earhart Museum are but a few. He also has been an advisor and has lectured at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City schools of business.

YES Industry Special Achievement Award
The YES Industry Special Achievement Award honors an individual or company from our industry who has made substantial contributions to the advancement of the cleaning industry and our association and who has demonstrated strong support of YES. This year's award recipient is Mark Bevington.

Bevington began his business career in 1981, when he went to work for NSS Enterprises, Inc., Toledo, OH, a third-generation family business that manufactures commercial/industrial floor- and carpet-cleaning machines. In 1999 he bought the business from his father and since then has served as president and owner.  NSS has been an ISSA member and trade show exhibitor for 64 straight year. This year marks the end of his three-year term serving as manufacturer director on the ISSA Board of Directors. Throughout his career, he has shown support of YES, making contributions to the annual YES networking reception and YES scholarship fund as well as encouraging his own employees to participate on the YES Coordinators Committee and in other YES activities. Most recently, he supported the new YES Professional Development Program by signing NSS up as the overall program sponsor. 


John H. Plant Membership Development Award
Established in 1988, the John H. Plant Membership Development Award honors individual members of ISSA who have recruited a minimum of 25 companies into the association. The award was named after John H. Plant, who was president of Maintenance Equipment Co., Tucker, GA. Plant, who served as ISSA's 1986 president, holds the association record of having recruited more than 125 members. This year's recipient is Günter Glöckner.

Glöckner is owner and managing director of Solution Glöckner, a corporate pioneer of soap-free cleaning products in Europe founded in 1991. Under his leadership, the company has received several European innovation awards as well as awards for its contributions to a greener environment based on its implementation of technologies—such as solar panel-equipped buildings that generate 10 times the power the company needs and makes it a carbon-neutral enterprise. Before starting his own company, from 1982-91, Glöckner held several industry management, marketing, and sales positions with such well-respected companies as Unilever, Beecham-Group, Black & Decker, and the Tarkett-Somer Group.

Glöckner joined ISSA in 1999. He has represented German-speaking countries on the ISSA European Board of Representatives since 2005, including serving as board chair from 2008-10. He helped organize and participated in the ISSA German symposium, has written a monthly ISSA page for various German-language cleaning magazines, and represents ISSA at European industry exhibitions, such as ISSA/INTERLEAN Amsterdam and CMS Berlin. In 2011, he founded the first JEZ Award, an annual competition for pupils in cleaning schools, based on green thinking.

Today Glöckner is being honored for his past success and ongoing efforts in increasing membership throughout Europe including his recruitment of 32 new ISSA members.

Star Awards
ISSA would like to congratulate and recognize the companies below for achieving “Star” status, effective with the 2012 show.  To achieve this designation, a company must have exhibited at the ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America trade show for the specified number of years while retaining continuous membership. This year's three Star Award recipients are:
Star 60
• Nilodor, Inc.
•  Impact Products, Inc.
Star 50
•  Chase Products Co.
Star 40
•  Americo Manufaturing Co. Inc.
•  Gent-l-kleen Products, Inc., a Dreumex company
•  Root-Lowell Manufacturing Co./RL Flo-Master


Best Customer Service Awards
The Best Customer Service Awards program will continue this year, with ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America attendees able to submit their picks onsite for the exhibitors they feel provided the best customer service during the show.

Building service contractors, distributors, and in-house service providers can vote through this year's show app (www.issa.com/app), and votes must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, October 18. Winners will be announced at 10:15 a.m. Friday, October 19, by executive customer service trainer Janelle Brittain at the ISSA Education Theatre, Booth 3669. Winners are selected in five product categories: Chemicals; Disposables; Power Equipment; Supplies & Accessories; and Other Products, Services & Technology.