The CIMS I.C.E. workshop for 2013, scheduled for Monday, April 29 in Jacksonville, Fla., has expanded its room capacity due to registration numbers that exceeded original expectations, says NISSCO, a national buying group for the jan/san industry based in Virginia. 
 
The CIMS I.C.E. workshop is being hosted by NISSCO in conjunction with its annual Buying Conference at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. With the increased space made available by the hotel, there is room to accept additional registrants from both ISSA members and non-members. Participating NISSCO members will receive reduced pricing.  
 
“Attaining CIMS I.C.E. certification is no longer something to remain on the ‘to do’ list,” says Mark Bozich, president of NISSCO. “CIMS I.C.E. should be viewed as a mandatory requirement for all distributor and supplier field sales personnel, which is why we have worked with ISSA to bring this workshop to our Buying Conference this year.”
 
The Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) was created for facility service provider (FSP) organizations and applies to an organization’s management structure and performance systems and processes. NISSCO believes that CIMS I.C.E. is important for a variety of reasons.
 
“A growing percentage of cleaning contractors, building facility service workers and facility managers are becoming CIMS certified," Bozich says. "Once a distributor’s customer attains a higher level of expertise than the distributor, that distributor’s educational value is reduced and the conversation becomes even more price focused.”
 
About 1,000 cleaning industry are currently CIMS I.C.E. certified, according to Dan Wagner, ISSA director of facility service programs. 
 
“Becoming I.C.E. certified provides additional tools for distributors and suppliers to help their customers meet accountability demands from upper management, address productive ways to clean for health, and cope with budget pressures,” says Wagner. “We expect many more to realize the necessity of adding this education to their dossier this year.” 
 
For more information about the Jacksonville, Fla. CIMS I.C.E. certification workshop, visit www.issa.com; NISSCO members can receive information at www.NISSCO.com. Registration will also be accepted on the day of the event at no additional fee.